BRILLIANT WORK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 50, 28 February 1940, Page 7

BRILLIANT WORK.

PRAISE FOR NAVY.

Protection For Merchant Shipping.

COMPLIMENT TO FRENCH

(Received 1 p.m.) RUGBY, February 27. In his speech in the House of Commons, Mr. Churchill said: "We have lost, on the balance of loss and gain, less than 200,000 tons of merchant shipping out of 17,500,000 tons of ocean-going ships.

As to cargoes, Mr. Churchill said that more enemy cargoes had been captured than the British themselves had lost, »od, although there was Inevitable dislocation at the beginning of the war, there had been a steady improvement rince the war broke out.

In January the Navy carried safely into British harbours, in the teeth of U-boats, mines and winter gales and fog, considerably more than four-fifths of the peace-time average, taken on the whole of summer and winter alike, of the three preceding years. He added that exports were equal in December *nd January to some months of 1938.

With the seasonal increase at hand, he taw no reason, apart from any new development of enemy action, why the figures should not be improved upon, •*1 considering the number of ships withdrawn for naval and military transport service, Mr. Churchill said that *l»re was nothing in these results to justify the idea that British national Me was endangered.

That life continued with increasing vigour. "Any reductions or austerities in home consumption which we found w find necessary to impose upon our•elves are not due to any failure of we Navy to keep the seas open, but to -.•J* need of making prudent preparations against the unknown, and raising Mβ war effort to the highest pitch." I For the Opposition, Mr. A. V. AlexanWγ, First Lord in the Labour Government, paid a tribute to Mr. Churchill's ••dership of the Navy. He said: "We •••ire to pay our tribute to the work w the Navy since the war broke out. « certainly has been magnificent."

He continued, amidst cheers: "I feel *• should recognise officially in this House the very great service the Navy Jwle has been rendered to it by its col**gues in the French Fleet, who have ■one magnificent work on the sea."

Mr. Churchill stated that nearly 2000 merchant ships were now armed with <*nnon, as distinct from machine-guns.