NEW GOVERNOR.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 17 June 1924, Page 11

NEW GOVERNOR.

RUMOUR FROM BRITAIN. ADMIRAL LORD WEMYSS. Some weeks ago we were told, but were asked not to publish the statement, that the next Governor-General of New Zealand, would be Admiral Lord H-emyss. The Scotsman has now published a statement that according to persistent rumours in naval circles at Home, the successor to Viscount Jellicoe, as Governor-General of the Dominion of JNew Zealand will be Admiral of the Fleet Baron Wester Wemyss. T The war services of Lord Wester Wemyss included the convoying of the first Canadian contingent to England, the conducting of the landing operations at Cape Helles, and the organisation of the naval side of -the Gallipoli evacuation. He succeeded Lord Jellicoe as First Sea Lord on December 25, 1917. Apart from his services as Chief of the Naval Staff Adviser to the Peace Conference, Admiral Wemyss also took the initiative in bringing about various reforms in the Navy. Lord Wester Wemyss holds the same views as Lord Jellicoe in regard to naval primacy. “By her Navv Britain stands or Britain falls,” he has said. ‘‘Our geographical situation, the fact that all our food imports and all our trade are sea-borne, that the sea is our only line of communication with our vast and scattered Dominions, make naval primacy to us the very keystone of our existence.”

Lord Wester Wemyss, who was mentioned as likely to he chosen as Governor of Victoria, when that office was vacant in 1919, is a genial, accomplished, open-minded officer. He went through stirring times at the Admiralty. and did well because (says the London Times) “he was never* puffed up with his own importance, kept* his head, and gave other men their chance. He left pleasant memories behind him — notably of the German surrender, of increases of pay to officers and men, and of a demobilisation period smoother and more rapid than might have been anticipated. His place in the proud history of the British Navy is secure.” He has again come into" the public eye in connection with his recent book on the Dardanelles operations.