VALUE OF THE NAVY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 February 1939, Page 5

VALUE OF THE NAVY

RESPONSIBILITIES OF NEW ZEALAND ADDRESS KY EARL BEAIIY. GATHERING AT ST. PATRICK’S SCHOOL. New Zealand must show that she was fully alive to her responsibilities and, with other parts of the Empire, must show it soon if another crisis or even war were to be avoided. Earl Beatty told a large and representative gathering at St Patrick’s School yesterday afternoon. He urged that a greater interest should be taken in the Navy and commended it and the mercantile marines as an avenue of employment for New Zealand boys.

The gathering was organised by the Masterton branch of the Navy League and Lord Beatty presented flags to St Patrick’s and Kopuranga Schools in recognition of their enrolment of members of the league.

The Rev Father N. Moore, who presided. extended a* warm welcome to Earl. Beatty on behalf of the St Patrick's and Kopuranga Schools. He welcomed him as a representative of the principle of authority of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and also as the bearer of precious and sacred gifts to the two schools. The flags were the symbols of patriotism, and to the pupils they would be a visible sign of their continued 'duty to their school, their home, their country and their fatherland.

The Mayor, Mr T. Jordan, said it was a privilege to welcome a distinguished Englishman and Irishman. Lord Beatty was also welcome as “the son of your father, one of the naval figures of the century.” Lord Beatty’s visit came at an opportune time. We were living in critical days, how critical we did not know, and his Lordship’s visit would stimulate our interest in the Navy. The Navy was our one and all. People at Home contributed £1 a- head towards the Navy as compared with New Zealand s Is a head. It was questionable whether that was right as an insurance premium. Congratulations were due to St Patrick’s and Kopuranga Schools on meriting the Navy League flags. Mr J. Robertson, M.P., joined with Mr Jordan in welcoming Lord Beatty and he said he was sure that his visit would stimulate interest in the Navy League, and in the Navy generally. It was our duty to see that interest in the Navy was maintained, and he felt sure that Lord Beatty would find New Zealanders receptive to his ideas and suggestions. Sir Charles Norwood asked Lord Beatty to present the flags, which he described as “symbols of peace with strength.’”

After presenting the two flags to pupils of the schools, Lord Beatty said it was one of the greatest pleasures he had experienced in the past three months. He had always felt that it was a most important duty to endeavour to impress on boys and girls an understanding of what it meant to belong to the great British Commonwealth of Nations. The Navy League was doing great work in the schools, and he urged the children to always keep the flag in front of them as representing the token by which we were all united in the British Empire. Coming as it did from an organisation like the Navy League, the flag was visible token of how the Empire was held together by the nations that flew the flag. Many did not realise what the Navy had meant to the growth of the British Empire. Since the days of Queen Elizabeth we had depended on our sea power for our safety. The navy had been mainly responsible for the maintenance of the integrity of the British Empire. Had it not been for our control of the seas the pioneers of New Zealand would probably never have reached here, and it was thanks to our sea power that we were enable to continue to live contentedly in these islands.

New Zealanders should never forget that sea power was still a vital neces-

sity of their’s. Because things seemed temporarily to be better we should not lull ourselves into a sense of false security. Recently Great Britain went through a crisis that shook it peoples to their very foundations, and it

brought the truth of the situation right home to them. He had no doubt of New Zealand’s loyalty to the British Empire, and no doubt that she would be ever behind Great Britain, but New Zealand should begin to make some practical expression of that loyalty before a crisis occurred, rather than wait

and show it when it did occur. It was a time for plain speaking, and he had no use for lip-service. We must show that we have not lost any of the virility of our great pioneering forefathers, or any of their common sense. New Zealand must show that it was alive to its responsibilities, and it must show it very soon. By doing so another crisis or even a war might be averted. He was confident that it was only by showing our virility and the strength of our own defences that war would be avoided in the future. The children should never forget that it was on the Royal Navy and the Mercantile Marine that the riches and. safety of this country depended. Lord Beatty congratulated the Masterton branch of the Navy League on the splendid educational work it was doing in the schools. On behalf of the president of the Masterton branch (Mrs Alfred Caselberg), Mr J. Macfarlane Laing thanked Lord Beatty for his address, and for presenting the Hags. Cheers were given for Lord Beatty, at whose request the children of the two schools were promised a holiday to commemorate his visit. Those present were later entertained at afternoon tea by school parents and members of the Navy League auxiliary.