THE EMPIRE'S NAVY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 137, 12 June 1922, Page 4

THE EMPIRE'S NAVY.

Tho Washington Conference has necessitated some revisions of the constitution of the Navy League and some modification "f the policy for which it. originally stood. As now outlined, the policy of the League will be to secure complete naval protection for British subjects and British commerce the world over, and to onsure the proper co-ordina-tion of the naval and air force strengths.

The League will aleo aim at fostering among the young an appreciation of the importance of the eea at ail times for a widely-scattered Empire like ours, ana at doing everything possible to promote the prosperity and activity of the mercantile marine. Our Empire is kept together not so much by racial ties, strong as they are, as by community of idea*, community of interests, and inter-

dependence. The greatest community [ J of interest ie the common interest we ' 1 all have in keeping open the avenues of I commerce, and this can only be done by 1 I keeping watch and seeing that the seas j are completely protected. How this can ! best be done under present circumstances j has been the subject of much contro- ; versy and difference of opinion. Admiral ; Wemytra contends that submarines, if j j legitimately used, are practically useless | ,as commerce destroyers. This opinion is contradicted by Mr. Balfour, who I said at Washington that it was only as a commerce destroj-er that the submarine had proved successful. Admiral Sims, of the United States Navy, thinks submarines and aircraft are the most ' ! important factors in the naval warfare jof the future, both as regards fleet ; actions and the destruction of commerce. : Experience has proved that the sub- I marine is. when used as Germany used it, a real danger to commerce, aurt the | perfecting of some means of meeting this danger is of prime importance for I the safety of our commerce in case we ; should ever again he involved in war. ; j Lord Wemyss thinks the decisions reached at the Washington Conference I "can only fill with regret and even dismay thewe who realise their potcntiali- ; I ties. -. He prefers the old Anglo-Japanese ' alliance to the new Four Power Pact. I Admiral Sim?, on the other hand, thinks ; that "either the attitude of Australia, , i Xcw Zealand, Canada, and Sviutli Africa would in time have weakened the value of that alliance, or the alliancv would have impaired the strength nf the bond between these young so-called nation? and the Mother Country; for the tie between them and Great Britain i« not primarily determined by la we or by guarantees, hut by mutual interests and by powerful sentiments. - ' The American admiral sees the surest protection for the British Empire in a close understanding, or even alliance with the United .States; in a greater recotmition of the value of moral forces, *nd in a recollection of the words spoken by the Corin- i ♦ hians to the Athenians in 43" B.C. "To ! do no injustice to a neighbour is a eurer source of strength than to gain a momentary advantage under the. influence of expediency." After all, it is tho sea spirit that has made and kept mir | Empire, and ac long as this spirit ip maintained we need have no real fear i for our future. As Admiral Sims says, , "Moral force keeps the Empire together,' and it is by virtue of thie that Britannia still rules the waves."