THE COMMAND OF THE SEA

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6679, 30 November 1908, Page 6

THE COMMAND OF THE SEA

LIEUT. KNOX AT ST. PATRICK'S COLLEGE. At the invitation of Dr Keogh, on Saturday Lieutenant Knox, 11. N., addressed ihe Loys of St. Patrick's College on the work of .the Navy League. The speaker was introduced by the local honorary secretary of the Lefcgue. in ins opening remarks Lieutenant Knox referred to the fact that tnc League enjoyed the strong support of ?»ir Joseph \Vard and ot Arcubishop IK*dwood, He slated that the Empire was won for Britons by the army and the navy; and that, in case of trouble, only by the two services acting together would iT be possible to hold it. lie men-

ac'd that whilst we had 43,000 miles of coast-line to ueieuci, necessitating a -supreme’ iieet, we also possessed 12,000 miles of land frontiers in Asia, Africa’ and America, to guard which a suiheieut and efficient army muse bo maintained. Lieutenant Knox likened the Empire to a largo house containing a variety of diflerent-sised rooms, the passage© between .these rooms being represented by the ocean highways, over which our vast commerce, amounting to <£1,400,000,000 per annum, was conveyed. He remarked that in the British Isles, which was an uuvictualled ocean citadel In the North Sea containing 42,000,000 ..‘•jple, 500 steamers a. week were necessary to provide them with food (which was being imported at The rate of 400 sovereigns worth a minute), and the raw’ materials for their industries. He detailed what would possibly happen in the event of a naval war, viz.: that the fjri.ee of food and every necessary of life would rise enormously; and that hundreds of thousands of starving people would be throw'n upon the streets, to swell the ranks of the unemployed, whilst, at the same time, many of the industries of the country would be paralysed. - The Empire was founded on selfrespect, it was built up by self-denial, and it w r as crowned by self-sacrifice; and he urged his hearers to bear in mind that its whole fabric was based upon sea-power, and if it was to bo handed down to generation after generation of Britons we must at all cost retain command of the sea. He was horrified to read in the New’ Zealand papers that day a cablegram to the effect that 150 members of the British House of Commons had approached the Prime Minister with a request that the expenditure on the navy should be still further reduced. . Ho was happy to know that at least an equal number of Navy League M.P/s would resist to the utmost any further reduction of the fleet, .According to another cablegram it was proposed that the speed of sixteen new torpedo-boat-destroyers should be reduced from 33 to 27 knots, thereby effecting a comparatively paltry saving of <£20,000 on each,boat and reducing the efficiency of these valuable vessels. Lieutenant Knox went into full details as to the reasons for which the Navy League was formed, the work which it had accomplished, and what it proposed to do in the future. He laid particular stress upon the value of the educational work in schools, and quoted in this connection the opinion of Admiral Lord Charles Bercsford, who said that if the league had done no other work than this, it would have fully deserved the support of the whole nation. Canon Lyttelton, the headmaster of Eton, was also quoted to the same effect. The Rector (Dr Keogh), in warmly thanking the speaker for his address, stated that the college would establish a branch of the Navy League without delay, and three hearty cheers were given for the speaker.