The Press Monday, November 17, 1924. Naval Defence.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18232, 17 November 1924, Page 8

The Press Monday, November 17, 1924. Naval Defence.

New Zealand's interests and duties as a State of the Empire were rather conspicuously absent from the concern of our legislators during the past session of Parliament, and it is therefore matter for satisfaction that Lord Jellicoe has spoken with clearness and emphasis of the importance of continued zeal for the Navy in this Dominion. At a Navy League gathering in Wellington on Friday evening he made a most urgent appeal to New Zcalanders to do what they can—and of course they can do a great deal —to ensure that the British Navy shall be kept at a high standard of efficiency and power. "Invariably after a great war," he said, "there "exists a tendency to let down the "defensive forces of the Empire. "But there is one defensive force "which I would warn the people of "tho Empiro never to let down, and "that is the sea services of the Em"pire." At the present time nothing is more certain than that none of the Great Powers is in the least likely deliberately to incur tho appalling and incalculable risks of war on the large scale, but the mental state of the world a generation hence, or even less than a generation hence, nobody can predict or guarantee. An enormous mass of goodwill and unselfish statesmanship is striving to lessen the possibility of war by devising means whereby national disputes- may be civilly resolved, and every rational man wishes ardently that this striving may be crowned with success. But rational men recognise that as tho causes of war are rooted in passion and not in reason there is a serious possibility that the League of Nations may in some emergency prove quite ineffective. The world is not yet "safe for democracy" or safe for helpless and unarmed nations, and is certainly not safe for an unarmed or insufficiently-armed British Empire. The 1 world derived precious little good from the Great War, but one very good thing it did obtain from it, and that is an understanding of the enormous power of a united British Empire. Had Europe known what the Empire really was and could do, the war Would probably not have begun at all. -It is obvious, surely, that the continuance of the Empire as a strong and well-armed Power will be as effective in protecting the peace of the. world as in protecting the trade and comfort of it§ own citizens. And for this efficiency the maintenance' of the Navy is essential. Even before the war our position on the map had made New Zealanders conscious of the vital importance of the sba-power of Britain, but they had not then fully realised that they cannot decently demand naval efficiency without: contributing effectively towards the cost of it. Lord Jellicoe did not overlook the Dominion's obligations in this matter. "The time is coming," he said, "when it is only fair to ask the "Dominion of the Empire to provide "fhe necessary defence for the trade "routes of the Empire," and he added that ho feels assured that New Zealand will not be behindhand in backing up the Mother Country. This backing cannot be given without the making of some sacrifices, but these sacrifices cannot be shirked.