The Star. MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1918. WHAT THE WORLD OWES TO BRITAIN'S NAVY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 21 October 1918, Page 4

The Star.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1918. WHAT THE WORLD OWES TO BRITAIN'S NAVY.

Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock in Hawera, Mauala ; Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Opuuake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyvine, Patea. Waverley.'

The anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar brings to mind the supreme value of Britain's'sea power and what our nation's control of the seas has meant,, and more than ever in these days means, to the world a* a whole. A love of conquest has from time to time led men of ability and personality to attempt to, bring the whole, world under their control. It is, indeed, very natural that men who have risen to great power and have, become obsessed with the. one idea of progress and the gaining of greater power should fall victims to the spirit of aggression. Alexander, it" is said, wept because when he thought he had become master of the whole world he had reached the limits of his ambition.. The desire for power is inherent in.most of us, and up to a point it is a good quality, i but when it sacrifices the principles / which .alone provide for the safety of civilisation then at may easily become a terrible evil and a menace not only to the man h:m«elf, but to his nation and the human race generally. Prom the earliest ages the spirit of conquest has manifested itself, almost without exception accompanied by a system of tyranny and oppression, but though many ambitious men have added greatly to their dominions for a time, the captive nations, after enduring the oppression of their conquerors, have at length, either alone or in alliance with other nations, recovered their liberty. Rome lost her Empire because of the gre*Ml of her'rulers, who exacted the utmost from their colonies. Spain and France have risen and likewise fallen, and even Britain lost the American colonies because her ... short-sighted statesmen denied the pedple sufficient liberty. Conquests in the early days were mainly dependent upon land forces, but «ince the days of Elizabeth sea power has played an ever-increas-ing part. The Great Armada which was to have brought Britain under the Spanish yoke was probably the first great test of sea power. Frequent! wans in which sea power was a principal factor followed between Britain \ and the Dutch and between Britain i and France. Though serious danger often threatened the British Isles we as a- nation look back upon Trafalgar las the battle in which our naval supremacy was definitely decided. Not in any spirit of boas'unilness <io we commemorate the day or with any desire to proclaim to the world that our nation because of that victory showed itself to be for all time a race of supermen; rather does every Briton look with pride upon Nelson's great triumph because it marked the end of a series of struggles between true liberty and the military tyranny of the leaders of the nations who challenged us. Our people are proud of the fact that the. principles of liberty and justice for which Britain stood triumphed, and that at Trafalgar the world was, for j many years saved from the evils of aggression. Our French Allies to-day ■ thoroughly understand the British attitude towards the Trafalgar victory. Not till the present war broke out was Britain's sea power challenged seriously during the last hundred years, though it has always been necessary to keep

our Navy in. a high state of efficiency. It stands at present at its highest power. Germany was .silently gripped in the great blockade practically on. the first day of the war; that grip has been steadily increasing, and there is no possible escape. The Jutland Battle taught Germany something of Britain's immense sea power, and she chose the ruthless submarine campaign waged with all vigor to render ineffective our great margin of strength, above water. Here again she has failed, and the Navy, which has proved its efficiency in honorable fighting, has succeeded in a wonderful manner in dealing wiith the ' dastardly menace. Thousands of innocent victims have been claimed by the enemy's submarines; not one woman or child has been drowned through any action of the British i Navy, and even in the sea battles every effort has been made to save the lives •of German sailors whose boats have be-eji sunk. Nelson's famous message holds good to-day, and we believe that there iis not a man in any branch of the great British Navy who would fail to do his duty, even though it meant certain death, as in the Zeebrugge and Ostend expeditions. It is well, therefore, that to-day we should remember ths victory of Trafalgar and pray that tha British Navy, which has dona so much for justice and liberty, may continue to use its power for the upholding of right against wrong.