The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 26th, 1925. APATHY AND EDUCATION.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 March 1925, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 26th, 1925. APATHY AND EDUCATION.

Tiif. other evening H.M.S. Dunedin passed the offing almost hull down, [.oval folk were not permitted to view our defending warship and representative of the British Navy at a range which would make the unit at all impressive as a ship in being. It does not appear that the authorities realise the importance of keeping the people in closer touch with the Navy. There is an aloofness and an apathy which has not the best effect either in popularising the Navy or in bringing folk to realise how necessary it is to have our seas well and effectively policed. This apathy is not confined to the colonies. The Navy Journal complains of the same lack of interest at Home. It says:—A study of British Naval History brings out very

clearly the significance of the saying: “Out of sight, out of mind,’’ for it is difficult to find any reason other than the truth of these words to explain why the interests of Oreat Britain and Empire have suil'ered time alter time, by reason of the neglect of our Maritime concerns. The vast majority of tlie inhabitants of the Fluted Kingdom never look upon tiie sea, or a ship, from year to year, and owing to the regularity with which their supplies from overseas reach them they do not appreciate, even if they do in fact know, to what extent they are dependent for foodstuffs and raw materials brought from other lands. Still less do they appreciate the fact that, without a strong British Navy to police the sea highways over which our Merchant shipping travels, both in peate and in war, they themselves would lie absolutely at the mercy of any tyrant who might see fit to interfere; and this in spite of the fact that only a few years ago Britain wa undergoing a system of food rationing. and was in grave danger of being starved into submission by an unscrupulous enemy. If this ignorance of what might lie called the parochial aspect is so prevalent, can wo ho surprised that there is widespread apathy towards the Imperial side of our Muiitime heritage? Those wlnr come into close contact with the masses can easily detect the exi-tence of this ignorance and indifference, ami do not have to search far for tln- t'caM'li. English history ha- been written by civilians and great .soldiers who have failed to lay sufficient emphasis on the fact 1 that Britain is an island race, and that its frontiers are the waters which wash the shores of the foreigner. The lesson which should he learnt in schools and elsewhere as a result of the compiest by the Homans, the Danes, the Normans and others, and from the achievements of our ships against the Spanish Armada, at Quibenion Bay, at Trallgar, and in countless other sea fights, is that neglect of our (ships and of our Murii time interests has invariably spelt disaster, and that the wealth, prosperity, and peace of our Empire rest chiefly on the British Navy. Our experiences during the Oreat TV nr should serve only to accentuate this lesson, but very naturally the years during which the mind of the nuti was ri vetted on the Fighting Services and their achievements have been followed by a period when one and al have tried to lorget the tragedies and hardships of the years 1911-1918. This latter phase is psychologically inevitable, hut it is, nevertheless, dangerous. The danger is, morever, increased by the fact that the veil of secrecy which had perforce to envelop the Navy during the years of strife was seldom lifted, and then only for a brief space. This lias resulted in very few having any real knowledge of tin actual work of the ships of the Navy and the Mercantile Marine during the war, their knowledge being generally confined to more or less hazy ideas regarding such striking events as Jutland and Zeebrugge. It is very desirable that another aspect of this vital matter of our dependence for our existence on the sea and ships should he borne in mind. One of the chiel factors loading to the building up < this world-wide Empire of ours has been the country’s “sea sense.” 'Phis same “sea sense” has enabled us during the wars of the present and past centuries to man our fleets and an;iaries efficiently with men brought up in tiie [last to the use of the pen at the plough. Again, this same sense, combined with dogged determination, lias enabled otir Merchant seamen to face - unflinchingly the terrors of the German submarine campaign. It pervaded the men of our Fighting Services and Merchantmen on the sea throughout the Great A\ ar. A\ ithout it our Empire would never have been built up, nor would the recent war have been won. An island race sic as ours has an instinctive sea sense, but. unfortunately, it is a law of nature that instinct frequently succumbs to civilisation, unless carefully nurtured. The best food for the sen. sense is a knowledge of things pertaining to the sea—the best tonic for that sense is tne inspiration given by a study «r the deeds of our great seamen throughout the ages. These then, are the reasons which make it impciatitc that the Navy league shall carry out a vigorous campaign amongst the masses. If they would understand the real lesson to be learnt front our Nation’s Maritime story, the patriotism of each citizen, whether he be rich or poor, young or old, in factory or in office, will ensure that our position iv the leading Maritime nation of the world, shad be maintained. Let us then, take every available opportunity to serve our country’ bv making the true moral of our history known to all.

system is still far from complete, ami preliminary arrangements arc still being discussed from various points of view. On the whole the local bodies particularly in the South Island, do not appear to be greatly enamoured of the system, for there is much overlapping in the grouping of districts, and much adjustment necessary, most of which seems to Ire arrived at by compromise. This will he accentuated rather mere, when the licensing of heavy traffic comes into force next week, for in addition to the counties, boroughs will be brought into the scheme. As yet there is not any clear scheme for the allocation of fees. The heavy traffic license is to be made universal over the Dominion, and the revenue is to be restricted to the group of local bodies where the license is issued, but the subsequent allocation of the money it would appear, is likely to be a matter for litigation. The whole scheme has been made compulsory, and local bodies have come in, and in doing so have to scrap their revenue, traffic by-laws, which in many instances they had been at considerable expense in establishing.