TRAFALGAR PAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 90, 10 January 1919, Page 2

TRAFALGAR PAY

It is the custom of the British Women's Patriotic League to send every Trafalgar Day a message of.aopieciation.to.the men of,the fleet from tho w'omen,,of .Britain . (says. .the". ".Queen"),' lvensingfon,.' Town Hall was the scone of this ycarfs gathering, which was held in conjunction With the Ladies'.Guild of the. British, .and Foreign • Sailors' Society. The ' meeting Will be rendered rh'onior.aMo .by. the .'.fact that the women of the British,-Empire •t!iM'e , ;;joined-'"tpgether-to:show that Appreciation in lasting and,.tangible:fonn by taking the first steps towards establishing a home of Vest for sailors and. a .hostel for training boys , for the mercantile marine, as a memorial to the seamen who ha»ve given their lives for their country. Princess -Patricia received a number of purses containing over .£2OOO, whichwilt go to start the fund o'f0£50;60fl; Among..the pufses'' presented . were one each from the. Woolwich -lminitioh/.'girls; tho matron of the-.Wyndhnm- Day' Nursery, the Catholic Women's League,' mid one. all the way, from New .Zealand. The little son of Sir William Davison,- Mayor of -'-Kensington, who .presided, also presented one.- •.".-'••■

The message to.be sent, to.the.flee.t was proposed-by- Lady Campbell,■ chairwoman of the B.'W.P.Lv, and Beconded. by • Ml'.' V. L. ffannori.'.lt was,'aa follows:—l' That on the anniversary of the-Battle-of-Tra-falgar .the' British ' AVomen's Patriotic League and'-the British and. Foreign Sailors'. Society' wi§h< to place on record their pride in and deep gratitude for the magnificent and unceasing work of our Navv, mercantile.... marine,'. and. ;•.' the auxiliary fleet, and -their,.admiration for the courage and endurance which • all ranks havo shown under circumstances unparalleled in the history of tho-world. The record of the last four years proves that the spirit .of- Nelson .sfil}.'.lives to maintain the glorious tradition of our Navy." J£r. Lloyd George wrote to, the Dowager Lady Dimsdale, president, of tho Ladies' Guild, expressing, his regr'ei'at being unable to attend the meeting,-and emphasised the nation's obligation to the merchant seamen for their inestimable services to tho Empire and ciyilisatiou, and extolling their, boundless courage and splendiu chivalry. "Wo owe to the sailors a debt wo may attempt to acknowledge, but' which we will never bo able to .discharge," wrote the Premier, and. praised the proposalto raise a memorial hostel in ths Port of London as a material acknowledgment of the debt.

An interesting .feature of the afternoon was the presentation by' Lady 'Dimsdale to Princess. Patricia of a-tiny'bust'of Nelson, made of copper from . H.M.S. Victory. Air. Hanuon spoke of tho services of the merchantmen as being beyoiid price. He also gave'some'figures to make people realise what tno Royal Ravy has been doing all during the war. Its transports have', curried sixteen million hghting men, and the casualties amount only to a loss-of one man'.in every ten thousand. Our Navy is responsible lor tho. safety of the. legions ot American and overseas troops.- The victories in Franco now are-due to the.vigilance, and efficiency of tue Navy and mercantile marine. They have - fed and clothed the' army in Saiunika, ana brought in- food and raw materials, so that we have scarcely felt the war. where food and clothing are concerned, "iet in one weeK recently 1200 ship's, had. conie into London port, and becauso they had. no'-ac-commodation or means of helping them not one-third of the sailors could find accommodation, and he appealed to the women of the Empire to see that things Mould not remain so.

Oh the platform .were: Lady Caurpbell, Mrs. A. Brown, Mrs. Culling. Cans Lady Dimsdule, Lady William Cecil, Mrs. Chisholm, Lady Cooper,. ' Lady. Cowan, Mrs.- Davies, Mrs. Townsond Green, Sir Frederick .Ureen, Mrs. P. lllingworth, Mrs. Leland, Lady Llangattock, - Lady Nathan, Lady Ihehards, Lady Swnythliug, and.Lady. Sydenham. ... .

According to a recent, estimate/by. the "Homme Libre", of. Paris (Clemenceau's organ), Germany will have to demobilise, 5,340,000 men. This number includes 500,000 wounded'undergoing medical treatment iu German hospitals and 200,000. youth? of the 1920 Class in -twining; Bat to be added to these figures are some hundreds of thousands of prisoners-in the allies' hands'. The same authority .calculates that Germany-enrolled a-total of 10,900,000 mon for. the "entire period-of the war, which moans,ls per cent, of the whole population and 70 per cent; of the males between the ages of 18 and 50. Only 3,000,000 of military ago remained, and Iheso wero either medically, unfit, .resident abroad,. or exempted, for. work in factories..