The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1918. LORD JELLICOE'S VISIT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17040, 23 December 1918, Page 6

The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1918. LORD JELLICOE'S VISIT.

There can be but one opinion with regard to the projected visit of Admiral Jellicoe to the British Dominions and India. Lord Jellicoe will be welcomed personally as a great sailor who played a leading part in the naval war against Germany and as a man who won the love and veneration of all ranks in Britain's magnificent navy. His career has not been without checks; he had a great task to perform and he did not escape criticism. But even his keenest critics pay homage to his outstanding personality and acknowledge his conspicuous qualifications as a naval leader. He took command of the Grand Fleet at the outbreak of war, held that position for over two years, and was First Sea Lord at the Admiralty from November, 1916, until December, j 1917. Thus Admiral Jellicoe was I for the first three years of the war j intimately responsible for our naval j policy or for its execution. His ! time of leadership was the most trying period of the naval war, I when the navy was forging new instruments to meet Germany's I piratical attack on our merchant shipping. How much credit is due to him for the ultimate defeat of the submarine menace, how much blame may be assigned to him for inadequate preparation, is still a subject of controversy, but it is nowhere doubted that when the full facts are known, and when success and failure have been balanced, the name of Jellicoe will be accorded a prominent and an honoured place in our naval history. In New Zealand we know enough of him now to give him on his arrival a most heartfelt and enthusiastic welcome, for himself no less than for the navy he represents. But there is more than a personal element in Lord Jellicoe's visit. He comes on an Empire mission of farreaching importance to advise the Dominions on naval affaire. The war has brought home to all Britishers living overseas what the British Navy means to them. Without it we could not have crushed Germany, for it was the navy that severely limited German supplies and brought about the internal convulsion which forced our enemies into an eager and complete surrender. It was the navy that throughout four years held the seas open for the transport of our produce. It was the navy that in the final phase of the war made possible the transference of over a million American troops to French soil, and by its success taught the Germans that millions more could be carried under the same safe protection. We have acknowledged these things a hundred times, and i it has also to be acknowledged that the Dominions have never, either in ! war or in peace, contributed to the I cost or to the personnel of the navy I their due and proportionate share. The Empire has grown around the navy as a direct result of its vie-! I iorics and its strength, but the main- { tenance of the navy has been left I largely to the inhabitants of the j United Kingdom. We have shared I the benefits, while they have carried the burden. The war awakened all I the Dominions to a full sense of i their responsibilities, and in con--1 tributions to the military strength iof the Empire they responded heroically. New Zealand can point with pride to the share she has taken in the war. It was largely a military effort, but even in men sent to take part in the active work of j guarding the seas we were probably I j next to Newfoundland, whose hardy I fishermen were especially qualified as naval recruits. Now we are looking to the future, and it would be well for us to realise that the navy must be maintained for and by the I Empire, each separate unit bearing an adequate proportion of the cost j and contributing its quota of men.

How this ideal is to be realised is the problem to which Lord Jellicoe will devote himself during. his tour. When war broke out Canada and New Zealand were both discussing naval policy. Australia alone had taken the bold step of building and maintaining its own navy. Much of the controversy that then centred round the question of local navies will be softened by the events of the war. It must of a certainty be conceded that Australia's action was a source of strength to the Empire at war. Her ships went without question under British command, They were at the disposal of the

Admiralty throughout the war, and did splendid service on nil the oceans. Equally helpful and timely was New Zealand's gift of the battlecruiser, which fought at Heligoland, on the Dogger Bank and at Jutland, and is to bear Admiral Jcllicoo to these shores. A gift similar to New Zealand's was made by the Malay States, but when the wealth and population of tho outer Empire is considered it must be admitted that it has given but halting and occasional recognition of its debt to (he navy. Up to fifteen years ago New Zealand paid for naval protection £20,000 a year, for the five years following 1903 it paid £10,000. and for the last ten years £100,000. In the years immediately preceding the war there was a general recognition of tho inadequacy of this contribution, but aji unfortunate difference of opinion between political leaders as to future naval policy. In Canada a similar disagreement developed into a bitter political quarrel, and Canada's naval programme became one of tho dividing lines between the parties. An arrangement was then made for Admiral Jellicoe to go to Canada and advise the Government on naval affairs. War intervened, and nearly five years will elapse before the visit then decided upon can hike, place. It is one of the fruits of the Imperial Conference that the other Dominions and India are now to share in Lord J?llicoe's advice. He comes at an opportune time, when there is a splendid prospect of all parts of the Empire taking a permanent interest in the navy and contributing fairly to its cost, either by the creation of local fleets or otherwise, as may best suit their various conditions and needs.