BRITAIN'S "FIRST LINE."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3107, 3 February 1909, Page 5

BRITAIN'S "FIRST LINE."

I THE NAVY LEAGUE MOVEMENT IN MASTERTON. WHAT IT INTENDS DOING. Ever sines the visit to Masterton of Lieut. Knox those who have asso. ciated themselves locally with the Navy League movement have been moving along quietly but assiduously to awaken as much patriotic sentiment as possible in respect ot Britain's first line of defence —the Navy. Mr J. D. Cruickshank is one of several local residents who have been fostering interest in the organisation of a local branch of the League. In conversation with a Wairarapa Age j reporter yesterday, Mr Cruickshank stated that there is a genuine though iatent feeling general in the community that the visit of Lieut. Knox to New Zealand and to such towns as Mnsterton, was well-timed, and that there is little doubt that the necessity is becoming increasingly apparent for the infusion of a deeper sense of responsibility in the public mind regarding the maintenance of an efficient Navy. The newly-formed Mastarton branch intends to commence from the outset with a vigorous campaign for members, and to endeavour to establish permanent means of inculcating the doctrine of "an efficient Navy—a secure nation." With these commendable objects in view it is proposed to invite Mr C. W. Palmer, Hon. Secretary of the Wellington Branch of the Navy League, to give an address at Masterton shortly. It is also intended to secure if possible the visit to Mastertcn of a naval detachment from a visiting j warship, the visitors to give a dis- ' play in the Showgrounds. The latter proposal is one of those practical ideas which would assuredly have a wholesome effect in toning up public apathy, and the League members are sanguine that they can carry the proposal through. The services of a very capable resident are being sought after as hon. secretary for the Masterton branch, and it is very nrobable he will accept the office. The most imporcant feature, how- I ever, of the work already accomplished and about to be undertaken is the collection of contributions towards a fund for carrying on most thoroughly in a large district in and surrounding Masterton the work of the local branch. Donations of a most • substantial character have already I bean promised, and there is so much enthusiasm being, shown in the matter by certain influential residents that the public will probably be con- J siderably surprised to learn in the j course of a few weeks that a very | large sum will stand to the credit of j. the branch. The chief use to which this fund will be devoted will be the encouragement of interest among school children in naval matters by the offering of handsome prices for essays on subjects connected with the .British Navy, past ana present. GERMANY'S POLICE. OF FOSTERING PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE NAVY, i 1 I far-seeing patriots m the I FaTHERLAND. | i THEIR THOROUGH METHODS. That the British public are not being vvrongly advised in keeping in view their country's naval supremacy is evidenced by tha intense manner in which Germany is striving to instil ; bv e-ery possible means a spirit ot' j enthusi is n in the gro.vt:i or ,i er i navy. Lieut Kiiox made a strong | point of this fact in his ailnivs-i at Masterton, and in the arti- : e.e, repiinted from the Navy League j Journal, the remans of a British j naval correspondent, resilent in Ger- i many, are given. It will he seen ; from them how justified Britain and i her dependencies are in sustaining a j healthy public regard for the nation's naval resources. The correspondent says: —"Numerous and varied are the devices employed by the Flottenvarein and other patriotic societies to stimulate popular enthusiasm in the naval ambitions of the Fathsrland. In every large German restaurant miniature metal warships are placed on the tables as receptacles for contributions to the funds of the Flottenverein; similar. toy gunboats are also displayed in pensions and boardinghouses frequented by ladies, this branch of thi League's activity biing in the hands of a sister organisation, the Flottenbund der Deutscher Frau- 1 en. Many of the toy models bear more orjless truculent inscriptions, exhorting patriotic citizens to donate their Pfennige for the purpose of summarily chastising the perfidious Englander. Furthermore, diagrams bearing on the same subject are displayed in shop windows and arcades in most of the great cicies, these works of art representing Germany's next great war; and in every case the German squadrons are depicted battling with the combined British and French fleets in the North Sea. In the entrances of the railway stations the League's kinetoseopes invite the passer by to insert a Groschen in the slot and view an I animated scene from the naval manoeuvres. The Flottenverein, in fact, loses no possible opportunity of actively prosecuting its propaganda, and its. revenue, even from the warship money-boxes, the kinetoseopes, and other devices must be enormous. The enthushsm to-day is equally as great as during the first year or two of the organisation's existence, when the members of a theological society, 60,000 all told, joined the Verein in a body. It is almost impossible to meet a business man in any of the large cities who is not a member, while the school teachers and University professors are Navy Leaguers to a man. More than two years ago the membership roll was well over the million, but today it must be considerably higher than this huge total. A larger number of teachers and Reichstag deputies participated in the Government's "instruction tour" through the i naval arsenals this year than ever before, while the special excursions , arranged to Kiel and Wilhelmshaven for the purpose of giving schooli boys an opportunity of viewing'the • wonders of naval science at first > hand were on an unprecedented ' scale. The rising generation is being sedulously innoculated with the "blue-water*' germ, and may be expected to arrive at maturity even more pronounced big Navy enthusi-

asts than the originates of the movement. To illustrate the ingenuity displayed in creating and fostering the naval spirit among the masses, it may bo mentioned that a series of twenty pictures depicting naval actions and other marine incidents in which German vessels were engaged, f.Mrf been published by a Munich firm, 'iiv-.-e range from 1368 A.D. to the pre :.ent time, but—in all good faith, be it said —the keenest student of n®.val history would be puzzled to recall many of the "actions" delineated in the series. "History made while you wait" was the flippant remark addressed to me by a friend when discussing this subject, and, in truth, the naval zealots of Germany would doubtless experience little difficulty in compiling many tomes dealing with the achievements of Teuton seanjen long before King Alfred dreamed of laying the. foundations of the modern British Navy."