SEA COMMUNICATIONS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16876, 25 October 1920, Page 3

SEA COMMUNICATIONS.

THEIR VALUE TO THE EMPIRE,

SPEECH BY LORD JELLICOE,

The importance of preserving the sea communications of the Empire, and maintaining a strong mercantile marine was emphasised by Lord Jollicoe in the course of his speech at the Trafalgar Day celebrations in the Town Hall, Wellington, on Thursday night. ‘T suppose that on this Trafalgar Day, being a sailor, I am expected to say something about the ,Navy,” .be said, “but, I cannot forget that, besides being a sailor, I hold an official position in Now Zealand which prevents me from opening my heart about naval matters as I was able to do twelve months ago in this hall. But, there is no harm in oue saying that the first and principal duty of the Navy is to keep control of the communications of the British Empire. Without the safety of these communications tho British Empire must soon cease to exist. In New Zealand, if your communications by soa are cut, or arc endangered, you cannot send your produce to the markets of the world, and before long disaster would overtake this Dominion financially. It is, therefore, of tho very first importance. to New Zealand that the sea communications of the Empire.should he safe. You may recollect, I dare say, in the early days of the war,* how the threat of Admiral von Spec’s squadron being ab-. load in the Pacific led to the temporary recall of the first contingent of that splendid force—the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. That was an instance of what danger to sea communications meant to the British Empire. It was th 6 very threat (as it happened, von gpee was many hundreds of miles away) of his endangering the sea communications that led to the recall of that Expeditionary Force. And again, I would like to mention, and draw your attention to the fact, that the safety of tho sea communications is not more important than tho use of those communications by the mercantile marine. The mercantile marine of the British Empire is just as important to the welfare of the British Empire as is the British Navy—(applause)—and unless we keep the British mercantile marine at a satisfactory strength, we are unable to use those communications which the Navy is endeavouring to safeguard. At the present time we are two million tons short in mercantile marine to what we were before the war, and you know quite well in New Zealand what that means to you. It has meant difficulty in getting away your frozen meat, it has meant difficulty in getting yourselves away to the Mother Country—those of you who have wanted to go—and, theiefore, it is just as important that the mercantile

■ (v: ii lie maintained at ama ;i----mum strength as it is important that the Navy should be so, maintained.” (Applause).