THE PRESS DELEGATES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 62, 7 December 1918, Page 3

THE PRESS DELEGATES

Points from the recent tour the might of the navy i ■ ' \ The invitation from the British Ministry of Information to tho editors nnd proprietors of newspapers published in the Overseas Dominions to visit Great Britain as guests of the Government was issued at the end of JLiy last. The rel/esentatives from Nev Zealand were as follow:—Mr. George Fenwick, Dmiedin (who was unanimously chosen by his colleagues as chairman); Mr. JI. L. Beading, Christchuvch; Mv. Charles W. Earle and the Hon. IV. J. Geddis, Wellington; Jlr. R.. M. Hacket, Auckland; and Mr. Fred. Pirani, Feilditig, as representatives of the provincial Press. The terms of the invitation were sufficiently specific ns far as they disclosed the desire of the Imperial Government, acting through Lord Bcarerbrook, that their visitors ■should see the great efforts Great Britain, had made* and was etill making,, to perform her full share in repelling the determination of, a powerful military nation to take a paramount nnd dominant position in the affairs of the world. Tho invitation, however, left some.doubt as to the extent to which the visitors were to be taken into the confidence of the Government in relation to the war nnd the position of the country. It was a natural, assumption that .there would be a certain amount of confidential information imparted to its' guests by the Government, but ae to the scope of that information there was some speculation. The delegation looked forward, however, to being ■• given, confidentially, information that would bo enlightening and instructive from their point of view as representing the newspaper world of their respective dominions, and especially' of the Government's decisions on matters of public policy such as would'affect the Empire, as a whole on the declaration of peace. Information on many important matters—such, for example, as reconstruction as applied to thy social and industrial life of the people, of Great Britain after the war; more effective control of tho sale of alcoholic liquor (such as the testing of that, control m the experiment at Carlisle); the efforts that were being made or proposed to deal with danger- from the contraction or venereal, disease by the. overseas troops on their arrival in England, and when on leave, from' the battlefronts, and so in. On many of these matters valuable information was given, but it was not until the close of tho tour that any important speech to the delegates was made by a Minister. This took place at a farewell luncheon given by the Minister of Information, at which only the delegates were present. In wishing them good-bye and'!-, safe return to their homes, Lord Beavcrbrook availed himself of the opportunity to disclose things that were impressive and not within the knowledge of the ordinary citizen. It is to be. regarded as an honour to the Dominion Press that if is looked upon bv tho' Minister as a safe repository of confidential information of and the knowledge thus gained will enable the visiting journalists in their public writing to deal with the whole question of Britain's relation to the war and its outcome with tlie confidence that a certain measure of inside knowledgo Alone -jan give. ' ' .'.' As to the tour itself, the members of the New Zealand delegation can only speak for themselves. They' do so., in terms of, unqualified satisfaction. Iroin the moment they stepped ashoVo at Liverpool from tho White Star nner Adriatic, on .July 26, until their embarkation for New York by the Bed Star Company's fine steamer Lapland, on October 6 they received every possible attention and courtesy' from" the Minister of Information ' and his official staff. It. iswith the greatest pleasure this acknowledgment is made, and the New Zealand delegates'tender to the Minister and to.General Sims, Colonel Ehott, Colonel Galloway, Major Wrench, Major Montagu, Major Annand Mr. Doidge, oml Dr. Purves, of the Ministerial staff, their very cordial thanks for .many pleasant and instructive days spent in England, Scotland, and .Ireland, and in France. Here also it is fitting that acknowledgement should be made of the unremitting courtesy shown to the members of the Now Zealand delegation by the High Commissioner and his staff. The pressmen from the Dominion wero invited .'to mate themselves thoroughly at home in the commodious officce m the Strand, and every member of the staff with whom they were brought into contact did his utmost to assist the delegates in their quest for information or help. They formed the opinion that the New Zealand offices in London are thoroughly well administered .by a "highly capable staff, and it gives them great pleasure to record this opinion. Many interviews took place with members of tho Ministry and prominent officials, at which important questions were discussed. -Spaco does not permit of more than bare reference to these, but nmong them.may,be mentioned discussions with the Eight Hon. A. J. Balf our on the progress, of the,war and the policy of the future; with Dr. Addison* Minister of Reconstruction; with General Richardson on matters affecting the welfare of the New Zealand troops; with Lord D'Aubernon, the head of the Liquor Control Board; with the Eight Hon. W. H. Long, Secretary of State for the Colonies; with Lord Milner, Secretary of State for War; and with the Right Hon. J. R.Clynes, the Food Controller.

Of the tour in France and,all its memorable associations of ruined towns and villages, of fertile* lands rendered useless by thousands of great shell-holes and hundreds of miles of trenches scattered through the farming and pasturngo lands, of shell-torn peasant homes,' abandoned until_ the now accomplished arrival of happier days, words cannot give adequate description. The experiences of" the-delegates in their long motor journeys, covering as they did an aggregate of at least 1500 miles—at times'not only within sight of'heavy fighting botweoh ,our own artillery and'that of the enemy, but actually on battlefields from wMoh'a few hours previously the Germane had been driven- by New Zealand 'troopswere such as will live in the'memory. Those never-to-be-forgotten motor ,, journeys from the old French chateau,'where the members of the New Zealand delegation were so comfortably "housed, to the extreme limits of safety at the various battlefronts, were made under the guidance and control of officers of the General Headquarters Staff, aad to those officers—Gaptain • Scott and Captain Townroe-tho warmest, thnnks of the delegation are due for much courtesy, received at their hands, and to Captain Townroe especially for a great deal of valuable and interesting information imparted during their joiirneyings through the devastated areas.

The delegation returns to New Zealand satisfied that Lord Beaverbrook did a ■ wise thing when he put before his colleagues in -the Ministry tho idea that nothing but benefit to the Empire could result" from the assembling of loading journalists and newspaper proprietors from all its overseas dominions in order that they might bo able to judge for themselves, and tell the people of their respectivo lands how nobl.y Britain lins ■played her part in tho mighty struggle which is fast drawing to a close. In dealing with the leading features of this memorable tour, it is in every way fitting that the visit paid by the delegates to the Grand Fleet should take first place. In an alliance, of nations Britain/falls' naturally into the place of leader on the seas. How well that leadership has been maintained is made evident to the world by tho results 'of tho war at sea from the Battle of Heligoland Bight to the faihiro of the German attack upon American transportation, and in tlio final collapse of Germany under constant and unroiiiiltim; imval pressure. But to the public it is a record only of results. Methods are hidden from view by the secrecy which has enveloped the Navy. Tilt) New Zealand Press delegates were fortunate in having (lie opportunity lo witness some of these methods at close nunrtcrs during their recent visit lo Britain. The delegates crossed tho Atlantic danger zone, in company jvilh. many thousands of American soldiers under naval protection. They recrossod in a ship decorated with memorials of her success as an army transport: dalinj? from September, 10M. They visited tho Bosyth naval bnse, and saw lliero a largo section of the enormous fleets then constantly engaged on sea ipatrol. Thoj"

inspected shipyards on the Clyde and in Belfast, and ' thus came into intimate contact with tho process of building (o strengthen tho Navy and to replacelasses- in the merchant fleet. • It was a necessarily limited programme, for tho Navy was at war and time was pressing, but the facilities provided wore amply sufficient to convince the delegates that Britain is to-day Mistress of the Sens in a more indisputable and more effectivo sense than ever before Our Allies hnvo shared noblv in the dangers and tho glnries of (ho sen strnrele. But when this is freely acknowledged, (here remains the outstanding fact that Britain has carried tho. licnV share of the burden of rendering Germany ns impotent under the sea ■ as she has always been unfin its surface. , The departure of an .Atlantic rorfvny is a more impressive siirht than the landsman can conceive. It brings to the civilian traveller his first touch of the. realities of war, but it stirs his blood nnd decnons his admiration for (he men of the two services who in the latestaees of the war made tliis their daily task. Above all, it fills him with a sense of security, a belief that the most of German submarine commanders would think twice before seekin" a victim from that imposing fleet. . This conviction fjrows as land recedes, as the transports "fake their allottod iplnces in the 'formation,- and as the escorts spread to the horizon from within a ston»' a f-'irnv of our fleck.4 It is a case'in which familiarity breeds resnect. On thnt voyare, lengthened but made more vitalising by the war-onnd'lions, we were never out of fouch with the other ships of our convoy, never, in dnvliirht. out of sishf <*f Ihe protecting naval arm. If the reality of Ihe i-i«lc.which had occasioned this great disnlav of strength at times nlitruded ilsnlf. it was accomnnnied by a feelin? of pride at the stendv movement, desnita fhs risk, of two armv divisions of men, mainly earned in British shins nnd Inreely.under British protection. Tf boat drill and discipline eave the nnsfnngor n.plini.nso of .unpleasant nossibilities, he would be a poor Britisher if he did not find comfort nnd satisfaction, ns well as ground for gratitude, in the activities nf tho craft nround him and above him.

The visit to Rosyfh gave the delegates another, but no less inspiring, view of fhe Navy. A day wns spent stemming through fl'e safe waters of the Forth, to which ships of war of all classes came to rest their weather-beaten crews after onerous duties at sea. There were miles Upon miles of fhem. from the powerful battleships afloat and the swiftest and strongest of the-world's b-ittle-oruisera to the most venomous and the most mysterious of auxiliary small crnft. All were shojtered. behind an imnreirnable defence, against surreptitious attack, but each was ready it\v sea and far action at pny moment. Here nnd there- the eye rested on an American ship, bearing practical testimony to the Amrlo-Ameri-enn Allinucc. but these wereestrnngers enjoyimr the hospitality of an Allied base,, and they were almost lost in the ?rent and menacing collection nf British ships. The delegates were taken on board ono of the latest' and speediest of BriHsli destroyers, not long from the shipyard, but long enough to make her crew certain of her oualify and coiifiderit that she is the , best ship of her kind in the fleet. They, went from there to a great battleship, ono that flew an Admiral's flag at' Jutland. Thence to the battle-cruiser New Zealand, '-here they iicre entertained at lunch bv Captain Webb and his officers. Here they fcimd that the fine New Zealand spirit initiated on , her first commission by Captain Halsey ie being'maintained in spite of changes of officers and crew. The New Zealand is regarded, in the Navy as a lucky ship, and her luek is attributed, half humorously, lialf seriously, to the Maori inscriptions, the tikis, and the mats which are a sacred part of her furnishing, and which, with her name, will associate her through her career with the land that gavo her freely to tho British Navy. She fought at Heligoland, on tho Dogger Bank; and at Jutland, and has been but once hit. She carries now iw an exhibit the German shell which in the height of the Jutland Battlo knocked a pices of armour off the after turret, and the gun crew tells with pardpnablo pride that that turret wns jn action again within a quarter of in hour. After a quick riin through tho familiar decks of the New Zealand, the delegates were taken on board a modern light cruiser. On all,.the. ships visited, they found officers and men eager to siiow and explain everything that interested them, on tho one condition, that nothing was to bo written or said that might give a point to the enemy. At sunset they were farewolled from the light cruiser by the firing of a torpedo and a vigorous cheer of fellowship,and good-will. They left the -Navy regretful that the visit was -at an end, but confident thnt tho spirit of the service was equal to its equipment, and that its equipmont was ,as good as man could make.

Later the delegates had a day on the Clyde, and before they turned liombward they went through the two great shipbuilding yards of Belfast. They 'covered twenty miles of 'he waters of the Clyde and saw hundreds of ships on the stocks, and hundreds of thousands of shipyard workers. They were guided through all departments of the Fairfield yards, from which the battle-cruiser New Zealand was launched, and where since war broke out there have been limit in warships, alono whiit in T)re-war times would have been considered a respectable navy in itself.. Evidences of these past efforts were nresent in > the vatere of'the Clyde, though less conspicuous than tho e'normonfT •nromisft for the- future which lined its banks., At flosyth the effect of recent construction was striking. The power of the Navy has been increased in all its arms. New and deadly instruments of offence ■ and defence' have been invented. Ships have been planned and built for uses which were rot within the naval vision in 19H. The types of warships tfint have heen found' most effective have been multiplied many fold. The lessons of tho war l,avo been 'drawn upon..,for tho improvement of all ships, of whatever placed in the water. Every addition, to the greater flepf bus the' mnri- of. .Tutlnnd v'non it; .nil the new_ flotillas are fitted with new devices 'Foryip.»abl(! against the pirate iiar conducted ui)o.n' the wide seas. All this is the work , of the British shipbuilding which has its most productive centre on the Clyde. , '

''At , Belfast the industry is on a less gigantio-scale, but its output hns Wn on enormous factor in keening the British mercantile fi""»t at strength. Belfast also holds a creditable record of having had no strike .dnrirwj th period of the war/ This is" well wo'fh noting, for the rjmit. of our shinbuilding has been strictly measured by the supply of labour. There is an abundance of material and ampin space, but always there are more ships nn the stocks than can be finished with the labour <at hnnd. With the close'of the war and the mlpnse r.f labour, these conditions should tend to the rapid replacement of lost tonnage ami the provision of ample British shipping for all purposes.