The Dominion. TUESDAY JULY 23, 1918. EVERY MAN A HERO

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 261, 23 July 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY JULY 23, 1918. EVERY MAN A HERO

Sailors' Day ! Lot no ono forgot it! On Friday of this week tho people of the city and province of Wellington will be asked to _ givo practical and tangible expression to their gratitude for all that the men of tho Royal Navy and the Mercantile Marino have dared and done for us since the comnu-ncement of tho war and for all that they are daring and doing for us at this very moment. Of the many calls _ that arc being made on the generosity of citizens none is more appealing or more iriiperativo than the Sailors' Fund. There must bo no shirkers on Friday next: all must do their duty. Tho debt of gratitude' which wc owe to our sailors is so incalculably great that we. cannot rossibly repay it in full, but wc wi.l be shamefully mean-spirited if we do not cheerfully and eagerly t."ke advantage of the opportunities which will bo presented for showing oir; appreciation of their sph'idid work. The task of the collectors should lie an easy and pleasantone. They Will be in tho happy position of conferring a privilege, not asking a favour. Every gift will bo cheerfully given—not grudgingly or of necessity ._ Were it not for the unceasing vigilance: of our sailors, their magnificent courage and their willing endurance of hardship, wc might to-day be recipients of gifts from others instead of donors. Our continued prosperity in these critical times, when the foundations of civilisation arc- rocking under our feet, has been made possible by the fact that the Navy and Mercantile Marine arc what they are and have clone what they have done. By their discomfort we live in comfort, by their perils wt are made safe, by their sleepless watchfulness wo are able to sleep in peace. They die that wc may live. These arc sheer, solid facts, not rhetorical nourishes. The Navy stands like an impenetrable wall between us and tho enemy. Thanks to tho Navy the only knowledge which the great majority of us have of "_frightfulness"ia acquired by reading about it in the newspapers. Our reasons for gratitude are superabundant. Let no trace of niggardliness mar our exnrcssion of it.

An English Bishop recently .'declared thai, when it was asked what the Navy was doing, it was sufficient to say that the Navy was doing every day that which enabled anything wo did on shore to go on at all. This statement is as true for us as for our kinsmen in the British Isles. Our farmers arc indebted to the men oE the Navy and Mercantile Marino for the protection of the tradt routes and the carriage of. their goods to their principal market. Our merchants would not have ranch in the shapo of wares to sell but for tho oversea cargoes

brought to them in spite of sta perils more numerous and more deadly than our fathers ever imagined in their wildest dreams. Tho ceaseless activities of tho Navy make it, possible to maintain conditions in New Zealand that assure regular work and good wages to our industrial classes, and enable every man, woman and child to work and play, and eat and sleep without fear tinder tho powerful protection of that sure shield—the Koyal Navy. We have only to think of Belgium and Htrbia and Rumania if we want to know what the fate of New Zealand Would be if tho Kaiser's fleet iad not found more than its match in the fleet that Ins inherited and enriched the high traditions of Prakg and Hawkins and Nelson. The brave deeds of the men who have served under Admirals Jellicoe and Beatty arc quite equal to tho most heroic achievements recorded in tho thrilling annals of British naval warfare. "What could be more glorious than the unbreakable lighting spirit shown by the men who put the Germans to flight in the Jutland battle! The crew of the Queen Mary, struggling for their lives in the water, did not ask nor expect the next ship to pick them up. "Get into it!" they shouted, '"hat is tho true "Nelson touch." Like Nelson, they felt thty could die happy if they knew ttiat the enemy was defeated. What a high standard of duty these men have, set tip! How mean and base and thankless we will prove ourselves to be if wo do not fulfil our obligations to them and theirs by providing generously for the sick and wounded sailors and their dependants, and for the dependants of those who have made the supreme sacrifice.

It is impossible to pay a greater tribute to the men of the Mercantile Marine than to affirm—and it can be affirmed with perfect truth-that they havo proved themselves worthy to share with the Navy the honour and glory of tho war. The men of tho Navy and tho men of the Mercantile Marino are brothers all and heroes all. The comradeship of tho two services in the present war hasbeen very close. No one can speak with more knowledge and authority wan AbiiiHAii Sir David Beatty of the yaluo of the war work done by the Mercantile Marine. His appreciation is expressed in no,grudging terms in the following message- read at the annual meeting of the. Mercantile Marine Association:

Please convey the greetings of officers and men of the Grand Fleet to our brother sailors in the Mercantile Marino, and express onr admiration of their gallantry ami devotion to duty, which are alike an inspiration to the nation and to us. No finer record can be found in the annals of (he struggle against an inhuman and unscrupulous foe. The importance of v tho part which is being played by them in the great war cannot be overestimated.

Our merchant sailors have refused to be dismayed by the enemy's campaign of piracy and murder. The Germans piled crime on crime and heaped frightfulncss on frightfulness; but British sailors still took their ships in and out of port and across the seas. Their dauntless courage frustrated the determined efforts of'the enemy to starve Britsyi. . They have had to face a foe wHo has fought with unexampled fury and brutality, and who respects no law, human or divine, A great company of our merchant seamen have been faithful even unto death. They have died for us. How can wo forget them and their noble example? They have shown the world that the British seaman of today is as capable and as fearless as those sailors of bygone clays whose wonderful voyages in unknown oceans are described in the stirring talcs of adventure which fascinate the juvenile mind. In this war the Mercantile Marine and the Royal Navy have both done all that mortal men can do to ensure victory. The one is indispensable to the other. They have become one brave brotherhood of the sea, inspired by the same ideals of endurance and duty. It is, therefore, entirely fitting that they should occupy an equal and undivided place in our hearts on Sailors' Day.