THE NAVY LEAGUE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 13 February 1915, Page 6

THE NAVY LEAGUE

NEW TEAR'S MESSAGE. The following letter from the Navy League, London, has been, received bj" Mr H. R. Duncan, President of the Nelson branch: — It has been the custom of the Navy League to submit to its member and to the people of the Empire its carefullyconsidered view upon the naval situation at the beginning of each New Tear. . , In the circumstances of the moment, however, it is undesirable to discuss questions of naval policy,; but the Navy League is in a position to express m the most unqualified' terms its entire satisfaction with the conduct of the Navy since the beginning of the war, and to declare its abounding confidence in the capacitv and efficiency of the Fleet to achieve" its great purpose. The Com-mander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet and. the officers and men in all our fighting ships deserve the warmest congratula-t-oiis of the British race throughout the world for their unswerving zeal, devotion to dutv, and spirit of self-sacrifice which have'been manifest in every incident affecting the Navy since the beginning of the struggle. The" members of Navy League deeplv deplore the loss of so many valuable "lives of the gallant men who have gone down with their ships in the engagements which have taken place, and it will be the especial care of our organisation to do everything possible to look after the interests of the families these men have left behind. It must give the liveliest satisfaction to the members of the League everywhere to feel that outside the North Sea the waters of the world are practically free to the commerce of the Allies and that of neutral nations. Only a few scattered cruisers of the enemy fleet remain in outer -waters; and the grave danger which threatened British shipping tbrouah the criminal disregard by The enemv of the law of nations in the indiscriminate employment of mines in the open sea is now effectively under controlIt is with peculiar pleasure that the league has observed the complete elimination of party politics from the affairs of the Navv during the past five months, and it appeals' for the support of people of this country and of the whole Empire in demanding that after peace has been secured —which in the main will be achieved through the, sea power of Great-Britain —party politics shall not again be allowed to obtrude upon ques-j tions affecting naval defence. The League desires to warn the. countrv of "the danger which must be faced from the small but very aggressive little-1 nawite section of the community whose fanatical opposition to naval power and -whose misguided notions of peace have not been modified even by the experiences of this terrible war. These unpatriotic persons are now making, and will much more so on the approach of peace make, everv effort to weaken British supremacy at sea; and the members of the League will be constantly on the alert to counteract their activity. . The League holds strongly that British command of the sea in the future will remain a dominant consideration in main'taining the permanent peace of the worldf and it urges upon every patriotic citizen the primary duty of resisting by every, conceivable means every kind of intrigue and all organised effort, no matter what the ostensible motive which may aim at- the reduction of our naval power below that standard which-is essential to hold' the command pi the sea for the British Empire. The incidents which have taken place at sea during the campaign are of little military importance as affecting the general operations of the Fleet. The superiority of the British Navy in relation to that of the enemy is increasing almost day bv day, and when the moment of supreme "trial presents it#elf our Navy m ships, men and equipment will be fullv prepared for every. contingency. The members of the Navy League may face the future full of confidence in the Fleet, and full of hope that our sea power upon which the Empire floats will discharge nobly its great duty in securing the peace and progress of mankind.