THE BRITISH EFFORT.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 December 1918, Page 3

THE BRITISH EFFORT.

& SALDE OP. NAVY'S W,OSK.--^y I J .." Wellington, Yesterday.-, i. "fr , f0 B «Miehamp stated. at'tlteV Zraland-- meeti " s of thc Bank of Efforts will no doubt be made to esti-' mate the value of the services rendered 'by the several Allies, and the factors that ha\e directly contributed to the Allies success. In any such estimate or comparison, the services of Great Britain and her overseas Dominions must receive adequate recognition and aboyp all. due credit must be given to the British Navy. When the war bega'n, Britain had tlio jrioßt powerful navy in the world—as powerful as the next three navies combined. The whole issue of the war depended upon the Navy's alertness and vigilance; and it is gratifying to note that at no period of the four years of hostilities ivaa our Navy ever found to be wanting. It constantly maintained its supremacy, fully justifying the confidence that Britons have always placed in it, and the Germans' hopes of victory were consequently always impossible of realisation. The record of its expansion and of tlie work it has accomplished is a marvellous .one. At the commencement of the war, the British Navy represented a tonnage of two and a half millions; now it is eight millions. Every trade route in the world has "been carefully patrolled by its ships, and, notwithstanding the most determined and unscrupulous efforts of our enemies, the sea has been kept open to all the commerce of the world. In the month of June last, the ships of the Navy steamed eight million miles. • The number of men required to man and maintain the Navy and the Mercantile Marino during the close period of the war was at least one and a half millions, of whom from eight to nine hundred thousand were men of military a TP- We in New Zealand should specially appreciate the Inavluable services rendered by the British Navy. Our trade routes wire menaced, frut never blocked, by the enemy; and at no time during the whok' period of thc war was our produce held up through direct enemy action. It is pleasing to note that the wool-growers of New Zealand, in order to show their appreciation—if only in a modest way—of the debt they owe to the Mercantile Marine, whij. like the Navy, have rendered such magnificent ■service throughout the duration of the war, have assigned half their surplus profits from wool foj the benefit of our gallant sailors.

When we turn to Teview "Britain's efforts on land, the fact should be emphasised that we were never a military nation, in the sense that tha nations of the Continent —and especially Germany —were, and Britain had no recent experience of conscription. The British Army was the smallest army maintained -by any Great Power in Europe; and, in any pre-war discussion on the matter, there was never any idea that Britain would ever be able to employ a greater force than six divisions. Britain however raiseil for her Army and Navy -6,250,000 men—most of them by voluntary recruiting. Tn order to give ! some idea of what this means. I may say that if the United States of America had called to the colots the same number of men in proportion to population, it would have meant of very nearly 15.000,000 men. The Dominions contributed about ).,000,000. and India about 1.250,C00 men. since the beginning of the war. Though admittedly not a military power at the opening of the war. it will be seen from the foregoing tlipt Britain certainly became one shortly afterwards, 'file six divisions sent to France in the -iarly days of the war, which were slightingly referred to by the Kaiser as "General French's contemptible little army," punished the Huns mercilessly at Mons, Le Cateau, and on the Marne; and the Kaiser's "royal imperial command" to his troop 3 to "march over" them was never carried out. They now "lory in the title of "The Old Contemptibles." Britain's Air Service was negligible in 1914; it is now one of the largest, and probably the most efficient, in the world, and British airmen have played a very prominent part in tbe war.

The effects of the war on the British Empire itself have been in many waya beneficial. Its constituent Dominions and 'Dependencies have been drawn to the Motherland and to each other in a way that nothing" else could have accomplished; and a welding of interests and sympathies has takc-t] place that will, I believe, endure for all time. The Dominions have been acknowledged as partners in the great British Empire and they will, in the immediate future, exercise an influence in shaping it? destinies- Surely we may now look for a relationship more iniimate than heretofore between the Motherland and the Dominions—a relationship that should assist in the attainment of that era of peace, happiness and prosperity for which we all so fervently long. And in the eyes of the world, the prestige of the British .Empire is greater than ever. But the development which I regard as of the highest importance" and as the occasion for _tlie most profound thankfulness is the rapprochement which the war has brought about, between the two great English-speaking peoples—the United Slates of America and the British Kmnire. I may he classed as a visionary, but I hold to the view that the destinies of the world will lie in the hands of these two great democracies, which will have to shoulder the responsibilities oi preserving the liberties of the nations, large and small, of succouring the smaller nationalities, and of policinar the world, They have not sought" this leadership, but it is theirs hv virtue of their ideals of liberty, justice and humanity.