THE EUROPEAN SITUATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1840, 14 May 1888, Page 3

THE EUROPEAN SITUATION.

< (Pkb Press Association.; London, May 11. The Imperial Defence Bill, which has just been circulated, provides for the ratification of the agreement decided at the Colonial Conference between the Colonial Governments and the Imperial Government concerning Australasian naval defences. The authorities intend expending the sum of £850,000 m building and arming a squadron for Australian waters, the colonies repaying the amount at the end of twelve monthß (aw), with three per cent interest. The Bill provides also for expending a sum of £2,600,000 for the defence of ports and coaling stations, the interest on which will be payable out of the Suez Canal dividends. The " Daily Telegraph," m the course of an article on the defence of Great Britain, states that the army is endangered through not being armed with better weapons. It maintains that the weapons now m use are the worst m the world, and not the modern breechloader. It asserts that all along the line of coastal defence the warships are principally without guns and ammunition, and the equipment is both deficient and defective. In the House of Commons Lord George Hamilton, First Lord of the Admiralty, stated that the Russian squadron m the Pacific was far inierior as regards number and strength to that of the Chinese squadron alone, and that the Commander of the latter was perfectly satisfied as to the strength of his fleet. London, May 12 In the House of Commons the Marquis of Salisbury, m speaking on the question of the defences of the country, censured Lord Wolseley for the speeches he had delivered on the Army, and which were likely to have caused a panic. The " Times " endorses the Premier's" remarks. It is stated that tbe relations between Lord Wolseley and the Duke of Cambridge and Mr E. Stanhope are seriously strained. St. Petersburg, May 11. The « Novosti " states that England's warlike preparations are evidently intended to enable her to take part m a straggle should it arise, and is evidence that she continues to pursue a manifestly aggressive policy.