EVENING SITTING.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14840, 4 December 1913, Page 9

EVENING SITTING.

Continuing at, the, evening sitting, Sir Joseph Ward -said they the proposed system committing' themselves to an unknown amount. It gave X>ower to whatever Government was in office (and tho present Government.was urging what it believed to be true) to' raise any forces it thought fit, irre l -. spective of. the statement that , the amount to be allocated (£IOO,OOO yearly) would : appear on tho Estimates 'every year. If they were going to bring bub an advisor.; from among the Admiralty officers, what was he going to do? Mr Massey: Command the Philomel. Sir Joseph Ward deprecated any such move as that proposed, urging that it would not be in the best interests of the country, but might tend to a conservative state of affairs and stagnation. "ONE GREAT CENTRAL NAVY." Tho estimate of expenditure for the Australian Navy for last year was £2,319-257, which was an increase of £1)00,000 in throe years. Senator Pearce had estimated that Australia's defence burden to-day was £3,039,107 for military, and £5,400,933 for naval defence, a total of £8,490,140? That included everything. -New Zealand's annual expenditure, if they carried out a moderate inception of a local navy, would be £480,000, making a total for defence tyith -the land forces of £t*__,o47, which would increase annually, and in five years would cost another £500,000. The Panama Canal had given a highway to some of the greatest nations of the world, and to talk of Australia or New Zealand being able to defend thebPacific was like putting a bucket of water in the ocean and expecting it to ■ make an appreciable difference. The only way was to have one great central Navy, which would make it impossible for any other Power to build ships which could interfere with the British. Navy. In. 1909 the Admiralty said it was necessary to have two "Bnstois," three destroyers, and two submarines in New Zealand, and today the Minister of Defence said one "Bristol" was sufficient. •'■■_, The Hon. W. H. Hemes. They would not send two. • . • . ' Sir Joseph Ward said tbe Admiralty would not have made the sngeestion if they bad not been approached from this end about local navies. He would sooner see the Government oome down with a fixed amount or give another Dteadnought'tban approve of the proposals submitted. If Eng lftl » d L w^, nt down, what would bo doing with her Bristol and training snip?

Wfcpre wouW »be be? Be preferred Srth?rlSsta nce J b ! mE^Elv^ a to tho Krial JTie-t, and for that reason he 1 T*J5 wi" l the . M > n «ter of Def2S d, Tbe?^>« ld *<*« tb? advice of tbe wfas «« of the Admiralty and nlfce themselres completely their hands.