Membership Dues U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE SECRETARY'S NOTES Life, regular and associate membership, 5290. New Members: 10. Resignations: 4. Dropped: 169. Deaths: (3) Rear Admiral E. H. Gheen, U. S. Navy, Commodore Jas. T. Smith, U. S. Navy, The annual dues ($3.00) for the year 1920 are now payable. Regular and associate members of the U. S. Naval Institute are subjected to the payment of the annual dues until the date of the receipt of their resignation. Address of Members All members are urged to keep the Secretary and Treasurer informed of the address to which PROCEEDINGS are to be sent, and thus insure their receipt. Members and subscribers are urged to notify the Secretary and Treasurer promptly of the non-receipt of PROCEEDINGS, in order that tracers may be started. The issue is completed by the 15th of each month. Book The Institute Book Department will supply any obtainable book, of any kind, at retail price, postDepartment age prepaid. The trouble saved the purchaser through having one source of supply for all books, should be considered. The cost will not be greater and sometimes less than when obtained from dealers. Reprints of The attention of authors of articles is called to the fact that the cost to them of reprints other than the usual number furnished, can be greatly reduced if the reprints are struck off while the article is in press. They are requested to notify the Secretary and Treasurer of the number of reprints desired when the article is submitted. Twenty copies of reprints are furnished authors free of charge. Authors of articles submitted are urged to furIllustrations nish with their manuscript any illustrations they may have in their possession for such articles. The Institute will gladly co-operate in obtaining such illustrations as may be suggested by authors. Original photographs of objects and events which may be of interest to our readers are also desired, and members who have opportunities to obtain such photographs are requested to secure them for the Institute. Notice Whole Nos. 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 155, 167 and 173 of the PROCEEDINGS are exhausted; there are so many calls for single copies of these numbers that the Institute offers to pay for copies thereof returned in good condition at the rate of 75 cents per copy. PROFESSIONAL NOTES PREPARED BY LIEUT. COMMANDER H. W. UNDERWOOD, U. S. Navy FRENCH NAVAL PROGRESS.-The voting of the Marine Budget by the two Chambers has shown that the Senate is at one with the Chamber in urging the prompt taking in hand of an enlarged shipbuilding and aerial program worthy of France's past traditions and present responsibilities. Senator Berenger called attention to the growing competition of naval armaments that were themselves the expression of economic rivalry, and hinted at possibilities of the near future which France could not afford to ignore. Whilst having neither the wish nor the means of competing with her great allies, France owes it to herself as well as to her friends to remain a determining factor at sea and to make the most of her unique strategic assets for the defence of her vital interests. She must ever remember that the million troops she could raise in her colonies and the unlimited supplies she could draw from the same sources-and that would be vital assets against Germany-would be of no account whatever, but rather a ransom in the hands of her enemies, without the support of an adequate fleet at all times in a position to maintain safe communications by sea. Therefore the absolute naval command of the Western Mediterranean, together with the undeferred organization of a reliable trans-Mediterranean flying service, must be the basis of the French naval policy, which means-remembering the Goeben-Breslau affair-that the Republic cannot safely allow any continental power to eclipse her in the matter of speed and calibers. With these views, that were supported by the unanimity of the Senate, Minister Landry concurred, and announced that the 1921 Budget now under preparation would mark a first and vigorous step towards the expansion of the navy, and provide for super-scouts and aerial cruisers of bombardment. Contracts are being awarded for six torpilleurs of under 1000 tons, to carry 4-inch guns and 22-inch torpedoes, intended for general duties off the coasts and with the fleet, as well as for six 2000-ton conducteurs d'escadrilles of 36 knots to mount 5.5-inch weapons, designed for high sea work with the cruiser divisions. The "fragilité excessive" of the destroyers of 800 tons, that has been denounced in the Chamber, is this time to be avoided, the war having brought home to French naval men the value of robustness and of reliable sea speed. Similarly the new submersibles, made with the cooperation of private constructors, are to be freed from the notorious defects of the Lagrange type and to have reliability as their strong points. The foresight of the British Admiralty in providing for an ample reserve of oil fuel for British ships is much admired and envied on this side, where governmental instability and traditional incompetence at the head do not permit the application of the old precept: Gouverner c'est prévoir. Oil fuel in adequate quantity has become the primary condition of sea and air power, and for the present at least France is badly handicapped in this respect, though bright hopes are entertained for the future. Under recent arrangements France is to receive 25 per cent of the production of the Mossul oilfields and of the Anglo-Persian Oil Co., but this source of supply is subordinated to the Franco-British alliance, and Gallic experts would like to be independent. Hence the efforts being made to develop the petroleum wealth of North Africa. The three zones of Algerian wells yield some 30 tons of oil per day, the rate of supply being relatively higher than is the case with either Rumanian and American wells. Preparations for the opening of petroleum wells are being made in Tunisia and Morocco, whilst Franco-British concerns are already tackling the problem of petroleum exploitation in Madagascar and Indo-China, where exist abundant oilfields. France is now suffering so very much from shortage of fuel that the administrative red tape that is peculiar to our Republican régime is not this time to be allowed to delay progress, and in a very few years there is a probability of our Republic being in possession of a fully-adequate oil supply of her own, a fait nouveau that will have far-reaching consequences in fighting efficiency and all-round maritime expansion. The unpalatable result of the actual fuel shortage may be gauged from the lamentations of a vieil amiral in a recent number of the Moniteur de la Flotte. French battleships are keeping to harbor for the sake of economy; erreur fatale, conséquences incalculables, jubilation among Toulon publicans and spirit dealers, but indignation and disgust on the part of thoughtful Frenchmen. The 24,000-ton Courbets are reproached with consuming one ton of coal per mile-de l'argent en fumée, as used to say the late Mons. Pelletanbut a flotte immobile et stagnante is nothing more than expensive makebelieve that deceives no one. British squadrons, it is noted, are keeping in splendid trim, ever at sea, with motors and armament in perfect working condition; and even Italy, despite her slender resources, is straining every nerve to make her dreadnoughts and flotillas something more than a naval pretence. In truth, the situation is not quite so bad as depicted; new life is gradually being instilled into the flotillas that comprise newly-refitted destroyers and submarines, and the Charlier battleships are to test at sea their recent motor and ballistic improvements in combined maneuvers with the Toulon and Bizerta flotillas. Investigations made by the Commission de la Marine point to a deterioration of the quality of the navy personnel as the consequence of injudicious recruiting and of disastrous blunders by the Leygues Administration. The seafaring Bretons, who formerly composed the bulk of the fleet and were a tried element of fighting strength, have been mostly replaced in the course of the last three years by 46,000 short-term volunteers (engagés volontaires), of whom it has been officially stated that 50 per cent remain invinciblement refractaires à toute éducation maritime. Happily this rabble in naval uniform that caused the Black Sea rebellion is to be completely cleared out of the service by the end of 1921, when the Gallic Navy will become anew a service of true seamen, fully alive to the grandeur of the maritime career and inferior to none in professional worth. The physical standard especially will be higher than at any previous time, as the result of the patriotic efforts of Minister Landry, who from the first grasped this capital fact, long realized in England, but ignored by his predecessors, that bodily |