THE NAVY LEAGUE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3885, 28 August 1928, Page 16

THE NAVY LEAGUE.

OTAGO BRANCH. ANNUAL MEETING. The twenty-fourth annual meeting of the Otago branch of the Navy League was held in the Council Chambers, Town Hall' Buildings, on Thursday afternoon, Mr W. B. Taverner (Mayor of Dunedin) occupied the chair. There was an attendance of 13 members, including four ladies. The Mayor, in welcoming those present, said' he was sorry that there were not more present. He noticed that the schools were on holidays, and he regretted that as a consequence they had not with them the pupils of the secondary schools. He thought that the great value of those gatherings was -very largely the opportunity they gave of addressing the young folk and instilling into their minds the objects ' and aspirations of the league It was stimulating, even in these piping days of peac«< to come into touch with a movement such as the- Navy League. Their citizens must have a deep feeling of respect for the league, because it meant as much to New Zealand to-day as it ever did. and possibly more. If it were not for the activities of the-league, then the subject of naval defence would not be brought before them in anything like the manner it was. He noticed that mention was made in the annual report of the Royal Naval Reserve, and he thought it was a fitting occasion;-for him •to 'make reference to -it.' •:Such movements ' no. ...doubt; inspired, confidence in their citizens, ■ and in the Work of the inaval .authorities. .While they could have ibut'&ne opinion* regarding thh> world-wide ■movement-* for peace, nt the' : same time they must-realise their isolation and that the far flung interests of Empire necessitated that their first line of defence

must be maintained at all costs. That could be done effectively without in any way over-riding or antagonising any peace proposals which might be discussed by the great Powers. The speaker then moved the adoption of the annual report and balance sheet. Mr J. Sutherland Ross, in seconding the motion, referred to the value of the league essays, which, he said, were calculated to give the children, at their most impressionable age. an insight into the great pageant of British naval history. They, as members of the league, also could not_ ignore the - claims of the Merchant Service, and he was pleased to see that one of the subjects for next year’s essays was “ What the Merchant Service Does and Has Done for the Empire.” The importance of the Merchant Service was sometimes overlooked The speaker went on to refer to the great work which had been done by the Merchant Service during the war. It was, indeed, a great subsidiary arm of the navy. He also expressed regret that Mr D. H. Rogers, their secretary, was unable to be present owing to illness. Captain E. F. Watson gave some interesting details regarding the Royal v olunteer Naval Reserve. The movement was in progress in the four centres, and good work was being done. The youths were enlisted for five years, and they were not released except for some unavoidable reason. The Dunedin Reserve had had a parade recently, and had made a very fine appearance. He had received a letter from the Navy Office congratulating the reserve on its appearance, which was very praiseworthy, seeing that they had only been in training for some four months. The speaker said that in fairness he would like to state that, the training the youths had received .in the territorials arid the cadets had laid the foundation for . their j)res6nt efficiericy, and the airii of. his officers and himself was to get therii to take’tlieir place in the navy should, the need arise; Great attention was'being paid to signalling by Morse and also by

searchlights, and also to the other activities which would be required of them if they had to go on active service, and he thanked the citizens of Dunedin for the great help they had given the reserve, both financially and otherwise, and said they would do their very best not to let them down in the training of the various gradings.— (Loud applause.) Mr P. R. Sargood said that there had been no mention of the Air Force in the report. He had attended the annual dinner of the Navy League in London last year, and Earl Beatty, Mr W. C. Bridgman, and the Chief of the Air Force had emphasised the needs of that branch of the services. Apparently it had been a matter of some heart-burning at Home in the past, but he understood that both arms of defence were now working well together. He thought they should have received some information as to what was being done. Mr J. J. Clark said that the point raised by Mr Sargood had been mentioned at the last conference of delegates from the New Zealand leagues. A deputation had waited on the Minister of Defence on the subject, and although it might be more or less a secret, he believed that the Government was fully seized of the necessity of doing a good deal in the air line and of co-operating with the Naval Reserve. What the actual proposals were he could not say. The motion was then put and carried. OFFICE-BEARERS. The following office-bearers were appointed:—President. Mr J. Waddell Smith; vice-presidents—Mr P. R. Sargood, Mr P. Barr, Mr H. L. Tapley, M.P., Mr J. J. Clark, Mr James Begg; hon. treasurer, Mr W. F. Edmond; committee—Messrs James Begg, R. S. Black, H. C. Campbell, W. A. Flavell, T. R. Fleming, Garth Gallaway, J; A. Johnstone, W. J. Morrell, M.A;, J. Sutherland Ross, W. D. Stewart, M.P., Captain E. F. Watson. J. B. Grant. • MR BRUCH’S ADDRESS. •.■■.’ Mr W.''R. Brugh, in a" half-hour^.ad-dress to the meeting,'said he did not pro-

-ess to be a student of international politics, and he was wise enough, he hoped, not to talk on any subject he knew nothing about. Therefore, he would have to speak from the point of view of the man in the street. It might be the obvious things he would say—things that were self-evident —but there could be no harm done in repeating what had been said before. It was his good fortune in 1911 to travel in the East Indies on a boat that called at Amboyna, in the Moluccas, the capital of the whole of the East Indies. The time was when those islands, with their products of spices, cloves, nutmegs, and so on were the most important in the world. They were owned in turn by all the great nations that had ruled the world. At present they were owned by the Dutch. His audience might wonder what this had to do with the Navy League. His point was that the nation that once owned these islands possessed the navy of the world, but, owing to changed conditions, those islands were now practically off the map. But the moral of the position still remained —that was, that the nation that had the navy was the nation that controlled the great things in the world. He would give another instance. Three years ago it was his privilege' to visit the city of Venice. At one time Venice was the controlling power of land and sea —a proud position it held for centuries. And what did they find to-day? The once magnificent ralaee of the rulers was a place of interest for pleasure seekers and tourists —aliens both in faith and in nationality. Venice lost her influence at sea, and lost at the same time her proud position as the controlling power of the world. It was important, therefore, that in these days Great Britain should maintain her navy in such a state that it was always ready and always prepared. The hgpd and heart of the Empire was a small sea-girt island. The British Empire, the greatest Empire the world had ever known, had possessions that were wide and far flung, and here in New Zealand, at the furthest end of the world, it was necessary that, as a loyal people, forming a unit of the Empire, they should foster by all means in their power the greatness of the British Navy. This greatness had been handed down to them as a glorious heritage. It had been handed down to us also as a burden —a glorious burden. The Empire required a navy; the elasticity of that navy would keep .it pre-eminent, and it was their burden to assist .in maintaining the navy in that proud position. The navy must be in a position to say to the spirits of Drake, Collingwood, Nelson, and others, if they came to earth: “ There is the navy you left us —we have kept it and fostered it; the burden you gave to us we have looked after,” and he trusted that feeling would ever pertain. In these days—and here he might be treading on dangerous ground—the world was exercised with leagues and pacts, all aiming for universal peace. The more power to them. Everything, not alone those pacts hut everything in which people thought internationally, must be for the world's good. Every conference, not only among our own people, but particularly among our own and other nations, must work for good. It was in that way that Britain became aware of the point of view of other nations, and the people commenced to think internationally, and to realise there was hope for the fulfilment of the idea of the brotherhood of man. But until they were convinced that that idea had been realised their first duty was to see that they kept the Empire intact and in the proud position in which it stood to-day. They must not be misled. They claimed that they had the highest civilisation, and he thought they could rightly say they had. But they must not be misled into a misjudgment of other nations. Other nations required educating. So did the British. The British nation had centuries of Christian civilisation behind it; it was encompassed with laws, but even that state of things did not keep a criminal class out of their midst. And what was true of one nation must be true of other nations. The British people must not be misled into thinking that their high ideals were the ideals of everyone, and they must remain alive and alert until they realised that the world—the whole world —had undergone some moral uplift, some purgation, not only of crimes in individuals, but of those passions and prejudices that had existed in human nature during all time. Another aspect of the matter had been touched on by previous speakers. Side by side with the story of the peace pacts they read in the cables of mock air raids on London, which went to show that all of that great city might he swept out of existence in a single night. It was an alarming thought. It was a thought that had its advantages as well as its disadvantages. It had its advantage in this way: So long as nations retained their sanity and did not, by foolish blunder, plunge into unnecessary strife, it would be realised in time that the strides of science were such that even civilisation could be devastated in very little time. The memory of . the Great War was too recent to forget the dreadful days through which the nation passed in those four years. But at the end they were beginning to realise what science might mean in the next war. Very fe' knew of what was going on in the laboratories of the chemist and the scientist, or how terrible forces yet unrevealed might work destruction in time to come. He wished to again impress on them the importance of the navy to the Empire. Let them never cease the preaching of that doctrine. It was at the very heart strings of their national life. He was pleased to read from time to time of the .aircraft, and he trusted the two powers —the navy and the aircraft —would be united. In recent years it had been shown that a navy might be at the mercy of air machines, and it was important to Britain that her aircraft should be kept in the forefront as much as the navy. The two should go hand in hand. They had seen the decay and the death of great nations, and these giants had always died from their extremities. Now, New Zealand was .the farthest away of all the extremities of the British Empire—the greatest giant that the world had ever known. Let them show that they were a virile extremity. So long as the extremities were virile they need not show a great concern for the heart if he could put it that way. Let them assist, as a small part of the Empire in every way possible to uphold the traditions of their Empire. Let them hearten those. in .control of their great navy, and let, them continue ill the good work of upholding its prestige and efficiency- Bet them not forget also, con-

tinued the speaker, that the navy existed for more than war. It had great and glorious uses quite outside warfare. The speaker then gave incidents where the navy had assisted vessels in distress, and been used for charting unknown seas, and said his final words were that they must always look on the navy as their first and greatest concern.— (Applause.) Mr James Begg, in moving a vote of thanks to Mr Brugh, said that both New Zealand and Australia had shown by their actions a virile interest in naval defence, although he would not say that thev were doing their full share. They did not desire to see enormous votes for naval defence or other defence, but they did wish to see adequate votes. Whatever it, was they should pay their full share both in men and money. Their league had always advocated that, and had tried to press its views on. the Government to bring it about, but it had not yet succeeded in its objective. He held that New Zealand should make sacrifices for defences comparable with those in the Old Country. The speaker went on to state that some people considered the league an anachronism in the face of the various peace pacts, etc., by the great nations. He hoped that their intentions would be fulfilled, and that there would be an end of war. Nevertheless, it would be foolish to let their navy fall into impotence. The horror of war had never prevented nations going to war, despite the fact that it might mean the extermination of one or the other. Nations which went to war seldom thought that they were going to lose. As a matter of fact the wars in the old days were ■wars of extermination, because the victors always carried out wholesale butchery on the defeated, and yet wars succeeded wars. In the meantime, concluded the speaker, the navy must be their shield.— (Applause.) ■ On the motion of Mrs S. M. Park a hearty note of thanks was accorded the Jress for the assistance it had given the league. The singing of the National Anthem concluded the proceedings.