Untitled

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1620, 11 December 1912, Page 8

THE NAVY.

WHAT IT PROTECTS. VIEWS OF ADMIRAL KlNO- '■'■ NEED FOR RELYING ON OURSELVES ': SPEECH BY AU# ADMIRAL.^ Honours wero about'easy between tho • .Union Jack and Old-Glory at the New. ~ Zealarid-OluVs luncheon yesterday, for the' •:; club entertained '■ \v distinguished:'reprei, sentative of'the Navy, and an- ''■- other::.of :the: United, States' Navy, They were''A'dulira}'.'. : Sir'vGeorge' King-Hall,;;of i the .Australasian Squadron,. ,and.' Rear r Admiral A.'Ross, who has had,so years of service 'in tho 'United: States Navy. Admifal 'King-Hall spoke' of Empire ;naval; ': defence,-'and' his' address,' a-thoughtiul speech of a quarter of .an.hours length, ■ was cordially appreciated by the 200 members of the club present. Admiral Ross, completely captivated his : audience with his "ready ivit"and modesty,' for, as .-he, 6aid,"bincers'-m'his service-clare not speak of anything pert'aiiiinjr to' international or diplouihtic'alinirs; He has:,all.the American's facility-in'-grotesque humour, and '-• he told a-.elever.anecdote or two.,against ■ , himself. ".'The ,Hon.;C.'.M: Luke; president ' ' of the olubV'.was'iiV'the chair. ■ : The chah'm'an; in' introducing the' guests of the day, spoke of the dream of a union of the -British' and: American nations, ami he hoped that somo.sort of organic shape ' might one day.be given to.the union ot the two great-Empires of.English-speak- ' . ing peoples, .whose,ideas and aspirations Fera.. identical..". :."'.'.'/.'■.

"" The ".'Growth of. Two Navies. Aamirai -Sir' George King-Hall was received with hearty applause when he lose-to speak. Hethanked -the.-club for the opportunity'ait'orded him of speaking to the heading citizens, of Wellington. He also uppreciatedthe'presencci-of;a-brother officer, AdmiralJJo'sSj of the United Stales Navy. Admiral -Dewey, the- head. or the American. Navy, was ■&■ very great ..friend of his, and lie'had'once had the'Weasuro of cooperating - ;\vitlr him in,a small way in the Manilas.. '•; ----'; '• He.had been asked to'speak, he said, on the general naval question/ This was a very-, big- subject, •ukl .in' approaching it, he.'-vduld direct- their "attention to 6everol"fa'cts-.which- no doubt they had already considered, and he was sure noono could do so without having his horizon very-Spaciously enlarged regarding the problems .which' the ; Empire would hare to face and tackle' here and elsewhere. These problems were inevitably mixed up with the'naval problem. Twelve years ago,. when he'had teen in the Mediterranean with .the. present Lord - Fisher,, they had fourteett'battleships in that sea, six bat'Heships on the:.China station, a few in the 'Channel; 1 ' and their ships' wcTe scattered all over the world, Now they were all practically "concentrated in the North Sea, and ho supposed;that they would probably Te'ma'in there. This concentratioa was a necessity now, to protect the heart ] of the'. Empire- lest overwhelming forces'that have come into being in recent years 6hould he loosed iipon its .our-j lying : parts ..and- ' upon our commerce." At -the time of which he spoke other nations had small navies by. comparison with Britain.: Now there were very, great-battle fleets' both in the West-, and in the-East, and there was no Teason why'sonie of'the'Powers, should not enlarge their fleets to.any extent they pleased. He remembered the day when in 1869 ho was present-at the laying of-the foun-dation-stone'of the" dockyard at "Wilhelmshafen. The late Emperor Wilhelm had been there, surrounded by Von Moltke, Bismarck, and the great men of that time. There was present on that occasion, as representing the Prussian Navy, aft old frigate presented to Prussia by Britain. In 1920-. the-same'Power, would have a fleet of 59 battleships and battle cruisers. He remembered some years later when Japan was very, proud of possessing ono small; corvette; -inow•;'Japan was a great, naval Power. From these- small, beginnings ;had arisen two most- powerful and efficient fleets.- .>-' ■','■. .i'-'i!''the Navy's Purpose.. ..' The commerce of the British nation was enormous, and there was hardly a port in the whole-world where'.the British flag was'not seen.' '-Their.'merchants dealt'in every market in the world, and it was 'for tho r/r,otection_of..,this. vast commerce and. for the protection'of the Empire that they had to maintain the Imperial fleet. To take one item .of our' 'commerce: the amount of 'British capital invested abroad 1 amounted to ,£3,000,000,000, and tho interest on this did not. return in the shape of bullion; but in goods.carried in British ehips, which numbered nearly 10,000, with a tonnage of over, .^'seventeen.,millions.. This had all to be protected.' ■'-■'■'■■'■ ■■■'■■' The naval estimates at Home were increasing, but in comparing British estimates with those of other countries, the only, fair comparison to make was of the' amounts for new ' construction, ; because' our Estimates contained moneys for works and for reserves chat were not included in foreign.. Estimates..: And:sometimes all the money voted for new construction was not spent. 'This'last spring the'.money not spent, amounted to ,£2,500,000, and. • the Admiralty had a harcf fight to get amillion I'put of.', that. The rest went' to ieduce';Our,national debt:' Tha State of the. Navy. The time would-come when, the British . nations : whose-shores are'washed by the Pacific, who were, he might say, tho Wardens of the Marches of the Empire, would take counsel with the Mother Coun-

try as to naval defence, in the Pacific. That, it seemed, would very soon take place, for he was suro they had all been very much struck and gratified at the great step taken by Canada-^Applause)—. in forming a Pacific division of the Imperial Fleet, and becoming a partner in the naval defence of the .Empire.' ,'■ Hohoped we should see in time Great Britain, Canada, .'Australia, and, New Zealand nHsharing in ithis, common Imperial Pacific defence.' »Oircmir.se, the burdencf, Empire was yeryiheavy., .The Home' Country paid 'over a pound a- head;, and probably would ■ havevtovpayjinore,'for, naval defence a'lbnei but'it was satisfying to know thatstlioVgreater v th'ekStraiiutho stronger would be-the : bond binding the Mother Country and the colonies together; tho greater the pressure the greater would be the. consolidation of the Eni-

- : pire. (Applause.) '• ■■■ ■ ■ '•'•-■■ . ' As to the Royal Navy,.it had never been in a more perfect state in regard to discipline and devotion to duty on the part of both officers and men'than it was at this day. (Applause.) And it was ceaselessly on guard. He had been in the manoeuvres for two years running, and there ho had had opportunities of witnessing how very keen and alert our officers and men were. He .had-..been- in the service for forty-nine years, arid he could candiclly sav-he had never known it more I efficient anil more alert for any eventuality that might arise. He still believed in the truth of the old Latin proverb: If you wish for peace you must prepare for war." The Australian Navy, The Australian navy, with which he had had a good deal to do; was a thoroughly successful-going concern. There were some pessimists at the beginning, but he did not think they knew the character of the British race, for, after all, wherever me might be, jn Australia, New Zealand or at Home, we were all brothers. Ho had seen the men m the Australian Navy, and the officers in charge of them all reported that they were keen. More candidates were offering , to "O into the Australian Navy than could '■' poAifcly be taken. Of course, for many rears to eome~becnuse it took about eight years to make a lieutenant, and he did nit know how many to make an Admiral '—•(•Ivs Australian Navy must take its irror officers from the Royal Navy. TVso officers, with Commonwealth ofnce'V w-tc now making the Australian Maw what it was. It was needless for praise them, for, as naval officers -Va.y; did wherever they were, they ":.'-' tified themselves with -whatever they «.»ro engaged in with a whole-hearted ii d" single aim to make it second to '~"..ii< So ho could say, from-his own .'. K.-inal knowledge, that the Royal Ausl ■■ )ian Navy was a working efficient divi-i-U\ of the Imperial Fleet. Kew Zealand, as they all knew, was 'nil of the Imperial and the naval spirit. One had only to read of the aotiwtiea of

those who belonged to the Navy League to be assured of this, and he hoped that .•some day many of those members would ;be iii'the'lmperial Fleet. At present there must;be hardly a sufficient outlet for-the development of the naval spirit, but being a maritime nation New Zealand would find some way later on of satisfying tho seafaring instinct which, ho was sure, must bo implanted in so many of-'her young men. As to the future'navnl policy of -Now Zealand, ho would say nothing, for-what ho might say couldbeno more than his personal opinion. That, policy would bo settled by the New Zealand Government, and by its able Minister lor Defence, Mr. Allen, when he went home and met the Home Government and. the Admiralty, and discussed the question in all its aspects. Whatever it might be of one thing he was sure-ISew- Zealand would bo ready to give of her very best to 'tho Empire, whether it be in material or in personnel.,'

Must Rely on Ourselves. They-must always look ahead at least ten or fiftpen years when thinking ot naval, ■policy.' They had .also to- .look at international questions. These it would hardly be his province to touch upon, but they did alter with startling rapidity, and in the end he thought it was only on ourselves, on our own self-reliance, and on our own right arm that-we could really depend. (Applause.) When he said this, it was in no spirit of. jingoism, for he really believed it was so by God s grace and ■ guidance and under His blessing. (Applause.).- - -.'.'. : '.,'', _ ",, . , •'• The chairman next invited Rear-Admiral Ross to speak,, referring to him. as the representative of our cousins across mo sea, : or even, he might say, of our -big brothers across the sea.

The Red, White, and Blue. Admiral Ross,' who was welcomed by a round of applause, said ho had not anticipated the great courtesy of being called upon to address the club. He felt that it was a great courtesy,' and to be in the presence of his Excellency the Admiral was more than a courtesy. "The chairman," said the Admiral, "has said he looks upon us as 'big brothers' across the sea. We are. The same red blood represented in our flag, as in yours, has over it the same blue of our heavens- ■ above, and may that-blue always look down upon that red, merged with the'white of; the peace for which the great Anglo-Saxon race has-always stood. (Applause.) He excused himself from speaking on international and diplomatic matters, explaining that United States-Navy-and Army people were "muzzled" regarding these questions. It might seem strange to them to see' before them a man of 66 years o 4 a"-e, with-50 years' experience m the United States Navy, who had never exercised the right of suffrage. The naval officer was not supposed to take any part in party warfare, and when the call came, it came not from the Republican or the ■Democratic party,'but from the country. Then it was the naval officers duty to do, or to die,- if nesd be, for his country, and not for any party.. ■••

A Hard-Earned Holiday. "With so much talent present," he said, "I hardly know why you should call upon, a Yankee Admiral to address you. (Laughter.) But I.want to congratulate vou on your , country.' Years ■ ago it was the dream of-my youth- that. I should see the great South Sea Islands, and also Australia and New Zealand. . - Although I made two cruises in the Pacific,. I never got away from the South American eoasfcs. . As soon- as they got a dollar they had to have a revolution, and each time I had to stand by and see that that dollar changed hands." Admiral -Ross detailed how difficult,he had found it to get release from duty, although he, had complained to the Secretary for the Navy that there were younger men than he who were now retired, and who had nothing to,-do but "to smack-their grand-children and cut coupons/'- (Laughter.) He stayed , right on, and finished - his special task, and then waited only ..long enough to 'pack a grip before cominS'away on his holiday. "Now," he said, "I am almost oh the foundered list. I have had so many invitations and so many dinners, and so much eating, that'l don t know whether I am going to get out of tho country or not. I shall -always carry -.in-, my mind the great love that is.snown by New Zealand people for the American 'people. I feel that the. cutting of the Panama Canal is going to link us . to-, gether." Panama, The Admiral went on to talk of Panama, where .he had spent two months. He could say unhesitatingly that it was the'greatest undertaking the world had ever seen. They had got the fly swatted, and now there was no . disease in the Canal zone. Instead of being a pesthole, it was the sanatorium of the. world, and they were making provision to receive from 10,000 to 12,000 tourists- a month—people coming to see the'work. He advised all who wished to see the work in its greatness-to see it before the water was turned in next July. Water wou d be turned into the Culebra Cut m July next, and before the first of next September ships' would go through the Canal. How did it affect New Zealand? He would only cover one point. The business men of New Zealand should see that the four great' coaling stations in the route across the Pacific-Suva, Apia, Pagopago, and Tahiti—were all supplied with New.Zealand.coal for the ships. When Admiral King-Hall had spoken, the chairman called for three .cheers, in recognition of the speech, and the cheers .were lustily given. , Likewise, when Admiral Eoss had finished his very brief address, the chairman called for cheers for him, "and in honour of the' Stars and Stripes."; These cheers were given no less heartily.