'A NATION'S THANKS.

EXTRACTS FROM A SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, OCTOBER 29TH, 1917.

I BEG to move "That the thanks of this House be given to the officers, petty officers, and men of the Navy for their faithful watch upon the seas during more than three years of ceaseless danger and stress, while guarding our shores and protecting from the attacks of a barbarous foe the commerce upon which the victory of the Allied Cause depends.

"That the thanks of this House be given to the officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the British Armies in the field, and also to the women in the medical and other services auxiliary thereto, for their unfailing courage and endurance in defending the right, amid sufferings and hardships unparalleled in the history of war, and for their loyal readiness to continue the work to which they have set their hands until the liberty of the world is secure.

"That the thanks of this House be accorded to the gallant troops from the Dominions Overseas, from India, and from the Crown Colonies who have travelled many thousands of miles to share with their comrades from the British Isles in the sacrifices and triumphs of the battlefield, and to

take their full part in the struggle for human freedom.

"That the thanks of this House be accorded to the officers and men of the Mercantile Marine for the devotion to duty with which they have continued to carry the vital supplies to the Allies through seas infested with deadly perils.

"That this House doth acknowledge with grateful admiration the valour and devotion of those who have offered their lives in the service of their country, and tenders its sympathy to their relatives and friends in the sorrows they have sustained."

The Navy.

Even had I the leisure, which I certainly have not in these terrible times, especially in the anxiety of the last two or three days, I feel that I could not do justice to this great theme, but the deeds which are referred to in the Resolution are so well known and have won universal admiration and gratitude, not merely from every member of this House but from every subject of His Majesty, that I feel that no words are necessary in order to commend it to the acceptance of any body of Britishers throughout the world. Taking the first paragraph in the Resolution, that which refers to the British Navy, the enormous magnitude of our Army, the fact that it has representatives in millions of homes in the country, and the dazzling record of its great achievements, may in some respects have obscured the service which the British

Navy has rendered to this country and to its Allies. The British Navy is like one of those internal organs, essential to life, but of the existence of which we are not conscious until something goes wrong. The Navy is taken for granted. In this war the British Navy has been the anchor of the Allied cause. If it lost its hold the hopes of the Alliance would be shattered. To realise the power and might of the British Navy and how essential a part it has played in this great struggle, one has only to imagine for a moment what would have happened, not if we had not the command of the sea at the beginning of the war, but if the British Navy had been defeated even a year ago and the sceptre of the seas had been snatched by our foes. Our armies in France, in Mesopotamia, in Salonika, and in Egypt would have languished and finally vanished for lack of support in men and material. France, deprived not merely of our support but of the material assistance which the British Navy enables us still to get from abroad, would be unable probably to defend herself against the overwhelming hordes of the foe. Italy, deprived at home of her ammunition and of food, would have fallen a ready prey to her fierce and vindictive enemies, which she has not done yet and will not do. Russia, cut off on the east and the west, would indeed have been defenceless. I have no hesitation in saying that but for the British Navy overwhelming disaster would have fallen on the Allied cause. Prussia would have been the insolent mistress of

Europe, and through Europe, of the world. Never in the whole of the affairs of the world has the British Navy been a more potent and a more beneficent influence in the affairs of men. What has it accomplished? In spite of hidden foes, as well as open attack, in spite of legitimate naval warfare and in spite of black piracy, it has preserved the highway of the seas for Britain and her Allies.

The Mercantile Marine.

As to the smaller craft of the Fleet, their work and peril never ends. They are numbered by the thousand, and their hardships and dangers are barely realised, but through their action security and plenty are enjoyed by the population of these Islands. They patrol the seas from the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean to the stormy floods of Magellan. There is not an ocean, a sea, a bay, a gulf -there is not an estuary used for commerce which is not patrolled by the ships of the British Navy. How dangerous a task it is the casualty lists proclaim, because in proportion to their numbers the dead are equal to those of the British Army. Through it all the command of the sea has been maintained. I am glad that in this respect special recognition is accorded to the officers and men of the mercantile marine. It is a great distinction for any civilian body to be placed in the same category as the soldiers of the British Army and

the sailors of the British Navy, but the officers and men of the British mercantile marine have won that distinction. Seamanship at best is a comfortless and a cheerless calling. I remember that when I occupied the office which is now held by my right hon. friend (Sir A. Stanley), as President of the Board of Trade, the concern of the Department at that time was the difficulty in getting men to engage in this avocation, and as the standard of living improved it was impossible almost to persuade men to pursue a trade so full of peril and so devoid of comfort. That was in time of peace. What is it now? During the war the strain, the hardship, the terror, the peril, have increased manifold. Piracy is more rampant and ruthless than it has ever been in the history of the world. This is a new terror added to those of the deep.

The risks of the navigator have increased in every direction. Lighthouses which were there to warn the mariner against imminent peril are, many of them, dark. Ships have to tear at full speed through fog and through storm to avoid worse dangers, and the ceaseless watch has now a new and more terrible meaning. And not merely in the daylight-the sailor has to spear the dark for objects hardly visible on the surface of the seas, even in sunlight; and yet life depends upon observing those objects in time. Then when the blow comes from the invisible foe they are faced with conditions which would make the stoutest heart pall. The mariner is left with the surging