NEW ARK ROYAL

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 45, 17 November 1941, Page 8

NEW ARK ROYAL

Naval Fund Campaigns In Britain THE FINANCIAL WAR EFFORT

(British Official Wireless.)

(Received November IG, 7 p.m.)

RUGBY, November 15.

The City of Leeds, which intended to adopt the Ark Hoyal after the -Warships Week” in January, aims now to raise £3,500,000 for a new Ark Hoyal.

“Warships Weeks” began today in more than 20 British towns. Liverpool, which intends to raise £10,000,000— enough to adopt the battleship Prince of Wales, which was built at Birken-head-obtained half this sum today within half an hour of the opening Ot the campaign. Striking results were obtained m the campaigns held in various other towns from November 1 to 8. Ten districts or ■-towns greatly exceeded the totals they had set out to obtain. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Alexander, opening Liverpool’s campaign today, stressed that this new drive for funds was a most essential part of the British war effort. "We are spending over £13,000,000 a day. £11,000,000 of which is on account of the war services,” he said. These are staggering figures; yet, even so, Germany is spending a higher percentage of her national income on war purposes than we are.

“It is clear, however, that taxation alone will not solve the problem of financing our expenditure.’’ he said. Direct taxation in some cases is now as much as 19/6 in the £, and it has reached the stage where a further advance would lead to the danger of diminishing returns.” Since May, 1940, said Mr. Alexander, the situation had been far more difficult than during the first eight months of the war. For a long period, starting with Dunkirk, the British Navy had to face an attack upon the nation’s lifelines which had taken up the work of live allied fleets in the last war. Moreover, the enemy had a tremendous advantage compared with the last war by obtaining control of the coastline from the north of Norway to the Bay of Biscay, from which raiders and U-boats could slink out, long distance aircraft could fly with bomb and torpedo, and E-boats could work at night in the Channel and along the east coast. Moreover, heavy aircraft operating over the sea had developed the mine menace to an extent incomparably greater than had previously been experienced. Magnificent Results. “With the limited forces at our disposal the results which have been achieved by our destroyers, corvettes, anti-submarine and other patrolling trawlers, and minesweepers'are simply magnificent,” Mr. Alexander said, ‘‘We have owed it to them, that since last January, when we touched, bottom, our imports have steadily increased. These results are all the more remarkable in view of the heavy commitments in convoying supplies to the Middle East and elsewhere.”

The Minister emphasized that everything possible was being done in Britain to render the most effective help possible to her gallant allies. “That help,” lie said, “is indeed very large.” lie also expressed warm appreciation of America’s action in revising the Neutrality Bill, and of the magnificent help accorded by the repair of important warships and merchantmen in American ports. Mr. Alexander concluded, "Our war aims are broadly stated in the Atlantic charter. This, in turn, may be summarized into a determination that no nation shall ever again be able to wage an aggressive war. There can be no peace with Hitler and his entourage. He and the evil spirit which inspires Nazism have got to be destroyed.” In an earlier statement, Mr. Alexander, describing the loss of the Ark Hoyal as a sad blow to the Royal Navy, said that the “Old Ark.” as the sailors called her, had given the nation a rich dividend. Her planes hunted the Graf Spec and U-boats, covered the attack on Norway, and had a lot to do in finishing off the Bismarck.