LORD JELLICOE ON SEA POWER

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 284, 25 August 1921, Page 6

LORD JELLICOE ON SEA POWER

ADDRESS TO NEW ZEALAND CLUB “FOR THE SEA IS OUR LIFE” NAVY AND MERCANTILE , MARINE As the guest of the New Zealand ■ Club at a luncheon given in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall yesterday, the Governor-Gen-eral (Admiral Lord Jellicoe) delivered a striking speech upon sea power and its vital importance to the British Empire. His audience was presided over by the president of the club (Mr. R. J. Aekins), and included the ActingPrime Minister (Sir Francis Bell) and the Mayor (Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P.). Lord Jellicoe pointed out how very' essential to the Empire was a strong British mercantile marine and an adequate navy to protect it. He expressed his hope that the rising generation would not fail to receive thorough instruction regarding the dependence of the Empire upon the sea.

Groat applause greeted the distinguished guest when he rose to speak. “Your very kindly welcome to me this afternoon,” said His Excellency, “recalls to my mind the equally kind greetings you tendered to mo two years ago when 1 ; was here in a different capacity. Since' that time I have made the acquaintance in various parts of the world of clubs similar in nature to the New Zealand Club, but further acquaintance has not made me any the more fond of that part of the club’s objects whieffi includes the placing of the guest on his fret (Laughter.) My admiration for clubs ot this nature always ceases nt that particular point. (Laughter and applause.) However, as I am on my feet, I must endeavour to do something to further the objects of the .New Zealand Club, and one of its objects is to foster patriotism by the study of history. As I am better acquainted with the history of shipping and navies than with any other history, I am going to inflict upon you my views of the importance to the Empire ot the sea. (Applause.) Basis of Empire's Existence. “I take for my text the words ‘For tho sea is our life,' and I begin by quoting from a speech recently dcln «ed bv Mr. Lloyd George- at the opening of the late conference of Prime Ministers. Mr. Lloyd George said; Me cannot forget that the very life of the United Kingdom, as also ot Australia and Sew Zealand, has been built up on sea power, and that sea power w necessarily the basis of the whole Empire s exi=tenc- ’ Those words were spoken by ah . Lloyd George when he was reterr ’”B more particularly to the defence o sea communications in war. My purnose this afternoon is to draw more attention to the use of those sea communications than to their defence, although defence necessarily follows if they ar to be used. I want to draw your attention therefore to the vllal .} mp " r r t^ C [ ® to the British Empire of the British mercantile marine, because the communications of the Empire are earned out bv that mercantile marine. “In order that you may understand the importance of our sea transp ° r ‘’ shall quote one or two figures. In pre war days, so far as the United Kingdom concerned, she depended upon seaborne imports for her food to the extent of two-thirds of her .consumption, and the greater part of the raw materials for her industries came also from overseas. The raw materials ncluded the whole of her cotton silk, jute, hemp, and petroleum, thr ® e - fo , of her wool, and nearly half of n 1 iron ore. Therefore nobody can deny the importance to the United kingdom or her sea transport. ’ Mr. Lloyd Georg also mentioned Australia and New Zealand, and I will take the case of those two Dominions. New Zealand is d - pendent on sea transport for the of her exports and the whole of he imports. Of the imports, 80 per cent, come from the United Kingdom or British poiessions. Of her exports, 92 per cent, go to the same destination (Applause.) Take the case of Australia. Australia imports from the United Kingdom and British possessions over 80 per cent, again of her imports, and exports to the same destinations over 60 p«-x cent The other Dominions are on much Hie same footing. Of the Dominions it is true that they are practically, ■selfsupporting as regards food but their imports are very necessary for the welfare of the people, and their exports, I think you may sayj, are vital. British or Foreign Ships? "Therefore sea transport is essential for the life and prosperity of the United Kingdom and of the remainder ot the British Empire, and sea transport can be carried out by two methods-hrst. by ships Hying the Empire flag, and, second, as an alternative, by ships flying a foreign flag. There are, of course, great and obvious disadvantages in being dependent on a mercantile marine flying a foreign flag.” Lord Jellicoe proceeded to enumerate the disadvantages he had referred to. Among them he mentioned the fact that in war time, without a British mercantile marine the Navy would lose a most valuable reserve of officers and men. “One is forced.’! he said., “to he conelusion that if Great Britain had not possessed a mercantile marine as large is that which she did possess in Hie war time. Hie war would have been lorf almost before it had begun. Apart from all other disadvantages in the use of foreign ships in war time, there is this one—that naturally foreigners are not prepared to accept the same risks for the soke of the British Empire as members of Ihe Britis'h Empire arc themselves (Hear, hear.) Allhough, of course, there are great profits lo lie earned, and although many of the neutral sailors showed great gallantry during the war, still the fact remains that when the unrestricted submarine war.fnr- commenced and the risks became great there was a great, diminution in Hie number of neutral ships bringing earoocs to the United Kingdom.

Communications Must Ba Protected.

' "( think that what I have said must upon people how deeply important it is to tho Empire that we should have a mercantile- marine belonging to the Empire on which we can depend in peace, and in war. (Applause.) Naturally if you have a mercantile manno it has to ho protected in the unhappy event of war. I shall never forget General Smuts’s speech, one of the first speeches I hoard him make in England, showing how the importance of sea communication struck him. The question was being discussed of the relative importance of various war aims of tho Allies. General Smuts was asked his opinion. lie got up and said.: ‘To my mind there is only one war aim which is of supreme importance to the British Empire, and that is tho protection of the Empire’s sea communications/ I said Io him: 'General, von ought to lie First Lord of the Admiralty.’ (Laughter.) In this connection I will quote further from Mr. Lloyd George's speech: 'We have to look to the measures which our security requires. We aim at nothing

more; we cannot possibly be content with anything else..’ Opponents of a Big Navy. "I feel quite certain that every member of the British Empire who really has in. his heart the importance of the sea to tho Empire must agree with those words. Tho difficulty is that there are many people, some of them prominent, some undistinguished, who do not know and have not been able to realise what, the sea means to tho British Empire. J cannot conceive that, there is any other reason than that, for the attitude adopted by quite a large number of people before the war in their opposition to an adequate navy. It, must be within the minds of many of yon how strong that opposition was in pre-war days. But for periodic war scares there can be no doubt that tho Navy would not have reached the strength it had at tho time of the declaration of war. The last war scare of 1909 led to our having a. sufficiency of capital ships to engage the German fleet at tho outbreak of war. I feel that, had it not been for tho ■scares, wo should not have been in the position which we hold In August, 1911; and can anyone say now that the Navy was more than adequate for its work during the war? “I think that when tho German raiders were abroad, and later, when the submarine warfare was at Its height, many of those people who opposed a strong navy were feeling sorry for themselves and regretting that they had taken that line. I have no doubt Hint, many of them thought at that time that the Navy was inadequate for its work. , Difficulties Bred of Ignorance. “Ono of tho most important thingw that lie before the Empire is to let the rising generation know the facts about tho dependence of tho Empire upon the sra, both for its prosperity and its security. It was the ignorance which prevailed before the war upon this question that to my mind led to the difficulties which I have mentioned, and the right cure for it must be proper Instruction, or at any rate proper opportunities for people to know in the future. Those who are coming after us should have it impressed upon them a« an axiom that ‘the sea is our life. “Some people think that it ,you talk about sen-power you are cultivating f. militarist spirit; others that if you talk about sea-power you are imparting views contrary to tho views which the League of Nations is intended to implant in the young mind. "Those people do so, I am sure, from a misunderstanding of what is Implied in the term ‘.«ea-povx>r.’ If only one could get it into people’s heads that sea-power has a dual meaning that ’t means first the use of the sea, nnd second the protection of those who use tho sea. And the use of the sea is of far more importance; tho question of the mercantile marine is of more importance than that of the Navy because tho mercantile marine is absolutely necessary for tho existence to tho Empire in peace. The great use of a navy is as a preventative against war. But the two things must always be considered together, nnd when the question of seapower is snoken of, ni-ople must get out of their minds that those, speaking of it are thinking only of the Navy. I would like to urge upon those who teach youth in the future that they should lay particular stress upon that point. The definition of sea-power is ‘the use of the sen.’ “But I wish to say one more word: It is of no use to have ships, whether they belong to a mercantile marine or to a navy, unless yon have men of the right sort nnd imbued with the right spirit to man those ships,. It is (Tie sea sense which is needf(’. It is the sea sense which led to tho foundation of this Empire. It. is to the son sense of those that came before ys that the foot is due that New Zealand is at this moment populated by people of British descent with British aspirations. Without that sea sense Hie Empire would never have been formed. »* p a sense made Hie Empire, and if wo Ipse it we shall infallibly see the gradual but the sure decay of tho British Empire.”