A NAVY LEAGUE BANQUET.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7935, 8 January 1906, Page 5

A NAVY LEAGUE BANQUET.

(SPEECH BY LORD RANFURLY. NEW ZEALAND'S LOYALTY. The London correspondent of tha Auckland Herald writes under date December 2:—On Thursday Inst a very successful banquet waa given by one of the Loudon divisions of the Navy League. The occasion possessed interest to New Zealand, outside of its actual object, in the facts that the ex-Governor of New Zealand presided, and that he and two other New Zealauders were the principal spoakors of tho evening. The banquet took piace in the Venetian room of the Midland Grand Hotel, St. Paneraa Terminus. Lord Raufnrly. who presided proposed one of the two chief toust9 of the evening, ".England and the Colonies," and male a very able and eloquent; speech. He mentioned that, he necessarily knew more about New Zealand than any other colony, seeing that ho had recently had tho honour of serving his Sovereign as Governor of New Zealand ior tho unuauallly extended period of seven years. During that period it had been his privilege to make several now additions to the British Empire by the annexation of various, islands in the Pacific Ocoau. (Cheers). Dwolling on the enthusiastic loyalty of the New Zealanders to their Sovereign, and to the Mother Couutry, Lord Ranfurly I said that when it was decided to seud volunteers to assist tho British forces in the dark days of the South African wai\ the question was not: Who would go? but who could be left behind. (Applause). He was not exaggerating when ho declared that had the real need arisen, every man in New Zealand would have been ready and willing to go to the aid of tho Mother Country. (Cheers). Be felt certain that the colonies would do whatever was right and just in contributing towards the naval defences of the Empire was the most urgent necessity that the communicauions between England and her colonies and the mutual trade and commerce between the Mother country and them should bo so efficiently protected /at sea as to be rendered thoroughly safe, Unfortunately the British navy could not he said to be at all equal at the present time to all the demands which might be made upon it in case of war. Indeed, it was much weaker proportionately to the demand which might be made upon it than it was in Nelson's day. Lord Ranfurly here quoted numerous statistics which went to support bis contention, and Drooeeded to urge the claims of the Navy League upon public sympathy and support, both at Home and in the colonies, because it was the object and aim of the League to have this shortcoming rectified, and to enlist the sympathy of all the King's subjeuts to this great public purpose. (Prolonged eheeriug.) Mr George Beetham responded on behalf of the Navy League. He said that until he became a member of the League, and had access to the volumintious information it had collected and compiled, he never realised how far behind Britain had fallen in respect of relative strength at sea, as compared with her position in former days, taking into due account the large recent development of foreign navies. At the present time the German fleet had fourteen battleships in tho Channel to Great Britain's eleven, notwithstanding the large superiority of our navy as a whole. The British fleet had to protect the nation's seaborne commerce, which approximately totalled the enormous sum of £1,400,000,000 sterling in value annually, with a tonnage of 11,617,000 tons. Yet the annual expenditure on the British navy as an insurance on these vast amounts was equivalent to only two and a half per cent. Further, had under her control one fourth of the habitable area of the globe. To protect this area, absolute control of the sea was necessary. • The Navy League membership in the colonies was rapidly increasing, but still strenuous efforts were demanded from everyone to ensuco that Great Britain should not lose the pre-eminence on thß sea which Nelson had won for her, and which was the nation's just pride. Other toasts were proposed and duly honoured, including "The Memory of Nelson," proposed by Lord Ranfurly, and drunk in solemn silence, all standing.