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HIS MAJESTY'S NAVY AND THE ASSOCIATION.
Following His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires, Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Duff. said :--
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If an experienced diplomat like Mr. Clive professes diffidence in addressing so distinguished an assembly as this, what, I ask you, must be the feelings of a simple sailor called upon to do likewise? At any rate. I can but do what he did and ask for your sympathetic attention. I wish to thank the chairman of the Associated Chambers of Commerce for the cordial welcome which they have extended to me as British Naval Commander-in-Chief in the Far East. I specially want to thank If for Mr. Holyoak for the flattering terms in which he referred to the service. one moment you could imagine that this conference was sitting not in 1920 but say in 1913, 1 should feel that your invitation to me to-day was an act of great courtesy and a compliment to the service to which I have the honour to belong. But a great deal of water has flowed down the Yang-tsze since 1913, and a great many of our convictions have been uprooted and a great many of our ideas have radically changed. One of them, I am sure, is our idea of the connection which exists between commerce and the navy: therefore, I think, and I like to believe it, that your invitation to me is something far more than a mere empty compliment and that you gentlemen realise the importance of the connection that must exist between you and the fleet.
In 1914 the Naval War Staff included no organised department to deal with trade matters. At the end of that war that Department was the largest organisation on the Admiralty War Staff, and above and beyond the direct control and protection of our sea-borne commerce venture to say that there was not one single problem in connection with trade which did not concern the Admiralty to a greater or less extent. Like Mr. Clive. I have studied the agenda, and I realise the enormous amount of work which has to be got through. I do not propose to waste your time this morning, but I think it will not be inappropriate if I try to express in very few words what I conceive to be the relation that must exist between trade and the sea. forces of the Empire. It is too early to talk about the lessons of the war. They take a long time to assimilate and digest, but there is one obvious one. There is one which concerns me in a way which I should like to bring to your attention this morning No British naval officer holding a responsible command, in which he may be called upon to take great decisions-decisions connected with the flow and direction of our trade in times of emergency, no naval officer in that position can reasonably expect to fulfil his duty with confidence and success unless he has at his command full and detailed information with regard to the British trade in that part of the world in which his duty lies.
When I say with regard to trade I mean a great deal. He should know the scope of the trade and its general ramifications. If he does not, questions will come to him upon which he will flounder. We are familiar with the various sources through which complete and valuable information does come to the fleet, but it seems to me that in one respect that information loses its value. and that is, that it is not absolutely direct. It does not come direct from the fountain-head, and I conceive occasions possible where an officer might require information quickly and could not get it through the ordinary channels open to him. This consideration led me to address a request to the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce with the object of establish- ing a closer direct touch with the men who control and regulate our trade in the Far East. Yesterday I got a reply from them which I think covers the ground which I wished it to do.
"I said I am not going to detain you from your business very long, but I wish to say one more word in the nature of a reply to a question and an assertion which originated not very far from where we are now. The question is what are the navy doing?
The assertion, at any rate, we don't see very much of our ships. Now, gentlemen, I confess that that criticism leaves me rather cold. But as a matter of fact it is a convenient peg upon which to hang the few remaining remarks which I would like to make. The British fleet in the Far East has been recommissioned during the past year and has not yet got into its stride. But I venture to think that Shanghai has no reason to complain of any neglect on the part of the navy. In fact, I have thought recently it is being a little overdone. I realise that the gentleman who made the remark implied a desire to see a great deal more of our ships. And in this connection, I am sorry the Hawkins' is not moored opposite the Bund where I had hoped she would be for the meeting of the chamber.
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"But to leave Shanghai and go to the Yang-tsze; a calculation has been made- I will not vouch for its accuracy but I have no reason to believe that it is wrong- that the number of officers and men in the Yang-tsze patrol exceeds the total number of our fellow countrymen employed in trade pursuits between Woosung and Chung- king. I have no reason to doubt the figures, and it is interesting to show what the navy is doing for trade in the Yang-tsze. I have another piece of information-- I have heard from Admiral Borrett that one of our gunboats has just completed a trial on the river above Ichang. The experts were doubtful whether it would be a success but I am told it has been an unqualified success. The ship that did it is the longest ship which has ever been above fchang. In this connection I am anxious to take this opportunity of expressing our great obligation to an officer whom I expect you all know-Captain Plant-who has unrivalled knowledge of the difficulties of navigating the upper river and has placed his experience at the disposal of naval officers; and in the name of every naval officer who has ever been up river, I wish to express how much his assistance and advice, which has been given us on every possible occasion, has been appreciated.
For one minute, to go a little further afield than the Yang-tsze. I want you all to understand that the ground which the fleet bas to cover on the Far East is not comprised by the coast of China. In fact, the coast of China is a very small fraction indeed. I think there is an idea that we cruise from Hong Kong to Shanghai and Wei-hai Wei and back again. But that is not correct. The navy has to go through all sorts of training and exercises and hardly a week passes without some unexpected request or some unexpected duty cropping up which we must carry out in some way or another. But consistent with this training and consistent with these duties, it is my intention to so regulate the programme of our fleet that none of our fellow- countrymen shall have just cause to say that the White Ensign is an unfamiliar sight to them.'
THE FUTURE OF TIEN-TSIN,
Vital Importance of Chihli River Commission.
It was unanimously agreed :-
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That the conference resolves to communicate to His Majesty's Minister in Peking the satisfaction with which it views the work already accomplished by the Commission for the Improvement of the River System of Chihli, urges the importance of the continuance of the commission, and to this end requests His Majesty's Minister to endeavour to arrange that the necessary steady financial support be accorded, either by earmarking a portion of the Customs or Salt Surplus revenues, or by such other means as may be conveniently devised.' In moving the resolution in connection with the Commission for the Improvement of the River System of Chihli, Mr. E. W. Carter, one of Tien-tsin's delegates, said in part-
The above resolution is in continuation of a similar one passed at the conference held last year. At that conference attention was drawn to the origin of the commis- sion and also to the work which it had accomplished up to that date. During the present year the personnel of the committee has been slightly increased by the engagement of Mr. F. C. Rose, a gentleman with excellent qualifications for work of this nature, and the surveys that have been continued during the present year have been mainly under his direction. Up to date the work of the commission has been mainly directed towards the collection of data and the execution of surveys necessary for the elaboration of a general scheme for the improvement of the river system of the Chihli province. To this end gauge readings, discharges and silt observations of the varicus rivers are being regularly maintained and surveys are being carried out as fast as possible with the staff the commission can employ within its financial resources. Most of the main rivers have been surveyed, but these surveys are in themselves insufficient and an endeavour has lately been made to concentrate survey work so as to get together the information required for each separate river system. In this way it will be possible to arrange for the detailed improvement of each river in turn while working into a general defined scheme. Unfortunately the present year has been a most disappointing one, the recent disturbances in the province having considerably retarded the progress on surveys as it was necessary to
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