NAVY LEAGUE "SOCIAL"

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 23, 22 October 1918, Page 6

NAVY LEAGUE "SOCIAL"

Members of the Navy League celebrated Nelson Day at a social gathering in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall last night. The Governor-General (Lord Liverpool) and the Countess of Liverpool, the Prime Minister (Right Hon. W. F. Massey), Sir Joseph Ward (Dominion president of the Navy League), and Captain Hall-Thompson, (Naval Adviser to the New Zealand Government) were among those present. The Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. P. 'Luke) briefly welcomed the visitors. _ Sir Joseph Ward, who was received with applause, said that Nelson for the British Empiro represented the power that had broken Napoleonic tyranny, just as Focli and Haig were'now breaking Prussian tyranny. (Applause.) The death of Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar had left a splendid tradition, winch to-day animated the vast British Nary commanded by Admiral Beatty. ihe war had made' the Trafalgar Monument, erected in the heart of London, familiar to thousands of New Zealand boys. The work of the .Navy in the present war could not be presented adequately in mere words. The Navy, and the Navy alone,, had made the winning of the war possible. The men of the Navy had defeated the submarine menace. They had kept the German Navy locked in the • the Kiel Canal. He hoped that the German ships were going to come out into the open before the close of the war. The battle that would take place then would be the greatest sea battle ever known, but the end would not be in doubt, and the destruction or the surrender of the German Navy would bo the proper and just end of German naval aspirations. Sir. Joseph Ward mentioned that when ho and Mr. Massey were returning to Now Zealand in tho Niagara in 1917 they hod a narrow escape from being captured by the ■ German raider Wolf. There was no doubt that the Wolf had been after them, but it had failed to catch them. "To contemplate. Mr. Massey aud myself being shut up in Germany for the duration of the war, and other men being left to mm the Parliamentary institution here, is too dreadful for words," said Sir Joseph Ward amid laughter. The representatives of New Zealand.had 6een something of the work pi tho.Navy during their recent journey to Britain, and everything they had seen had added to their respect for the officers and men of the Fleet. Ihe convoy in which they had crossed the Atlantic eastward bound had carried 28.0C0 American soldiers, and it had been guarded and tended by the Fleet with detailed thoroughness hardly to be understood by people who had not been brought into contact with the war nt sea. The Navy had saved the Empire in the present' war, and in doing that it had saved democracy and civilisation. The Allied Powers would have had no chance of defeating Prussian aggression if the German Navy had held the 6ca. But the British Navy had held the sea from the hour the first shot was fired, and had earned the undying gratitude of every man and woman in the British Empire. The men of the merchant service 'had done their work during the war no less determinedly and courageously than tho men of the Navy. They had faced great perils without pause or hesitation in order that soldiers, food, and munitions might be moved across tho seas, and lie felt that their work ought to be recognised by the Empire m n tangiblo wav. The services rendered by the merchant service must be recognised when tho conditions of the" service were being considered. Sir Josepn Ward gave some particulars of the Olympic, the giant liner in which he had crossed the Atlantic. The Olympic, ho said, was about 40,000 tons burden she carried a heavy armament and she averaged a speed of 21 Knots. She did not need convov, because the submarines could not c'atcli her. In fact, she had sunk a submarine quite recently by ramming it. Sir Joseph Ward spoke of tho wonderful war organisation to be seen in Great Britain. Anew Britain had arisen. The effect of the wav was seen on every side, tho whole nation, including the women, worked whole-heartedly ' to secure the victory that happily was now in sight. England was wonderfully 1 prosperous. The war had meant groat 1 industrial activity, and the expenditure ' of enormous sums of money: Great pro- ' fits were possible under these conditions, but there were men all over England, 1 France, and America who had shown '■ their willingness to put business and , profit aside in order to servo the con. ; mon end. In conclusion Sir Joseph Waid ' naid that he hoped twelve ! to assist in celebrating another Aelson ' Day, and to bo able on that occasion 1 to rejoice in the successful termination 1 of the present war, and the fruition o ' the labours of the great soldiers and , sailors who were carrying on tho 1 work Nelson did in the cause of freedom. 1 During the evening Miss M'Enroe sang ! "There's a Land" and "A 3.rthd». ' and Mr. H. V. Wood sang '"lake a-Pavr ■ of Sparkling Eyes," "Sally Homer," and J "liufe Britannia." Supper wasprovided \ and was shared by boys from the tiara- , in? ship Amokura. , T ' The proceedings closed with the JNaJ tional Anthem.