BRITISH EMPIRE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 104, 30 October 1923, Page 6

BRITISH EMPIRE

NECESSITY FOR DEFENCE

ADDRESS BY SIR JOSEPH WARD

4n imprewive celebration of Trafalgar Day took place at the Kelburn Normal School to-day. The pupils of the school and the students of the .Training College assembled in the large gymnasium-room, arid, after a recitation by boys of the sixth standard and the singing of '.' The H«om," the headmaster, Mr. B. T. Blake, explained that they had met to celebrate the Battle of Trafalgar, which wa> fought on 21st October, 1805. On that day there was fought off the coast of.Spain, and very close to Cape Trafalgar; a battle in which tho British Fleet defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets, and gave to England security from Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion. At that request of the committee of the. Navy League, Sir Joseph Ward, former Prime Minister, had consented to address tije school children.

Sir Joseph Ward said it gave him pleasure to come and speak upon an event—the victory of Lord Nelson—that bad done so much to influence the hißtory not only of the British Empire, but of the whole world. The destiny of the British Empire was affected in a way that added lustre to Nelson's name. It was a wonderful achievement, and had the most far-reaohing results. Sir Joseph paid he had had the opportunity of being on board Nelson's ship, the Victory, on probably a dozen different occasions, and he had stood upon the spot where Nelson fell. He would never forget the solemn feeling which came over him when he first stood on the historic spot' where Nelson fell, and when he reflected on'"what it meant. During the last Great War the spirit of Nelson, added Sir Joseph with emphasis, permeated the whole of the officers and men, and their achievements had added lustre to the traditions of our Navy. : "BE BEADY!" Proceeding, Sir Joseph Ward said he desired to impress upon those present the aims of the Navy League. Our Empire possessed a galaxy of no less than »uC independent nations, separated by ■ thousands of miles of ocean, and our Empire had largely to depend upon the strength, skill, and intrepidity of the officers and men of the Navy. In all human probability no other empire ■would ever possess the galaxy of young nations which now made the British Empire. It was of supreme importance in view of the scattered nature of the Empire that we should maintain that position which was won for us over 118 year* ago. There were, unhappily, in 'all parts of the Empire some people who did; not see eye to eye with us, but the vast majority of the people of the Era- '• piri looked upon it as an imperative duty to Maintain our Navy in sufficient i Strength to keep our Empire together, to 'preserve our sea routes, for without this';onr Empire would fail in a prolonged struggle; without it, the British Isles could be starved in a comparatively short period of time. One of the great elements that were necessary to preserve the control of the sea was an adequate and trained Navy. That, of course, was not the only thing required, tut it Was the most important element ■until the time arrived—and he sincerely -"Hoped that it would eventually ar-rive^-when all the countries of the world •would decide to have no navies at all. But so long as any other great country liad.la._navy, the* British Empire was bound to have a Navy. Scientists had done _an immense amount in recent times to develop the- airplane and the submarine ; and if a great war took place in the future—and who could say that another war would not occur?—these new inventions were bound to come into it to a large extent as part of a system of defence. Such inventions, too, were for-, midable and disastrous in many respects. Sir.; Joseph said that many of those who advocated the "maintenance of an adequate Navy were just as opposed to war as the greatest peace advocate. But as com-mon-sense people let us see the necessity for being ready to a certain extent. ITALY'S RECENT ACTION. Sir Joseph, in support of this, then alluded to the recent murder of an Italian general and his staff, and the fact of the seizure of Corfu by the Italian fleet. Whilst the best thinkers of the world had hoped that the Great War had given the world such a surfeit from the point of view of disaster to human beings—for twenty-three millions of men were killed or wounded in that war : in view of all that, one would have thought that men with great responsibilities upon their shoulders would have exhausted every means before taking a; step which might mean war. But that showed that human nature could not-be changed in a hurry. Man was born a fighting animal. It was in his 1 blood. They found it in every walk of life.; It had a broader meaning than that of actual warfare. They saw the deaire for supremacy on the football field and in commerce. We could not shut our eyes to the fact that so long as other countries maintained great navies and" great armies—although every means should be taken to prevent war—we must take measures for defence. While respecting the opinions of other people political or otherwise, it was the duty of all to look to the safety of their family and to the preservation of their country, and to see that they were not ieft behind m the race of preparedness, ed Sir.Joseph Ward for hiAddress 4«