NAVAL NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 15140, 24 March 1913, Page 8

NAVAL NOTES.

[CoNITnBDTED BY THE NAVY. LEAGUE, Otago Branch.] "HER SOUL MUST LEAD." i Not as one muttering in a spellbound sleep Shall England speak the word ; Not idly bid the embattled lightnings leap, Nor lightly draw the sword ! . Let statesmen grope by night in a blind dream: The cold, clear morning star Should like a trophy in her helmet gleam When England sweeps to war! Not like a derelict, drunk with surf and spray, And drifting down to doom ; But like the Sun-god calling up the dav Should England rend that gloom.' Not as in tranoe, at some hypnotic call, Nor with a doubtful cry ; * But a clear faith, like a'banner above us all, Rolling from sky-to sky. Alfekd Noyes. INCREASE IN PERSONNEL. It is not ships so much as men that the Empire needs. Arid Mr Churchill proposes to get them. Whether he will succeed in raising the personnel from 137,000 to 146,000 men by March 31, 1914, depends on what he is going to offer. Mr Churchill has done much. He has raised the pay, he has abolished or modified ignoble and humiliating punishments, and'he has enlarged the opportunities for promotion. In the most, conservative and tradition-bound of services these things mean much. It is nothing-short of a triumph that the handy man has gained. Once upon a time he was not oniy villainously treated, but he was denied the right to mention, Jet I alono discuss, his grievances. He was not a man, but- a piece of mechanism, without voice in the use to which he was put. Poorly, fed, poorly housed, poorly paid, and poorly rep/ird'ed. it is small "wonder he deserted from every ship by the score, or that in days when* every other calling i is securing advances in pay bv means of i the strike that there were faint though j audible rumors of possible mutiny. 2\ot | that the old conservative spirit is dead, i There are still those who believe, that the ! only possible assurance of discipline is the I right to punish even unto the death, as in j days of old, and there are many who regard askance and with much head-shaking Mr Churchill's innovations. The British I Navy, say these, has been granted lavish I increases in pay all round, and we have ! grounds for believing that this pampering j may weaken the high moral fibre of the | service ! In another way, these gocd people are only saying what Lord Palmerston said half a century and more ago. "The English," he said, "owing to the freedom of their constitution and their higher feeling of personal independence, required more punishment than other nations did " ! Tho men of to-day who thus think are as hopelessly mistaken as were the men of the past. Flogging should be kept for procurers (male and female), seducers, and women-beaters. The London Labor journal ('Daily Herald') pours scorn upon the "lavish increase" business. In a lecent cartoon Britannia it> represented handing! Jack his extra tuppence. " There, my good man, tuppence for yourself; but promise mo you will not be' reckless with it." And Jack answers: "Well, mum, yer knows what we sailors are. I don't know what wo mightn't do if this 'ere lavish generosity goes on. Keepin' wives in every port, as we already do, it might tempt us to go in for harems." Which, being translated, means that if the Empire wants a contented fleet it has got to pay for it. A REFORMED CHARACTER. 'There are those who persist in picturing Jack as a model citizen, and in proof thereof they point to the fact that, a total of £296,218 stood to the credit of depositors in naval savings banks at the end of last year. Others, again, regard this statement as a handy peg for their wit. In tho 'Manchester Guardian' "Lucio" writes : Behold the gailant- tar we used to. take As typical of prodigal behaviour, The model of an open-handed rake (And also, as required, his country's I saviour) ! | How vastly are his ancient habits changed, How sober and far-seeing is his vision, When year-ends find his bank account arranged I With such precision ! ] Unlike his older self, he never meets j His fate at every port from Hull to i Cadi/ ; | His track is traced by paying-in receipts, And not by conquered hearts and love- | lorn ladies. ! A girl in every port be cannot see As likely to increase his satisfaction— But votes, a savings bank on every quay A real att"action! THE NEW NAVY. The occasional writer of verso in the ' Naval and Military Record' also pokes fun at the new regulations. These provide that the officer of the division is to take an interest in his division. -He is j to advise them on all matters connected : with* the service. . . . He is respon- | sible that their messes are properly cleaned. ... He should encourage them in all recreations and games. . . . He must know their names. . . . Then follow these verses : Oh, tell me, young lieutenant, 1 prithee tell me why From morn till night you bear the light Of madness in your eye; Some reason for your haggard look i Please unto me supply.'' I paused, and then, in hollow tones, He made me this reply -. "I have a large Division, Observe the little dears ; 1 wipe their noses for them. And scrub their little ears; I wash their rosy faces Till each with soap has shone, And mend their little trousers, And sew their buttons on. " I help them scrub their messes, And watch them eat their food, Correct them when they're naughty, And praise them when they're good ; And by each bed of sickness My nightly vigil keep; I tuck them in their hammocks, And sing them oft' to sleep. They bring me all their troubles, I help them and advise; Bill says his wife lias just had twins, I promptly sympathise ; And should Jack want a 'fiver' To go on a week-end, I've got an extra bob a day, And so have lots to lend." "But do yen never learn," said I, "The Navy's arts and crafts?" " Oh. no," said he, " we've got to teach Them dominoes or draughts; We have no time for learning, •But no one seems to mind Now, George, give Willy back his top, And don't be so unkind. " And now you must excuse me, I've got a hopscotch match Against the Quarter-deck men, Unless you'd care to watch." He left me, and I pondered On all the sights I Eaw ; It really was magnificent, But,- oh ! it wasn't war. AND A NEW SPIRIT. But while the wits may laugh, and the satirists poke fjin, and the few bid sea dogs that are left us may growl about degenerates and effeminacy, it remains true that there had to be a change, and that the days of insanitary quarters brutal punishments, indifferent food, and inadequate pay are as dead as the old type of battleship and 12-pounder gun. The men who make the Navy can no longer be treated as dogs, nor subject to the whims and passions of savage and. irrational officers Nor is there the least doubt that the humanely-governed, well-fed, and rea-sonably-cared-for seaman of 1913 will hold his own as a fighter with the refuse-of the streets and ports that too often formed the chief portion of the righting material aboard, the King s ships 100 years and more ago. The boys and men-of-to-day are as far removed in material comfort' from the boys and men of Nelson's dav as are the ships in which they sail thJ km. They are altogether- of' a - better

class. Jack nowadays is neither ignorant nor void of self-respect, nor coarso of speech ; while, viewed solely as a fighting unit, he will compare more than favorably with the seamen of the past. The supremacy of the British Navy henceforth is dependent on the policy of the Admiralty, as representing the Government and "the country, in relation to the lower deck. AUSTRALIA'S NAVAL COLLEGE. The wits, too, had a good deal to say about Australia's "tinpot" navy when, it was first mooted. Some of them still continue to shoot peas.' but thev are fewer in number. The Commonwealth Navy has come to stay, and even at this earlv hour it presents a fairly respectable nucleus. Nor are the Federal Government content to rest with building ships only. At the formal opening of the temporary Naval College at Geelong, on which over £IO,OOO has been spent, and in which 28 cadet midshipmen are installed, the Minister of Defence (Senator Pearce) said that, as far as the present Government were concerned, they were not worrying about outside criticism, because they had made up their minds. They believed there was something more to be done than merely build ships'! Ships were useless without the men to man them: They might present' a hundred ships to the' British Navy, but Britain would be no better off unless there were the men to put into the ships. If they could add to the strength of the Empire by building ships here and training men here, they would be adding, as Lord Milner had said, " a new centre of strength to the Empire." THE TRAINING OF OFFICERS. At the same function the Governor-Gen-eral (Lord Denman) said:—l want to say one word especially to the cadets. You cannot all be admirals, but yon can all do your best to become efficient officers of the Royal Australian Navy. You are a nicked Jot of lads from every State of the" Commonwealth, and some day I hope vou will be joined by comrades from New Zealand.' You have an advantage which, so far as I know, no other country offers in receiving this splendid education at the cost of tho State. In this country people have been flaying that Australians would not make seamen. Statements of this kind have bean already disproved, but as it is more oiCicult- to make officers than seamen, the same people will no doubt sav that Australians will not make naval officers. You have got to prove that thev are wronoand in order to do that vou have got To attain to the standard of efficiency we are accustomed to associate with the British Navy, and as tho British Navv is the greatest and most powerful the world has ever seen, to attain to its level of efficiency is no easy ta*k. Xow, 'good reports have just reached me of Australian cadets at the Naval College, Osborne, in J-mgland,' and there is no reason why you should not do just as well as they have done. Remember that your progress will be keenly watched, not only 'here, hut in England. lou have, therefore, everv incontive to do well and to make the best' 01 the opportunities afforded to vou Knowing, as I do. what young "Australians can perform in other walks of life I have no doubt that you will succeed in'the fine profession you have chosen. I hope that during your time here you will set so hmh a standard as to afford example and encouragement to successive generations of cadets at the Royal Naval College of Australia. (Cheers.)