But it
may be also that the Germans chose the time of day for fighting in
each case to accord with the position which they expected to occupy.

The British complain much of their bad luck, but there are
well-recognized advantages of position with regard to light and wind
and sea, and the Germans seem to have the luck, if luck it be, to find
these advantages habitually on their side.

The British call it luck that both in the battle off Horn Reef and
that off Dogger Bank the Germans escaped destruction through the
coming on of night. But how would this claim look if it were shown
that the Germans timed their movements with direct regard for
this--allowing themselves time for a decided thrust, to be followed by
withdrawal under cover of night before they could be brought to a
final reckoning? A careful study of the operations of the present war
shows, on both sea and land, a painstaking attention on the German
side to every detail, however small; and instances are not rare in
which they have benefited from this in ways which could hardly have
been anticipated.

TACTICS

There has been much discussion of the tactics of the battle. And
critics, not in foreign countries alone, but in England, have pointed
out errors of Beatty and Jellicoe, while many more have come to their
defense and shown conclusively that everything done was wisely done,
and that the escape of the German fleet and the losses by the British
fleet were due not to bad management but to bad luck.

The first point selected for criticism by those who venture to
criticize is the initial separation of Beatty's force from Jellicoe's
by from sixty to seventy miles. This certainly proved unfortunate, and
if it was deliberately planned it is undoubtedly open to criticism. A
reference, however, to the letter which Mr. Balfour addressed to the
mayors of Yarmouth and Lowestoft on May 8, 1916, suggests an
explanation which makes the separation of the two forces seem a
reasonable one. Mr. Balfour states, for the reassurance of the mayors
and their people, that a policy is to be adopted of keeping a force of
fast and powerful ships in certain ports near the English Channel,
where they will be ready to sally forth at short notice to run down
any force which may venture to cross the North Sea, whether for
raiding or for any other purpose. This foreshadows the assignment of a
force of battle cruisers to the south of England, and it is altogether
probable that Beatty