THE NAVY LEAGUE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 130, 28 November 1924, Page 8

THE NAVY LEAGUE

NELSON DAY DINNER

LORD CHELMSFORD ON NEW

CRUISERS

DEPENDENCE ON THE NAVY

(PKOII OUR OWN CORRESPONDING)

LONDON, 24th October.

More New Zealanders than usual attended the Nelson Day dinner arranged by the Navy League in celebration of the.,ll9th anniversary 'of. Trafalgar-and the death of Nelson. It took placo at the Conriaught Rooms, which were liberally decorated with flags and flowers. Behind the chair of. the president (the Marquis of Liiilithgow) was a photograph of the famous Admiral, surmounted by a wreath of laurel.

. Distinguished guests present included the Right Hon. the Viscount Chelmsford (First Lord of the Admiralty), the Right Hon. Lord Darling, the veteran Admiral,, the Hon; Sir Edmund R. 'Fremantle, Lieut.-General Sir R. D. Whigham, Air Vice-Marshal Sir J. M. Salmond, the Marchioness of Linlithgow Major-General Sir A. H. Russell, General Sir E. W. C. Chaytor, Sir Thomas Mackenzie, Mr. A. F. Roberts, Mrs. W. H. Cruickshank (who was present by special nomination from New Zealand) Captain J. R. Kirk, Mrs. Kirk, Miss Rees, Sir Joseph and Lady Cook, Lady Chelmsford, Viscount Curzon, and Baron and Baroness de Goldsmid da Palmaira. Immendiately before the dinner the president sent a message to the King and Queen conveying an' expression of the loyal feeling of those present, to the Throne. The reply duly received contained the following remark : "It is gratifying to His Majesty that the Victory has now been restored, and will for ever. record the achievements of our great sea heroes."

■J-'o JJ°rd Darling was entrusted the toast "The Glorious and Immortal Mem-ory-of Nelson! and his Colleagues." He said he never felt so embarrassed in his life nor more puzzled' to know how this came to be imposed upon him. The toast seemed to be absolutely typical of Lord Nelson. He .was a man who invariably remembereU those whom he called his comrades. When he went to fight his sea fights he called them a band of brothers—every . man in the Navy belonged to the- band of brothers—and it was greatly for that reason that Nelson was so enormously successful on the seas. Lord Nelson stood out above all others in the Navy, and represented its spirit absolutely and faithfully. There was no man who stood out so prominently in the Army. He had no doubt that it was because the spirit of Nelson animated the men of our Navy in the recent war that they behaved so gallantly and achieved such great results. (Cheers.) It was .impossible to help wondering what would have been the course, of events had Nelson been alive in the war just over. He would, of course, have found"absolutely 4 different- conditions, but we_couldnot but-. feel; sure that; if he had--had-t6 -use modern'■■ weap'ons-«he would have'used them with the ' hancTof a master. People who had been no nearer to-the sea than.-Margate— (laughter^riticise'd'our Admirals for their conduct at the Battle of Jutland, but it must be remembered that at Jutland it was hot merely.a question of taking the Navy into action but of taking the whole British Empire into action, and saving or losing that within a quarter of an hour. The British Navy, although now smaller, was still useful, and many -people apparently- wanted-it to fight their: battles/ v.-' -:-,- '.' ': "• ; . . The toast /was .'honoured in silence, all standing. '.;.';'.-. -: _■<>-;• - - ..: : ' ! -Admiral SiivE. R. - Fremantle proposed "His- -Majesty's -Dominions^. Overseas." He referred to the recent cruise of the Imperial Service .Sqtiadron, and hoped that the tour had cemented . the good j-feeling.. which hadi- always- existed- uctween the Royal' Navy and' the "Dominions. ■; Singapore;, was thought by the naval representatives to be of the greatest importance" to', the security of the Empire and to the safety of our com-munications-jn the Eastern seas.- . Mr. S. Harris (president of the Navy League of Canada) and Sir L. E. Groom (Attorney-General of Australia) responded. FOLLY OF UNPREPAREDNESS. ' The Marquis of Linlithgow,- proposing 'The Imperial Forces of the Crown," expressed . the view that there, was no profounder- error than- to suppose that the weakness and unpreparedness of this country for war would lead to the peace of the ..world. (Cheers.) There was nothing more certain to lead to a general, holocaust in every sea and in every continent than the break up of the British Empire. Everyone felt convinced that with the splendid new material with which the three Services were fille.d. there,.^wquj.d^be.jhe. same spirit of - loyalty and devotion to the person "of "tlie Sovereign, the-same determination to work.for efficiency, the same upholding of those great traditions which were the precious heritages not merely of the Services, but of the whole nation as we found-in the days of Nelson, in the latewar, .Snd down our long history.' '. :ri. r;.' IMPERIAL necessity. -1; Zyjs S9 unt Chelmsford said that when he-received the invitation to be present he felt it was his bounden duty to accept as holding the-office of First Lord ■of; the Admiralty. He was under no delusions that there were differences of* opinion between the Council of the Navy League,.;;; and;;the administration over which he*. had the-honour to preside, but he was "confident that, in fundamentals they were "agreed, and the fundamentals were summed up in the wonderful words: "It is upon the Navy under the good providence of God that the wealth, safety, and strength of the Kingdom chiefly ,depend." Those words found a place in the Articles of War in the time of Charles 11., and they had been handed down ever since in the preamble-of ,the. Act. The- British people,had'turned to the principle embodied in those words-as certainly as the magnetic needle always turned to the north. "From 1914-1924 we have had eight First Lords of the Admiralty, and it is not beyond" the bounds of probability that/in the course of the year there may be a. ninth. Surely it; cannot.be-otherw-ise than unsatisfactory that so'often in a decade we have .these 'changes -iii ] the chief of tins-great'Idepartment.". (Hear 3; hear). Theie must- necessarily be a jack of continuity which must follow upon the change in office—it seems as if it does not matter having a new First Lord if it is more convenient ! CRUISERS AND THEIR VALUE. Nelson so often referred in his letters and dispatches to the lack of frigates. Frigates were the eyes and ears of the Fleet, and there were two occasions when it was by his profound grasp of strategy that he.averted disaster when there was a shortage of frigates. "Substitute cruisers for frigates to-day," said Lord Chelmsford. .' "You may remember that .Some iew months ago "the ..present Government- laid down the policy ot building five cruisers, and we were subjected in that policy to a "great. deal "of "ritiyisni, Our critics told us that we

were starting again that race of arms, they told us that we .were building these cruisers not for the necessities or urgent needs of the Navy, but for the sake of relieving unemployment. The Washington pact dia\not Jay down any limitation with regard to the building of cruisers beyond ™ m ™sets were not t0 be more than 10,000 tons, and not to carry greater armament than 8-in guns. We are not starting a new race of armaments, but it follows that if other countries build cruisers of certain dimensions and certain armament, we must follow suit— (cheers)—because history shows us by innumerable examples that if you pit vessels of inferior size and armaments against vessels of superior size and armament you are simply sending your men to certain death. As to relieving unemployment, I give that a categorical denial I have always taken up the position that I have had nothing to do with unemployment. My duty was only to look after the interests of the Navy (cheers, and "quite right'). On two occasions when deputations waited on me I said empathically that that was not my business. The business of the First Lord of the Admiralty is to see that as many vessels are built as are required by the urgency of the moment. "What purposes do cruisers serve?— Two : (1) They are the eyes and ears of the Fleet, and (2) they must patrol the great sea trade routes. It is obvious that if we are going to have cruisers to be the eyes and ears of the Fleet we cannot have fewer than others who are likely to be opposed to us upon the other side. The question of patrolling the great sea routes is a very difficult one. In the late war, one single ship was able on a trade route to hold up all other ships and do irreparable damage. At one moment in the war, with theEmden, the Karlsruhe, and other enemy ships, as well as Yon Spec's vessels afloat, we had as. many as seventy-five cruisers looking for them. That shows the imperative need of cruisers for patrolling the trade routes. "The life of a cruiser is calculated by expert's to be fifteen years and there are many who would say that that is probably too long1. The wear and tear during one year of war must be counted equal to two years of peace. During the war we built a great number of cruisers with very small fuel capacity for the purposes of the war for service in the North Sea, but now, with the change of the situation we have to look forward to naval warfare, not in the limited area of ,the North Sea, but on the oceans very much further away, and we require vessels of much greater fuel capacity. Our cruiser strength now is forty-eight, compared with 115 cruisers in April, 1914. By wastage, if no replacements take place, as has been proposed, by 1937 we shall not have a cruiser fit to take the sea. That is the position with regard to cruisers. I am of opinion that no Government would take the responsibility of ignoring that very serious state of things. (Cheers.) In conclusion, I will end as I began. Never should it be forgotten that it is upon the Navy under the good providence of God that the wealth, - strength, and safety of this Kingdom chiefly depend." The hour was late so General Sir R. D. Whigham and Air Vice-Marshal Sir J. M. Salmond responded very briefly, and. in proposing the toast of the president,, Sir Joseph Cook said there was plenty of work waiting to be done by every branch of the Navy League. ; NELSON DAY MESSAGE. On the 119 th anniversary of Trafalgar the Navy League invited the British peoples at home and abroad to recall the_ services and the achievements of their greatest sea hero, and to seek in the lessons of the past inspiration and guidance for the future. Following is the Navy League's message, signed on behalf of the Excutive Committee by the Marquis of Linlithgow (president of "the League), and Sir Cyril B. Cobb (chairman). - "Throughout the centuries tlie Fleets of Britain have been the basis of her military power and the foundation of all her greatness. To-day the people of the Homeland are turning their eyes with Hopefulness to the great Dominions overseas as the fie}d in which they may find homes for their surplus population, markets for their goods, and the supplies ot fpod and raw materials which they must import if they are to continue to exist. Let us not forget that to-day, as ever, our security, our livelihood, and the future of our race at home and throughout the world, rest, under Providence, upon the Fleets of the King. In no spirit of aggression, but in the faith and knowledge of our great mission in the world] let us see to it that we retain the power to defend our lives, our liberties, and : our lawful possessions wherever these | may be assailed. The Navy League views with, the utmost concern the. abandonment of the extension of the Naval harbour at Singapore, and urges upon the Governments and peoples oi the Empire the vital necessity of providing in_ the Far East those essential shore establishments without which a modern fleet is powerless to fulfil its purpose. The proposal to place the British Navy at the disposal of an international body is one which the Navy League will resist' in. a spirit of uncompromising hostility. For our members, anrl, indeed, for all men and women throughout "the Empire, we tender sincere thanks to Vice-Admiral Sir Fredrick Field and the officers and men of the Special Service Squadron. Their long cruise has been an unqualified success, has. enhanced the prestige of the Flagj throughout the world, and has gone far to promote the interest and confidence of all parts of the Empire in the Royal Navy." LABOUR PARTY AND THE NAVY. "Tlie Times" saw in the celebration of this anniversary a forcible reminder— which is at the same time a grave warning—of the indispensable nature of the services rendered by the Royal Navy to the security of the country and to the Empire. ■ . "Without the existence of a ■strong British Navy, for long ages the surest guarantee of the freedom-of the seas, the peace of the whole world would be seriously endangered (it says). Even as it is, from a purely British and Imperial point of view, the power of the Navy has been brought down to a point perilously near the margin of safety. Any further reduction would be suicidal madness. The determination of the country's naval strength is, or should be, a question outside the region of party politics. But the trouble is that the Labour Party and many Liberals, in their consuming zeal for universal peace and disarmament, blind themselves to the reality of the danger. Mr. MaeDonald and his party declined to carry out the full programme of naval construction, modest as it was, which their predecessors regarded as the minimum essential for safety; and they refused, in spite of the profound disappointment of Australia and New Zealand, in the teeth of the opinion expressed by the Dominions at two successive Imperial Conferences, and the advice of the Imperial Defence Committee, to proceed with the development of Singapore as a naval base. There are, no doubt, among the more temperately minded members of the Labour Party many who are alive to the -vital necessity of maintaining tlie Navy dt the full strength permitted by the Agreement of the Washington Conference. But in this, as in other matters,, the party as a whole has shown that its policy is dictated by fear of its extremists, and that it cannot Lie trusted to take the necessary precautions for the safety of the country, the supply of its food, and the security of its Imperial communications."