Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1918-11-07

part is impending. We know 1t and
OF Its extent. We face it with that
knowledge, and with the steadfast
courage Of our seamen it will be met.
Praise for Aircraft.
What your ships of all classes are
doing on and under the surface your
aircraft in no less degree are accom-
plishfng in their own element, and,
among all the instruments Of war
which are combining to make the life
Of the undersea pirates intolerable,
there is none which causes them great
er anxiety and discontinue than the
constantly vigilant aircraft.
So far have given very brief out
line of what your various units are en-.
gagged upon, but in order to gauge the
fruits Of their labors just bear this
one fact in mind: During the last three
months seven American soldiers and
their equipment have arrived in Eu-
rope every minute of the day and
night and their maintenance on top of
that! That is the formidable fact
which the enemy has to face, and that
is the result of the exercise Of sea
power by the alliance, to which the
American naval forces are. SO ably
contributing.
! 1t is great tribute to American
shipbuilding and to your enterprise
that you are now able to carry more
than half Of these troops in your own
vessels, built in your own country, and
manned by your own men. Thanks
to the mercantile marine of the al
lies, with their skill, unflinching cour-
| age and pertinacity which we cannot
adequately extol, we have been able
| to maintain those sea communications
without which our man power, our
munitions and our food supplies would
have been disintegrated and para
! lyzed.
4 The record of the seaborne traffic Of
the alliance is the clearest proof of
the value of sea power about which
/ your great naval historian, Rear Adj
miral Mahan, wrote so emphatically
and prophetically, but this result has
only been attained by the splendid her.
oism and endurance of the seafaring
men, whether Of the fighting forces or
! of the mercantile marine.
To have had the opportunity of WIS.,
iting your country in the great war is
the very greatest honor and pleasure
to Vice Admiral Duff and myself, as
representing the British board of adj
miralty, and 1t is an added pleasure to
us that we have come at time when
the allied forces are winning all along
the line, and when we are reaping the
fruits of the sound naval strategy and
the overwhelming sea power of the al
lied nations.
/ cannot close this very brief APP
probation of the magnificent work
which is being undertaken by the
United States naval forces operating
in European waters without express
ing on behalf Of the board Of admiralty
and the royal navy our affection, in
many cases personal, and our admira-
ton for your officers and men who,
side by side with us and the other al.
lies, are keeping open the sea COM
munications of the alliance; are re-
ducing the enemy's fleets to impotence.
and have driven his commerce from
the seas.
v. s. Navy Plays Big Part.
None of the navies do much talking
but among themselves they talk the
same language. They share the same
dangers, they undertake indiscrim.
inately the same responsibilities, &C
cording to the whole power behind the
\ controlling chief of staff in each coun.
try. Since the beginning of the wal
the British navy has escorted over.
seas to and from all theaters of wal
\ some 100000 men belonging to the
\ armies Of the British empire, and the
n loss has been ne-thousandth part of 9
\ man per hundred carried from oil
4 causes-marine risks or enemy actor
and 1t is our purpose and our pride
to maintain and reduce that percent
age In the great flow Of young man
1 hood across the Atlantic.
venture the opinion that when the
H history of this war is written Their,
. will be no more glorious page in tina
+ history than the one which tells mucl
J. that today cannot be told of the worl
# done, the dangers faced. and the pri
J. vations endured by your navy, in com
n mon with the nayies Of your co-bel
s. ligerents, and there will be no great
e er manifestation Of the Overwhelming
v importance of sea power in figh
II such as this has been. In that mani
v festation the great American nav
r. the third largest in the world-ha
n played highly honorable, an increas
" ingy important, part, and it has bee
e. to myself and Admiral Duff a grea
q honor to confer in person with tn
E, great chiefs of your navy department