Rum in the Navy

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 94, 7 May 1937, Page 7

Rum in the Navy

H. R.

FRENCH.

Sir, — Your r'epriht of Alah Bauin's article on the uiiove is mihus quite a ;ot of information that would not 6up- '! port liis apparent approvailj o,f lcsa ; water with tho small tot of ruin issuod ' to sdme inen in coine branehes oi tho Imperial Navy. Admiral Vernon 's attempt to improve tho health and dlscipline tof his men back in the ISlh century by drastically reducing the liquor issue attained its objectives. Many naval officers sihce ihen, hot caring a dump for mere sentiment either for . or agaihsi thht 75 per cent. reductidn, but seeking only for efficiency, have said what the Hon. Mr. Semple ahd Sir Michaei Myers are saying now, inch iu harge of high-powered machihds must cave liquor hlone. In May, 1914, the then Pdst-Captain .Dhn Jellicoe addressbd a meeting at jibraltar. He eaid it was his duty to unalyse the records of the gunnery rrials of His Majesty's ships The evidence was that thougli the rum ratiou was of approved quality and small in quantity, yet after the men partook of the ration accuracj of gun lire was niateriaily reduced. Tho same verdict led to the abolibion oi iiquor ih ihost navies. The grtowth of temperance organisatio'hs in thb British Navy, scafcely a ship oi size But had ohe or more of sU'ch societies, caused trohble through ihe tot tak'ers getting dohble and trtoble doseS, Bbcause bf the inany saiiors whb would not touch the grog. Windtoii Churchill^ when Fist Lord tof the Admifalty strenuously opposfed thb payfllent of a penny pei dhy ih lieu toi the rum c ration for those who woiild hot touch the rum; He said thb countrjf couid not aflord the costl Yet if the evidence of Jellicoe and. others, conlirmed by considerable, scientiflc Tesearcii since, ineant anythin'g, it meant rigkihg the fives of men ih action, ships tliat cost hiilliohs to prepare for battle, htid the cdhtinuanoe oi our Empire, by tlito hdherdncd io a ciisiom that wai slitowh to be iraugkt witli stupendous risks. Ahythihg that reduced the accuracy of gun lire led to those pferils. It is not generally known that the personnel of both of British iighting services at the outbreak of the war contained more abstainers from alcohol ' than probably any other group of men. Of tne British Army in India half the soltliers were UieniberS of the Royal Ariay Temperance Association. Twentyone years earlier Fldrehce Nightingale, , on her sick bed, begged Sir Frederick Roberts to do something definita for the soldiers, especially in India. Roberts became the first president of the association, and guided its onward course hs long as he Jivfed. King George V. tesf.fied to the tremendous Improvement effected, and gavd liis pefsonal thanks to the association at its 2lSt anniversary held not many mo.nths before the war. Agnes Weston, the mother of the Navy, led a like transformation in the senior service. Can we. escape the application of evidence that any person in charge of a high-powered machine must be cOmpelled to leave alcohol alone.— Yours. ctc..