NAVAL SUPREMACY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16508, 25 March 1914, Page 5

NAVAL SUPREMACY.

THE GUILDHALL MEETING

A NON-I'OLITICAT.< OATHE RINO

[From Oct Co.BßKsroN»i!.vT.]

LONDON, February 13

The meeting. held in tho Guildhall lost Monday under tho presidency of tho Lord Mayor to urge upon the Government tin? vital necessity nf keeping the British Navy supreme, was certainly worthy of tho occasion and of tho end in view. It was convened on tho requisition of nearly a. thousand oi London's lending citizens, belonging to all sections of the political world, and was called purely and simply in order to strengthen the lianas of the Government by an assurance of tho united support of the commercial community " in any measures, financial or other, that rnay bo necessary to ensure tho continued supremacy of (he Navy and the adequate protection of tho trade routes of the Einnirc."

It was essentially ft business-like meeting, at which mere florid rhetoric was at a severe discount, and tho ''flagwagging " spirit entirely absent. The speakers were, ail representative men who should know, if anybody does, tho views and needs of the great British commercial world of which London is tho hub, and the audience, was composed of men who do not givo'up an hour of their business day to gratify mote idle curiosity. They knew what they were there tor; knew what they wanted, and why they wanted it. For these reasons the proceedings were brief. There, wore tune speakers, but the meeting had dispersed within an hour of its formal opening. Thi! fact that the occasion, of course, was wholly non-political, was emphasised at the outset by the Lord :uayor, and was emphasised still more clearly in the. programme: for the principal resolution was moved by the president of tho London Chamber of Commerce, Lord Southwark, who as Mr 11. K. Causton. M.l\, was for thirteen years a Liberal Whip, and until his deration to the peerage a member of the Liberal Government! And-among those who speke in support of the resolution was the High Commissioner for New Zealand, who briefly but emphatically urged the vital importance to the great dominions of maintaining naval defences '• in such a position as to bo beyond the possibility of a doubt. - '' In the speeches themselves there was a welcome absence of all suggestion of antagonism or menace to any foreign country. They were all directed purely to urging the necessity of securing British commerce, against attack or interference. Sir Alexander Henderson laid stress upon tho face that not only tho inhabitants of these small islands, but tho whole four hundred millions who live under the British flag have an interest in this matter in common with English people; and that when business men speak of the supremacy of the Navy fhey mean that the Navy must possess an ample margin of security against any probable contingency. Tho premium that they had to pay for the safety of their commerce was, no doubt, a big one, but, he said, that premium must be forthcoming. It had to cover no less than half tho entire shipping of the world and an amount of wealth nt sea which at each moment of every day and night is not less than from 250 to 300 millions sterling. As another speaker put it, they were, willing, as business men, to pay tho full premium for tho full policy, but thoy wanted no " average clauses." One and all the speakers insisted that they represented not merely any section of those engaged in commerce, but the entire, undivided business world. The resolution is to be conveyed to tho Prime Minister and tho First Lord of the Admiralty in no spirit of hostility. It was offered, the meeting was told', not as advice, but " as a weapon " against "the tyranny of political groups.'-' As Lord Southwark said, there was no wish to advocate extravagant expenditure. On the contrary, all deplored the necessity of paying so highly for security. Neither did the meeting presume to ask for either an increase or a decrease of the Navy. All that was meant and all that was wanted was stated plainly in the lesolution—'' the ■ continued supremacy _ of, the Navy and tho adequate, protection of tho trade routes of the Umpire." Tho one and only object of the assemblage was to assure tho Government of the united support of London's business 'men in resisting pressure or temptation of anv kind and from any quarter, to palter with a. paramount public duty.