The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA.” WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1924. A MESSAGE OF GOODWILL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18967, 19 March 1924, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA.” WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1924. A MESSAGE OF GOODWILL

“The sea is our life. By the use of it the Empire was formed. By holding it the Empire has been preserved. If we fail to appreciate its value the Empire will perish.”— Jellieoe. ’

Mr. E. 'c. Cutten, S.M., president of the Auckland Young Citizens’ League, has contributed to the current issue of “The Young Citizen” an appreciative endorsement of the jnspiring message to the young citizens of this Dominion which His Excellency Vice-Admiral Saito (who v. as , in command of the Japanese training squadron lately in these waters) released on the eve of his departure from New Zealand. The admiral took as his subject “Tho League of Nations/’ which Mr. Cutten holds to beri'the greatest subject for a message to-day, because it is the practical application of God’s teachings just where their application to-day is most needed. ’ ’ In his message the Admiral asks everyone’s sympathy forithe League of Nations. Study the reasons for its formation and its work, he say£, and it will win your sympathy and interest. He asks, too, that we study Japan, his country, long Britain’s ally and still her firm friend, that we study its history and its people so we may understand his people as they try to understand us, and so the two Nations may the beter work together in ■ furthering the ideals of the League of Nations. It is almost a surprise to be tolcl in plain language by a foreign though friendly tongue just what our Governor-General, the great Admiral Viscount Jellieoe, every now and again reminds us, what the Navy League seeks ever to keep before the peoples of the Empire, and what great writers are continually telling us, namely, that the sea is the life blood of the British Empire, and if the Empire is to endure, the tradition of the sea must be maintained. Sport of all kind's is good, it a

healthy body and a healthy mind; but, says Admiral Saito, in this Dominion, wi;h its wonderful opportunities of yachting boating, and swimming, we i should encourage these sea sports, encourage Sea Scouts, do everything to keep alive the traditions of the sea. Occasionally speakers whose words have weight, in making an appeal that we keep the Empire prepared for every emergency, appear to disparage the League of Nations. This is never intended.- Even -Vice-Admiral Saito, speaking as a high Naval authority of another nation, when making an appeal on behalf of the League of Nations, recognises that he would be doing the world no service were he to ask the young people of this or of any British Dominion to support the League of Nations at the expense of the Empire’s tradition of the sea and of sea power. That, Mt. Cutten points out, would lead to a result differing far from that intended or desired by those who advocate "entire reliance upon the League of Nations, for it would place our Empire at the mercy of any stronger Power which did not rely upon and did not adhere tw the principles of the League of Nations, a. late book by Archibald Hurd tells a fascinating story of the part “The Sea Traders” have had in Ipiilding a great Empire upon the foundation of a little island, and the book ends with the sentence:—“The secret of this island, thrown from the side of Europe, consists of the strength, which it draws from the sea and tho influence which the sea has had upon the development of individual character and the creation of national characteristics peculiarly British.” Though it is not hidden from Admiral Saito, that may well remain a secret from the rest cf the world, but it should be written upon every British heart. Admiral Saito’s final appeal is for unselfishness of individual action. And Mr. Cutten agrees that in this way only will real progress be made, will the nations become unselfish in their consideration of one another’s interests, and will the ideals of the League of Nations be attained? The young people of this Dominion are under a deep debt of gratitude to His Excellency ViceAdmiral Saito for his inspiring message.