The Otago Witness. (WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 1916.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3247, 7 June 1916, Page 47

The Otago Witness.

(WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 1916.) THE WEEK.

WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY.

"Uunquam allud naturu, allud sapientia dlilt.* —Juvenal. “Good nature and good sense must ever join.”—i Pope.

The first tiding of the great naval battle in the North Sea are said to have cast a gloom over England unequalled in the memory of living man. Nor is this to be marvelled at, seeing that the news of the loss of three of Britain’s finest battle cruisers, two armoured cruisers, and a number of smaller vessels appeared, in the absence of detailed information concerning tire German losses, to distinctly challenge Great Britain's boasted supremacy of the sea. The mere thought of such a challenge being possible was enough to create a "feeling of uneasiness all oyer the Empire: but for the gage to be actually thrown down would, in itself, signify distinct and definite danger. It does not need a great deal of consideration to emphasise this fact. On Mr Balfour’s owrr admission, the British navy stands upon/ a footing altogether different fro in tha other services. “Our fleet is now an intevnltional fleet, not merely a British fleet. It is an international fleet, and many nations depend upon ps.” Tha British navy is the most important link in tha Allied lines of communication; upon its supremacy hangs the safety of our armies in all parts of the world. That link once broken, and Germany has ns by the throat; the command of the sea is essential to the very being of the British armies, and equally essential to the well-being of the armies of the Allies. The British mu.> yp

The Correct Perspective.

time of war thus becomes something far greater and more important than the tirgfc fine of defence: it is the pivot u •• u x\nda. the whole of our military operati ns turn. It has been well said that the whole atmosphere of the war has bet 11 that- of a British navy triumphant be, - hai« lenge "It- is upon the navy, ' so run the articles of war, "that, under the good providence of God. the wealth, prosperity, and peace of these islands and of the Empire mainly depend." The - British army, in whatever part- of the world it fights, must always be carried on the bs.ck of the British navy. Mr Arnold White, in his admirable monograph in 'The Navy and Its Story," gives the true historical setting in these words: "Fivs times in the history of England the British navy has stood between the wonld-ba master of Europe and the attainment of his ambition. Charlemagne, Charles V, Philip II of Spain, Louis XIV of France, and Napoleon, all aspired to universal dominion. Each of these sovereigns m turn was checked in his soaring plans by British sea power." The sixth and greatest challenge to Britain's sea power has come at the hands of the Kaiser. The first whispers of that challenge were heard as far back as 1897. and it began to materialise when in 1898 the first German Navy Act was passed authorising a navy on a standard far exceeding anything before dreamed of. But it- was not until some five or six years later that, thanks to the alarm sounded by Lord (then Sir John) Fisher, and to the practical measures adopted on his bold and far seeing initiative, that the reality of the challenge was acknowledged by the Government and the people of Great Britain,' The pith of Germany's naval strategy is contained in the preamble to

the German Navy Act of 1900, which roads as follows:—"It is not absolutely necessary that the German battle fleet should be as strong as that of the greatest naval Power, for a great naval Power ! will not, as a-rule, be in a position to concentrate all its striking force against us. But even if it should succeed in meeting us with considerable superiority of strength, the defeat of a strong German fleet would .so substantially weaken the enemy that in spite of the victory he might have obtained, his own position in the world would no longer be secured by an adequate fleet." It is only in the light of this declaration that a true perspective of the North Sea naval battle can be reached. "That the Admiralty, with the approval of Admiral Sir John Jel-

Trae to Tradition.

licoe, felt itself justified ill giving the military authorities "a certificate of safe

transport before the command of the sea had been secured indicated high confidence that when the German fleet did come out to accept battle, the issue would be in no- doubt, though victory would have to be purchased at a high price." These words, penned bv Mr Archibald Hurd, one of the greatest" living authorities m all matters pertaining to the navy, accurately represented the 'feeling of the British nation at the outbreak of hostilities, a feeling which received a rude though momentary shock' on Saturday last. "I shall never forget the thrill," says one eve-witness of the great naval engagement, "'that passed through the ships of the Grand Fleet when the inspiring message came from the battle cruiser squadron, 'I am engaged with heavy forces of the pnemy.' The effect was electrical." When in those first few fateful clays of August, 1914, the British Grand Fleet disappeared into the night, and during those nearly two long years whilst engaged in the arduous task of keeping watch and ward on the high seas, in the face of storms and wintry weather, the one thought uppermost in the mind of every Jack Tar has been a longing for the day and the hour to arrive when the British fleet and the German fleet should come to close grips. The moment arrived on Wednesday of last week, when Vice-admiral Beatty, with his fast cruiser squadron, came in touch with the German High Seas Fleet, presumably on raiding intent. The spirit of Sir Richard Greville animated Vice-admiral Beatty, and all the ships in his squadron were officered and manned by sailors in the true British tradition. The dramatic situation was virtually the same as that pictured bv Tennyson in that spirited ballad of the fleet, "The Revenge"; indeed, the very wording leaves little to alter in describing the position in the North Sea off the coast of Jutland on the Wednesday of last weak: And ho sailed away from Florcs, till the Spaniard camo in sigh'. With his huge sea-castles heaving upon the weather-bow: "Shall we fight, or shall we fly? Good Sir Richard, tell us now; For to fight is but to die! There'll be little of us left by the time this sun be set." And Sir Richard said again: "We be all good Englishmen, Let us bang these dogg of Seville, the children of the devil, For I never turned my back upon Don or devil 3'et."

In the spirit of the tradition so eloquently phrased by Tennvson, Ad-

Losses and Gains.

miral Beatty set' to work to "bang" the Germans,

though in so doing he suffered the loss of some splendid ships and many hundred brave men. Although hard pressed ere Sir John Jellico© arrived on the scene with welcome reinforcements, Admiral Beatty and his squadron gave a good account of themselves, and took heavy toll of the German ships. It was then that the German admiral, remembering the old adage, that he who fights and runs away may live to fight another day, withdrew his warships from the battle-line and left the encounter to the destroyers. Favoured by weather conditions, the German fleet, battered and shorn of much of its glory, made sure retreat to its base, and thus robbed the British of the best part of the victory. A number of conclusions emerge from this encounter, for the full and complete history of which we must await the text of Sir John Jellicoe's despatch. Most ■welcome of all is the assurance now so > eloquently given, that despite submarines and mines a sea fight is still possible on the old ding-dong lines, and that gallantry still counts, and skill in seamanship is not altogether a thing of the past. A second conclusion is that the most heavily armed ironclad is no match for modern gunnery; since, aa in the case of the Queen Mary, a well aimed shot will sink one of the latest battle cruisers in three minutes. The battle, even allowing that it was not so decisive as might have Keen hoped, must be reckoned a British victory, and on two important counts. Despite the heavy losses, the British navy still holds command of the sea—the German attack has in no wise damaged its fighting efficiency. On the other hand, it may reasonably be doubted whether the German fleet will be able to put out to sea again for many months to come. At the same time it must be borne in mind that the Germans have shown themselves fighters of no mean order, and that so long as their licet remains in being, it is a foe to be reckoned with. ''l mourn the brave men —many of them personal friends of my own —who have fallen in their country's cause," so runs a part of the message sent by the King on his birthday to Sir John Jellicoe; and that mourning will be universal throughout the Empire. Now for the seamen whom Thy not degenerate womb Gave tints to die for the©, England, be tearless: Else and with front serene Answer, thou Spartan queen, "Still God is good to mo; My sons nrc fearless."

So sung Sir A. T. Quiller-Couch on another mournful occasion, and the lines make lit "In Memoriam" in honour of the brave dead. Coupled with the mourning there is also a meed of rejoicing well expressed in the words of an old. song: Britannia triumphant, her ships sweep the sea ; Her standard is Justice, and her watchword, "Bo Free"; Then cheer up, my lads! With one heart let us sing, "Our soldiers, our sailors, our statesmen, and king." The news of the safety of Sir Ernest

Sir Erne-st Shackleton's Safety.

Shackleton and his party of intrepid Antarctic explorers was gladly received in all parts of the world, and for a moment overshadowed the

fierce fighting around Verdun. In its turn, however, the tidings was well nigh forgotten in the news of the great naval battle. Yet Sir Ernest Shackleton's description of the hardships and. sufferings undergone from the time of the sinking of the Endurance until land was reached, is a marvel of human pluck and endurance. Imagination fails to conceive what it must have meant to be on an ice-floe, exposed to all the rigours of an Antarctic winter, slowly drifting _at the mercy of every current, and with apparently almost an infinitesimal chance of escapo or rescue. Even now the position of the explorers is perilous enough, but it is to be hoped that the relief expeditions will reach them in time to give them the needed succour. The vivid descriptions of his latest and most arduous adventure jn the South Polar regions recall the words with which Sir Ernest Shackleton prefaced his "Heart of the Antarctic." "Men go out into the void spaces of the world for various reasons," he wrote in 1908. "Some are actuated simply by a love of adventure, some have the keen thirst for scientific knowledge, and others again are drawn away from the trodden paths by the 'Jure of little voices,' the mysterious fascination of the unknown. I think that in my own case it was a combination of these factors that determined me to try my fortune once again in the frozen south. Indeed, the stark polar lands grip the hearts of the men "who have lived there in a manner that can hardly be understood by the people who have never got outside the pall of civilisation." The lure of the wild has led Sir Ernest Shackleton and his comrades far afield. It is fervently to be hoped that they all may be restored to the benefits and blessings of civilisation.