THE PUBLIC AND THE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3066, 30 April 1917, Page 7

THE PUBLIC AND THE

tfIAT THE NAVY LEAGUE HAS DONE SILENT FORCE BEHIND THE ADMIRALTY .Amongst, various matters; 'that will engage the attention of householders It ;? 9 Miaual :Hchool olw'tdons this tevenuiis mil be a circular from the xmg .torth the aims'■and achievements of th IS silMb force behind the Admiraty, and jts topes for the future. liio oiroular is on an address to be delivered by Mr. Ro'bert Darroch. Wu re r o f local branch; and ...headmaster «£ the. Roseneath School, at. meeting, and afterwards discussed,. • - it, i s hoped that similar and -stim-alating discussions will be inaa"* at -the-other meetings. The address .is informative, and concludes witi) an appeal to the'younger genora-t-ioyjv . ■■■-..-*.. ■, •. ■

; n The.league is a striotly- non-party • . (organisation, the objeot of' which is to .upon, the . Government and each '.individual electorate the > paramount of an adequate Navy as «he best guarantee of our "national sarety and of peace. Its agencies are employed in inculcating in the people a iknowledge of the supreme importance Navy as a protection from invasion, as 1 a means whereby the food, th© industries, and the\float:ug' ctm;merce of the Empire are safeguarded, . iand as the necessary bond and protector of the Empire. - : 'The league was founded by a few thoughtful men ' in England in January; 1895, men who Treated the great danger of the German menace and its rapidly-growing Bavy.'. Other countries soon appreci- ■. (itedthe value which must accrue from •» body of the publio taking an intelligent and thoughtful interest in naval affairs, and Navy Leagues were estab,lißhed.,in Germany, Italy,. Japan, the 'United States, and in other countries.- _■!■ ..The German Navy League, by way of 'contrast to the English Navy League, ! : went ahead by-leapsand bounds. It «oon had over, one million members, ■.hundreds, of thousands of pounds for .propaganda work; it was!officially re«pgnised by the War Lords and by the German Parliament, and its,annual : 'conferences .were.: held in one of thp , royal'palaces. ' , ■ '. • ' Branches of the British Navy League i>ere_ established in many parts of-the by an envoy, sent out from the Home Office some fourteen years . ago. Captain Halsey, of- H.'M.S. ■New Zealand, on hib return to London from the great world tour,- said •' Wherever we have been in the Britash Dominions the Navy League pros,pers._ . The work of tho. leagna iu tlio I)ominions is indeed a grand worlc for i the>_Empire, and ithe aspect of,-it particularly want:to emphasise is the 1 trork among the '.young , in , 'bringing them-up;. to realise what their duties. and responsibilities-to the Empire are;"

', ■.-.;.. After the war. "After the war. the league will enter ■■'upon the second stage pf. its work. What will the future generations realty.' know , and feel about the 'present world • Without'proper education through, all .the. ages- '.the : dastardly work pf thebutcher conquerors of B_elgiuin, the murderert of the Lusitania, and the perjurers of ,the Scrap - , of Paper will be forgotten, or will passinto the realms of mythology. Thanks in some measure to the Navy League, the Navy was efficient and ready at the outbreak of war. It put to sea on July 31,'and-cleverly "obtained the initiative over the German High Sea 'Fleetjn .the.lforth Sea..\The Navy .armaments increased bj; twelve millions

during th ten years preceeding the vrar. Our sea-borne trade in ten years advanced by £350,000,000, 'and our general increase of income by £500,000,000.-. ■ Taking the Naval and Military estimates 'together, tho charges for Defence in the Empire as a whole amount to 3 per cent, on the estimated annual income of the people, and this is not an exorbitant premium to pay for security. The cost of the British Nary during the last hundred years has not been as much as the cost to England of one year of war. The Navy Leape' has ahvays stood for a. big Navy. During the last four years, or,' rather for four, years before-the war, it advocated, in addition, supremacy in the air. Had England lietened to the insidious pleadings of the Little Navy School and allowed the process of weakening our Navy to proceed unchecked, who can tell that to-day we might not have seen the.German Navy riding triumphantly in command.of the seas. As leader of the Little- Navy Party, Mr. Murray Mac Donald moved in tho House of Commons in March, 1911, this egregious resolution: 'That | this House views with alarm the enormous increase during recent years in. the expenditure on the Army and on the' Navy, and is of opinion that it ought to.-:be reduced.' Yet he was made a Privy Councillor in June, 1916! "Mr. Eobert Yerburgh, M..P. for Chester, as president of the Navy League, stumped the country for seventeen years, and spent tireless energy and much money in the cause of the Big Navy. Hβ died in December last,_ a patriot and not a , self-seeking politician. We want the men, women, and children of to-day and of the future to be patriots, and as patriots to enrol in the Navy League, the greatest of all patriotic institutions, before the war, during the war, and after the war. We particularly want the children, because they are the men and women of tho future. Parents, enoourage your children to join the Navy League for its own sake, and not for any medal, book, or trip to a warship wliioh they may receive. Also, teact them to shilling subscription from their own savinge or let them/derive it'from some act of thrift or self-denial. Navy League ohildren are given the opportunity of writing essays from time to time on naval subjects; The Rev. J. Chisholm, who examined a number of essays written by Dunedin school children, said: 'It is hardly' possible to estimate the value of these essays in their relation to the writers themselves, and, through them, upon, the sentiment of the community at large.\ If the Navy League accomplishes nothing more than tho leavening of so many young and diffueiv© minds with such considerations as are contained in those essays, it has assuredly g-ustified its existence and made good ite claim to general support. The vivid historical knowledge, the clear estimate of international relationships, the up-to-date acquaintance with the latest indentions m naval armaments, the important place that airships are likely to hold in future warfare, nnd, above all, the combination of.intense patriotism with a sympathetic' ciation of the claims of other buds— these and many more fine qualities in the eesays have impressed me with a proud hopefulness for the community that has as its rich heritage so many clear-headed and leal-hearted sons and daughters. May God blese them all, and bless the League that is ddine; such noble service in turning so much fresh thought to so many vital ques- i tions.' " .