THE NAVY LEAGUE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 156, 29 March 1938, Page 8

THE NAVY LEAGUE

Welcome To Vice-Admiral Harper SEA CADET MOVEMENT Vice-Admiral J. E. T. Harper, C. 8., M.V.0., R.N.(ret.), returned to New Zealand by the Tamaroa, after an absence of two years, and arrived at Wellington yesterday morning. He will leave shortly on a visit to Australia, where he will lecture under the auspices of the Navy League. Yesterday afternoon Admiral Harper, accompanied by his son, Lieutenant J. A. Harper, who is navigating officer of H.M. escort ship Leith, was welcomed by the members of the executive committee of the Wellington branch of the Navy League. Sir James Grose, president of the Navy League, said they were pleased to see Admiral Harper back again in New Zealand and still playing a great part in the work of the Navy League. He was about to go on to Australia to carry on the good work there of increasing interest in the navy. The Navy League existed for the purpose of influencing public opinion in the paramount need of maintaining a navy adequate to meet the requirements of the whole Empire. An adequately strong navy was the greatest power in the world for the preservation of peace.

Vice-Admiral Harper, in reply, said a point he wished to emphasise was that the people, should be brought to realise that naval defence was not an insular matter. It was not merely a British matter, not a New Zealand matter, not an Australian matter. It was a matter of concern to the whole Empire and to the very existence of the Empire. They must learn to think of the navy and naval defence in terms of Empire. The same remarks applied to the Navy League in New Zealand, as in Australia. There was not enough co-operation among the branches of the Navy League in New Zealand, Where, he felt strongly, they should work closely together and on Wellington as a pivotal centre.

Referring to the Sea Cadet Corps. Admiral Harper said it was 20 years older than any Boy Scout movement. It was started in the ’eighties of last century by the Navy League to get hold of boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The motto of the Sea Cadet Corps was. “For God, for King, for Empire.” In Britain it received very generous support from the Admiralty, and it was doing a very great work in getting sea sense into boys and instilling into them ideas of order and discipline. The Admiralty realised that whether the boys went to sea or not, the work of the Sea Cadet Corps was of very great social value.

Admiral Harper said there was never any shortage of recruits for the Royal Navy in Britain. There was a time in recent years when the navy had been cut to the bone and when the Admiralty was able to accept only 20 per cent, of the recruits offering. The secret of the success of the'Sea Cadet Corps movement at Home was that it was supported largely by local subscriptions. At present more than 20,000 boys were enrolled in the corps, of which 17 new branches had been started recently. Admiral Harper concluded by paying a tribute to Sir Janies Grose for the great service he had rendered to the Navy League in New Zealand.