BRITAIN'S "SURE SHIELD."

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 4, 6 January 1915, Page 4

BRITAIN'S "SURE SHIELD."

The title of "the great silent navy" as applied to the battle fleet of Great Britain still retains its force after many weeks of war, says the Otago Daily Times. The silence has been broken by minor engagements, it is true, but only momentarily. Yet the more the mind dwells upon the part which the navy is playing in this war the more impressive must its significance appear. The British first line of defence is meeting all expectations in answering the strain upon it. The German battle-fleet must either keep to its refuge or, coming out, risk annihilation. It,is not pleasant to think what the situation might be to-day if Great Britain had slackened off considerably, as in some quarters it was urged that she could well afford to do, in her efforts to retain unquestionable command of the seas. To-day the policy of the Navy League and of those who have supported it is finding a justification that should be generally .apparent. A series of messages that were secured recently by the editor of the journal of the Navy League from certain' leading men in British public life were intended to support an appeal for confidence on the part of the nation in the undoubted capacity of the fleet. "The reason why this terrible war is being fought out on the soil of England," Lord Selborne wrote, ''is because we have a strong navy. If those who have been trying to reduce the expenditure on the navy during the last eight years had had their way," he added. "I think it very possible that England might have been sticcessfully invaded, and I am sure that the Expeditionary Force could not have been safely transported to France. Henceforth surely no one can fail to realise what is meant by the statement that the navy is under God the very shield of England."