Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 13, 1924. NAVAL DEFENCE AND WORLD PEACE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2732, 13 May 1924, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 13, 1924. NAVAL DEFENCE AND WORLD PEACE.

WHATEVER, .some people may think or say to I lie contrary, the time is yet distant when the nations will, by common consent, refer all international disputes to peaceful arbitration. The international outlook at present does not justify the destruction of (lie walls of defence throughout the Empire—in fact, such a policy would be a menace to the peace of the world. 'The present visit of the naval squadron has its lesson within and beyond the Empire. As i- pointed out in a welcome article to the fleet by the Auckland Herald: “As the marches of Empire extend, the threading roads upon the ocean become more and more thronged with shipping, and the volunteer vessels of. Tudor times give place to a Grand Fleet for the pat ladling of the high seas and the securing of unbroken communication wherever Britons dwell. That licet becomes peerlessIv essential to the,, national wellbeing. Without it. indeed, the Empire could "not survive

The spirit of the navy, taking il all in all, has been one of devotion to duty and to high ideals. Glorious without vainglory, powerful hut not aggressive, making itself feared yet wonderfully loved, it has let! a mark upon the world that can never he effaced. The day may come when its armed inllnem-e will no longer he needed, when war will he abandoned as an anachronism and even the policing of the ocean highways he unnecessary. But in that day it will be remembered with gratitude that Britain's most evident contribution to a law-abiding world was its insistence upon the freedom of the seas, made effective by the might of its licet, and its maintenance of: a world-wide Empire, kept in being by that magnificent maritime bond and bulwark."