The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1909. THE NAVY AND NEW ZEALAND.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 463, 23 March 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1909. THE NAVY AND NEW ZEALAND.

When writing on this subject in yesterday's issue we expressed our confidence that Sib Joseph Ward would not lag behind the public men of other parts of tho Empire in doing what was required under the changed conditions relating to naval defence. To-day we publish confirmation of our 'judgment—the Prime Minister has not only caught up with those in other States who have already announced the readiness of their respective countries to come to the assistance of the Mother Country if required, but he has surpassed the expectations of the most enthusiastic Imperialists in the generosity of his proffered assistance on behalf of the people of New Zealand. The chorus of approval with which the Government's action has been greeted is prompted, we venture to think, more by tho general anxiety to let British people and the world at large see that New Zealanders are as ready as ever to take their full share in the burdens of the Empire in time of threatened trouble, than by any reasoned conviction that the particular form of action to which the country has been committed is a reasonable one. The public expected and desired that the Government would do something, and something handsome, but it can hardly have been prepared for the staggering size of tho offer wh'ich has been made to the British Government. The capital cost of two first-class battleships of the latest type will be very close to four millions sterling—a larger sum than the real necessities of the ease require from a State in New Zealand's position. The Prime Minister, we arc afraid, has suddenly given way to the excitement of the hour, and, acting with the best intentions possible, has been led into indiscretion. There was no occasion for the haste which has been displayed—a haste that did not permit time for consulting members of Parliament. Even Mr. Seddon, for all his impulsiveness and love of sensation, communicated with members before offering assistance to Great Britain in the South African war. In cffect, perhaps, the dispatch of telegrams to members asking for their opinions might have been only a formality, but it is a formality which must be respected if a bad precedent is to be avoided. And it is undeniably ill that Cabinet can impose a liability of four millions sterling on the country without consulting anybody. The country may approve after the event, but it should resent being given no opportunity, through its Parliamentary representatives, of giving its authority for such a momentous act of national policy. Our

objections to the Government's offer, however, are only incidentally objections to the magnitude of the offer. That, after all, is a minor point. The offer having been made, we trust that it will be accepted, and that New Zealand's battleships will be a useful and valuable supplement to the Empire's naval forceLet us first make clear what the offer amounts to. The Prime Minister has informed us that it will only cost the country Is. 3d. per head. As the interest on £2,000,000 at 3 per cent, to £00,000, or just under Is. 3d. per head per annum, we take it that the Prime Minister's calculation refers to only one battleship, and that ho intends raising an Im-pcrially-guarantecd loan. The moral effect of a real gift of a Dreadnought from New Zealand would be enormous. Europe would bo profoundly impressed: the Continental peoples would have to revise their conception of the British Empire. But if wc have to borrow the money, and borrow it (as we should have to do to get good terms, and as the Government evidently intends to do) with an Imperial guarantee, the gift loses a good deal of its grace and some of its moral cffcc.c upon the Continental Powers. Since Great Britain could easily find any sum that we could contribute, the moral force of a gift from New Zealand is its chief value, for the present at any rate. In tho future, no doubt, the contributions of the overseas Dominions will be made with the work of economy which we yesterday urged as the highest of the country's duties. If all the self-governing States of the Empire made offers on the basis of that made by the Government of New Zealand, the iotal offer of the overseas Empire would be 24 Dreadnoughts. Great Britain does not require such an offer, and would be seriously embarrassed by it, much as she would appreciate its staggering effect upon the world. We shall probably hear a good deal about the sacrifice entailed by the generous gift made by Cabinet, but we fear that the satisfaction that may be experienced on this account will not be wholly warranted. Unless we are mistaken the chief burden must fall on posterity. The gift h not a true gift by the present generation, which merely agrees to pay the interest and take tho credit, leaving to future generations the real burden. What, then, was the duty of New Zealand ? We have given a hint of it in our previous discussions of the crisis. It was this: to impose upon itself a sacrifice that would be a real one, and to recast our methods of business so as to leave us ready to meet at any time any demand that the needs of tho Empire might make upon our resources in the future. Nobody knows what the future will bring forth, or what burdens posterity may be required to bear: we only know that the possibilities are great and serious. A very substantial gift could have been made—oven half a million a year for a period of years—and would have been a genuine act of self-sacrifice, which would have left the next generation free from any obligation to pay for anyone's patriotism but its own. Tho annual halfmillion would, of course, be paid for out of revenue. Good in itself, such;an arrangement ■ would have contained tho spccial virtue of accustoming the country to a condition which nobody can say will not force itself upon us as a permanently necessary one. As matters stand, there is a danger that the sensational gift of either one or two Dreadnoughts—we assume that the offer .will bo accepted—will kill tho chances of such a re-arrangement of our finances as will enable us to build up constantly a reserve for the day of trouble. Patriotism, in short, should pay as it goes. While wo are thus convinced that tho Government, acting with the best motives, has, from several points of view, failed to follow what in the long run should prove the wisest course, we willingly admit that it has been seriously anxious to afford a moral" lesson of a valuable kind to the nations of the world. In. a measure, its aim will be achieved, but such good as it .has done will bo all undone if the sensational offer is to be only a flash in the pan, to be followed by the old sluggishness and indifference to the future from which the country has for the time being awakened. When the excitement of the moment has passed the gift of the Government may appear unduly large in view of tho size of the population of the country, but the payment of the amount involved is really of less consequence than the possible effect of so generous a gift on the attitude of the public towards their future responsibilities in the matter of naval defence. Their responsibility does not end even with so noble an offering. They have to face the future and its obligations, and those obligations will be tho more easily met if the preparations to meet them are made well in advance and are the result of calm reasoning and cool-headed judgment, instead of hasty impulse.