THE NAVY LEAGUE

Evening Star, Issue 17034, 3 May 1919, Page 2

THE NAVY LEAGUE

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE OTAGO ■ BRANCH. ' The 15th annual meeting of the Otago ! Branch of the Navy League, held in the i Lity Council Chamber yesterday afternoon,was in every way worthy of the occasion. There was a large attendance; the proceedings were marked by dignity and simplicity, thus in fitness with Navy affairs; and the tone of the meeting was that of keen interest without any admixture of boasting or gush; moreover, the speakers had something to say, and they stopped when they had said it, thus restricting the meeting to the prescribed hour, or very near it. The Mayor (Mr J. J. Clark) opened the meeting. He said that the splendid .attendance was ample evidence of the keen and active interest taken in the work of this live organisation by the citizens of Dunedin. The report showed what solid and splendid work was being done in maintaining J;he interest in our grand Navy, and in impressing upon the citizens of the future the necessity of retaining a fleet sufficiently strong to keep Britain the mistress of the seas. The titanic struggle that has just ended victoriously had taught us once again what the Navy means to us, and how it alone keeps the pathway of the sea open. The empire of the sea is the most potent empire in the world, and our naval power is the secret of our greatness, our power, and our wealth, won and maintained by the heroic deeds and life blood of our seamen. The alert, unwearying guardian of the seas had kept our Empire inviolate from invasion and enabled our soldiers to be transported safely across thousands of miles of sea. Up to the present we had not heard much about the real work that the Navy did during the war, and until the glorious story was told in full we should not realise the magnitude of the task that had been carried out so magnificently, lire Navy had been our sure shield and strong defence. We were also filled with admiration for the men of the auxiliary fleet—the minesweepers, the minelayers, the motor boat patrol—who faced deadly peril, month by month, sweeping the sea for sunken mines and fighting the vicious submarines; and we gratefully paid homage to the men of the mercantile marine, for there is nothing finer in our war history than the way they carried on, undeterred by deadly menaces, in transporting our troops and goods across the seas. Out of the tragedy of war there would, he hoped, emerge a stronger and nobler Empire, whoso spirit would be imbued with the true spirit of brotherhood, thus strengthening the splendid edifice of our nation's greatness. The meeting was honored by the presence of the branch’s president, Sir James Allen, to whom they extended a sincere and cordial welcome. (Applause.) Through all the dark days of the war Sir James had toiled unremittingly in matters of defence, and his work had won the appreciation of all, including those who were opposed to him in politics. Much of the credit bestowed upon New, Zealand for the part she had played in the war would eventually come to Sir James Allen—-(ap-plause)—who by his long vision and his sterling Imperialism had so effectively organised the man-power of this land as to make it possible for us to take a part in the world’s conflict. (Applause.) In aoi cordanoe with custom, he (Mr Clark) handed over the control of the meeting to the president. Sir James Allen thanked the members for their reception of a president whose other duties had prevented him from taking the active part in the work of the league that he would have liked to take. The one regret he felt on entering was as to the unavoidable absence of their indefatigable secretary, Mr Darling. Illness had laid Mr Darling aside. All hoped that he would soon recover. They were exceptionally fortunate in having such a secretary. (Applause.) He congratulated the league’on the excellent work done during the year. But he was not going to speak to the report, for he had been asked to take as his subject ‘ The International Outlook.’ That task was more than any one man in New Zealand could successfully undertake, because wo did not know enough about the international problems to enable one to arrive at a sound conclusion. All ideas might be suddenly upset by internal strife. A nation might be completely disrupted by revolution, as Russia is. He hoped that Bolshevism would soon come to an end in that country, and a sane Government be established. The principles which actuated the Russian revolutionaries had spread to other countries ; but, fortunately, the bulk of the people had sufficient education and knowledge of the world to withstand any attempts at similar risings, and so far as New Zealand was concerned ho felt assured that any suggestion of revolution would not meet with favor from working people, and certainly nob from the most-era of industry. As to the peace terms, there was apparently » difficulty, in that some of the nations might withdraw ; but there seemed to ho a fair prospect that ail the- Allies would join in the covenant to preserve the peace of the world. There could ho ino such »eaco unless tho nations obeyed international lav; and respected treaty obligations. The idea of the Longue of Nations was a sound one. We British were not a military nation, and if in the future it became necessary in New Zealand to train men in order to make thorn physically fit, he hoped that the people of the country would not get ■ the notion that tills was being done with the idea of militarism, but would realise that the ideal aimed at was to make the people physically -it, both for their individual benefit and for the defence of the country should the need arise. (Applause.) | With regard to our own Empire, whatever | the League might agree to, and whatever i peace was derided on, he was satisfied | that British statesmen would make provision, either in the Peace Treaty or the | Covenant, to protect the waterways of the sea, which to Britain were everything. (Applause.) The position of the British Empire and its communications might not be altogether satisfactory in the future. What our means of protecting the seas might be in the future he did not know. It was said that a .battle-cruiser nowadays was a-s easily punishable from the air as the smallest boat. There was a possible danger from nations that to-day were fighting on our side, or were mcutral, or from nations at present opposed to us, owing to their occupation of territory which was on our direct line of communication, orwas a menace to any of our lines of communication. He hoped that our statesmen at Home had been wise enough to inaite that no such menace would be left to us in the future. He personally looked with anxiety upon the occupation of the Marshall Islands by tho Japanese. As for Now Zealand’s "naval it- was impossible to rive any idea, of what it was to be. Lord Jcllicoe was on his way out- i to -advise. It was never in his (the 1 speaker’s) mind to create a separate navy, i Immediate’y on the outbreak of war I everything we had was handed to tho Im- | penal Government. He did not know , what we should do in the future. Tho | only thing that would satisfy him would be that if we are to protect the seas every part of the Empire should have the opportunity to take its share. It was not sufficient -to pay yearly a certain amount of money. We must pay for our protection in men, and it would bo an ever-lasting disgrace to New Zealand if in the future our Mother Land had to enter into any - naval combat ir’ which New Zealand was not represented by some of its manhood. (Applause.) If we valued our freedom, it was our duty to take our share and train our men for our unit in the Imperial Navy. .An important, development which had taken place during the war was the air service, the development of which was one j of the miracles of the last- four years and a-half. In 1913 there was practically no- I thing in the air department of the Mother j Land, yet at the conclusion of the war j the British Air Service was the finest in the world. It was necessary to -consider what should bo done in New Zealand in regard to the air service. He did not propose to outer into a large policy of aviation, but he thought it vould- be necessary for us to have -a minimum establishment of experts here, in order that, if war broke out, we might be in a position, to train men for defence purposes, if the need arose. Air machines would be used for other than military purposes, and there was no reason why the civilian and xnili-

tary functions should not bo combined. Colonel Botfcington had been invited to New Zealand, and was at present in Dunedin, to advise the Government with respect to aviation. With regard to both the naval and the air policy of the future, he would ask the people to zeroise patience until the opinion of the e. perte wao available (Loud applause.) Professor G. EL Thompson, who seconded the motion for the adoption of the report, delivered a scholarly address, full of thought. He did nob agree with those who said that now the war was over and the Grand Fleet was disbanded the activities of the Navy League might ease off. This was a crucial period in the world’s history. Nations might not act honorably under their agreements. French thinkers seemed to be very doubtful as to the prospects of permanent peace by treaty, and it must be remembered that the French were alongside the peril, and did not view it from a distance, as England and America did. There were several sources from which fresh trouble alight arise. Hie horror of tho past war would not prevent .another war, for national memory was notoriously short-lived, and the next generation would know of the horror only by books. It was said that the progress of humanitarian ideals would preserve peace. This could only be true of humanitarian notions. Economic interests could not be relied on unless the ■ nations wore moved by reason and not sentiment. When a nation “sees red” all such considerations were cast to the winds. Germany threw away her certainty of commercial supremacy by trade in order to win supremacy by the sword. Racial trouble was the cloud, on the horizon, and no one could say what it would lead to. The prime duty of the Navy League was to keep the people alive to the value of the Navy as an insurance, and to slum that the strength of the Navy was not merely in ships and men and organisation, but in its glorious traditions That was what the Germans meant when, after the Battle of Jutland, they said “Yours is an old Navy, ours a new one.” Tho motion was put and carried. On the motion of Mr J. Jeffery, seconded by Mr J. B. Grant, the following appointments were made:—Sir James Allen, president; Mr J. A. Johnstone and Mr P. Goycn, I'.L.S. vice-presidents; Mr J. A. Johnstone, bon. treasurer; Mr Charles Darling, bon. secretary; committee — Mc'w.rs Peter Barr. it. S. Black, F. 0. Bridge-man, W. F. Edmond, Peter Cloven, Neil Galbraith, C. Holdsworth, J. A. Johnstone, W. A. Moore, W. J. Morrell, P. R. Sargood, W. D. Stewart, J. Wadded Smith; Ladies 1 Committee—Lady Alien, Mrs W. F Redmond, Mrs J. M. Ritchie, Mrs Theomin, Mies M. C. Ross, Mrs E. C. Reynolds, Mrs J. M. Galloway, Mrs 3. O. M'George, Miss Rattray. The singing of the National Anthem brought the meeting to a close.