The Dominion THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1924. AN IMPERIAL OCCASION

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 180, 24 April 1924, Page 6

The Dominion THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1924. AN IMPERIAL OCCASION

It is particularly fitting and appropriate that the ships of the British Special Service Squadron, whoso visit has been eagerly anticipated, should enter Wellington harbour on the eve of Anzac Day. Inhabiting an outlying Dominion of the Empire, New Zealanders have always been keenly aware of their dependence on the Navy. The associations thus developed were wonderfully deepened and strengthened by the events of the Great War. In the Gallipoli campaign, the foundations were laid of a firm and enduring comradeship between the officers and men of the Navy and those of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. That comradeship was broadened as the war continued. None are better aware than New Zealanders that the war effort of their country would have been crippled or paralysed had not the British Navy kept the routes of ocean travel open and in a remarkable degree secure against enemy interference. Strong ties not of kinship only, but of comradeship, will thus impart meaning and significance to the, participation by Admiral Field and the officers and men under his command in the local commemoration of Anzac Day. The ninth anniversary of the original Anzac Day—the day on which New Zealanders and Australians demonstrated in a single magnificent effort that they were soldiers of whom any country might be proud—is made memorable in other ways than by the visit of the principal ships of the British Special Service Squadron. Tardily enough, the hope is beginning to appear that the sacrifices of our own soldiers and those of their comrades in the Imperial and allied armies and navies were not made in vain, but have, in fact and truth, opened the portals of a new and better era in human history. At the height of their war effort, the Allies proclaimed that they were fighting to end war and to establish settled peace in the world. In the welter of national and international confusion that followed on the Armistice, and. the Peace Conference, these proud claims appeared for a time to have gone down into permanent oblivion. To-day it seems not altogether impossible that they may be revived and that som<> approach may be made to their realisation. The prospects of peaceful settlement in Europe, if they are still in some respects doubtful, are yet better and brighter than they have been at any time for several years past. It is certainly not less Important to this country and the Empire that in the countries bordering the Pacific, ill spite of existing differences of opinion between America and Japan, the desire for a further mutual limitation of naval and other armaments is finding open and insistent expression. The memory of those whose deeds and sacrifices are commemorated on Anzao Day cannot be honoured better than by seconding and supporting efforts to establish safeguards of world peace.. The condition, of course, is implied that further progress in limiting armaments must be governed by an actual improvement in international relationships, and not by a disposition to indulge in false hopes, and to take national and Imperial security for granted. We are at a stage when the future and the possibilities it holds are ' a -matter rather of conjecture than assured opinion. The abandonment of the Singapore scheme has the appearance of a step that was taken unwisely because it was taken prematurely. Even this step may yet be justified, however, if America and Japan show themselves ready to accept the lead that Britain has offered. . Should such a response be withheld, the whole question of British naval policy in the Pacific obviously wiU demand reconstruction. On all grounds this country evidently must be prepared to do its part in maintaining the Navy at whatever strength the interests of national and Imperial security may demand. It is equally clear, however that in the extent to which reason prevails in the world limits will be set to the construction of competitive armaments. On a number of grounds it seems possible that the great fighting ships which are to be welcomed in Wellington to-day may be amongst the last of their kind. Apart from any prospect of further naval limitation, there is the possibility that before long the mammoth surface warship may be outcassed by smaller and deadlier fighting The visit in any case is a memorable and noteworthy event in the history of the capital city of the Dominion. It cannot sufficiently be regretted that the occasion is in a measure spoiled by the railway strike. Above all it is to be regretted that thousands of country children to whom an inspection of the great battle cruisers would have been the event of a lifetime will be deprived b- the action of the railwaymen of that experience.