THE PULSE OF EMPIRE

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14830, 22 November 1913, Page 8

THE PULSE OF EMPIRE

NO NAVAL CONFERENCE. (I'ROU OCTR OWX CORKESVONDKXT.) LONDON, October 10. AYitli regard to the various rumours of «an approaching Conference on Imperial Dvfcnce, it is now officially stated that '"no proposal for such a. meeting has been received from any of the Dominions, and that, therefore, there can be no reason for surprise or tTlsappointment in tho oversea Dominions that & gathering of this nature will not take place in the near future. Although suggestions have been made in the Press from timo to time as regards possible meetings at Vancouver and elsewhore, ,it has always been well understood that the next Imperial Conference will be held in 1915." The "Daily Telegraph'" is not pleased with this, but admits it is now beyond.doubt that Mr Asquith does not intend to call a Conference to deal with the pressing problems of Imperial Naval Defence The ] "Telegraph" esys: —'"It is apparent that throughout the King's oversea Do-: minions there is a strong desire among Ministers and peoples for an opportunity io confer witnout delay witn the Imperial CSovemuient upon the urgent problems of Naval Defence." In quarters in London where New Zealand and Australian opinions are made .known it is felt that the present naval position in the Pacific is not satisfactory.- The problem is not one merely of the distant future, for it is held that with the completion and opening of the Panama Canal the whole strategic position of the Southern Pacific will be "changed. SEA POWER AND. EMPIRE. King's Collego is now paying attention to Imperial and colonial subjects, and London in time may become a centre for the study of these questions, •hi-giving the first of a course of lectures on the above top":, Sir John Laughton said that- many did not appreciate the share of the Navy in the early history of the Kingdom. King Alfred first organised the Navy as a defensive body, and Ethelred in his Hvara with the Danes raised a large fleet, which, however, broke up. Ethelred, then puid Danish auxiliaries, and in ..this way had a standing Navy of from 16 to t>4 ships, an arrangement which continued until the time 'of Edward the Confessor. The payment for these ships pressed hoavily on the pefple. Godwin, who had •probably formed the idea that he might raise himself or his heirs to the Throne, saw a way, suitable almost to a modern statesman, to win popular applause by risiring the safety of the Navy. Ho therefore persuaded Edward that tho Navy wi(s quite useless, and it was disbanded. Possibly another reason was to be found in the fact that Godwin knew that if he were • dismissed the standing Navy might prevent his return. Godwin was dismissed and returned, and the .rest tliev know. The inrnsion of England by* "William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings were the immediate consequence of the break-up of tho fleet which Harold had raustored near the Isle of Wight, that breakup being dne to want of organisation and to parsimony. Some Governments in recent; times had. starved the Navy, saying they would tide Over all right. Possibly the same thing was eaid on the earlier occasion. King John, apparently by instinct; developed an appreciation of. the value *of naval force,, and in his quarrel- -with.Philip• of France.sent a strong squadron to the French coast, and ■ eacked and. burnt half-a-dosen towns there just after. Normandy had been annexed by Philip. The importance of eea power during the Barons' war; in-'they time : of Henry.lll. was exemplified by,the sue-opposition-of the- Cinque Ports u>; the landing of .reinforcemente \ for the France: .' I SCRAMBLES FOR CAPITAL. Lord Rlilner, ihe new president of the Birmingham and Midland Institute, devoted his inaugural address to the vast demands that had been made upon capital.by the rapid development , of so many new countries * and tho simultaneous awakening into great industrial activity of certain old. countries. Not_ only were the self-governing " Dominions one and all going ahead and clamouring for the assistance peaii, and , naturally in the first 'instance, of British capital, there wap also rapid economic development close at hand in several of tho tropical dependencies, certainly in East and West Africa and in the Sudan. The opening of the Panama Canal would probably bo followed by a no less urgent call from the long-neglected and almost. forgotten West Indies. Then there wore the South American States, Germany's dash forward into the vory-first rank of industrial nations had been stupefying, and behind Germany there was Russia. Neither must they forget the. progress of, industrialism in the.Far East, in India, in Japan and even-in China. But the effect of all these changes, however gceatly they might" i.n ■the lonjj run enhance the wealth and tho capital of the world, was in the first instance to increase rather than to diminish the competition for capital. It was really only Great Britain and France—perhaps above all and some of the smaller States in Northern Europe and the Uriited States which ,havo any considerable amount of surplus capital to place at the disposal of other people.' His own feeling was that it. would be a long while beforo we again sa(w anything like that "glut of capital" of, which it was once the fashion to speak. ■•■■■■ A CITIZEN-ARMY. In the "Nineteenth Century" Lord Methuon writes:— "As regards the vexed question of compulsory versus voluntary training, so far as.i could ascertain tho general feeling, £ should not be inclined to think tho country would—at any rate, at present-—bo '.prepared to make co radical a change as regards adults; but I. am convinced that the country would accept "how, if only the two parties would agree, compulsory cadet training from twelve to eighteen years of ago. I know this is not all some of Uβ would wish, but it is tho most,we can expect to obtain, and would, I believe, in caso of n national danger, prove the- salvation of the Territorial Army. You may say that granted the proposal to make the Territorial Force efficient by means of compulsory cadet training, still that must ue a matter of four or five years hence. Do you for - one moment imagine tnat the programme of the National Service League , would, under the most favourable cir- • cumetanees, come into force one day j sooner? I do not enter into the lists | as a champion for compulsory or volun- '. tary service; both have their advan-, tages and disadvantages. I do cham-' pion the Territorial Army, and I admire the fin© spirit that has kept it alive under vory depressing circumstances. I have not a-ny intention to ' gloss ov<r fts of efficiency or want of numbers. But tinlcss the Government gives the Secretary for War the, firm support he has a right to look for, no.one can eroecfc the country to treat the Territorial Arnry with tjie respect it mnst 'nave shown to it if it is to v* efficient."