I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. E. HOLLAND
SECTION 14
The Naval Bombardment of Open Coast Towns
The four letters which first follow were suggested by the British Naval Manœuvres of 1888, during which operations were supposed to be carried on, by the squadron playing the part of a hostile fleet, which I ventured to assert to be in contravention of international law. Many letters were written by naval men in a contrary sense, and the report of a committee of admirals appointed to consider, among other questions, "the feasibility and expediency of cruisers making raids on an enemy's coasts and unprotected towns for the purpose of levying contributions," was to the effect that "there can be no doubt about the feasibility of such operations by a maritime enemy possessed of sufficient power; and as to the expediency, there can be as little doubt [113]but that any Power at war with Great Britain will adopt every possible means of weakening her enemy; and we know of no means more efficacious for making an enemy feel the pinch of war than by thus destroying his property and touching his pocket." (Parl. Paper, 1889 [c. 5632], pp. 4, 8.) The supposed hostile squadron had, it seems, received express instructions "to attack any port in Great Britain." (See more fully in the writer's Studies in International Law, 1898, p. 96.) The fifth letter was suggested by a Russian protest against alleged Japanese action in 1904.
The subsequent history of this controversy, some account of which will be found at the end of this section, has, it is submitted, established the correctness of the views maintained in it.
Sir,—I trust we may soon learn on authority whether or no the enemies of this country are conducting naval hostilities in accordance with the rules of civilised warfare. I read with indignation that the Spider has destroyed Greenock; that she announced her intention of "blowing down" Ardrossan; that she has been "shelling the fine marine residences and watering-places in the Vale of Clyde." Can this be true, and was there really any ground for expecting that "a bombardment of the outside coast of the Isle of Wight" would take place last night?
Your obedient servant,