The Dominion. THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1909. THE NAVY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 465, 25 March 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1909. THE NAVY.

The first excitement aroused by the debate on tho Navy Estimates may be said to have subsided. From "crisis we have come to simple, though vigorous, controversy, and tho public may well feel a good deal puzzled by the mass of opinions and statements that are reaching us from Britain. Especially confusing will be the attitude which has been taken up by the British Prime Minister, who is now describing the demand for a stronger Navy as "an extraordinary agitation of a very artificial kind," and protesting against "unpatriotic a"nd unscrupulous misrepresentations" and "absurd and mischievous legends regarding Britain's naval unpreparcdness." Many people, when they road the cable message yesterday which contained these words, must have imagined themselves dreaming, and turned back to last week's papers in doubt as to how the excitement originated. Mn. Asquith's denunciation of the agitation for increased naval activity certainly roads very strangely, beside his grave'words in the debate last week, but his apparent change of tone is after all not so inexplicable as it might appear to be, nor is it to be read as in any way throwing doubt upon the correctness of the Empire's swift conclusion that a naval crisis exists. Nothing could bo clearer than tho speeches of Messrs. Asquith and M'Kenxa on Wednesday of last week. They admitted quite frankly that their Government had greatly under-estimated the capacity of Germany to carry out her programme, that the resources of British firms would be taxed to retain supremacy in the matter of rapidity and volume of construction, that it was a "great surprise" when the truth about Germany's activity was learned in November, and that no reliance should be placed on an assurance by Germany that she would not further accelerate her programme. For these reasons they had decided to bring down a greatly-increased naval budget,

Those statements were quite grave enough to warrant the concern which was immediately felt throughout the Empire. They described a position of great seriousness, and that position remains in spite of the Prime Minister's violent, attack upon the agitation which his own and his colleague's words assisted to set on foot. There is indubitably a crisis— not a crisis of events, or a crisis of any kind that would justify one tithe of the panicky talk that we have been hearing, but a crisis of policy. The Government had to justify to its friends the largo increase in the Navy Estimates, and it failed to appreciate the magnitude of the forces that it would release by giving its reasons for so remarkable a deviation from the policy of retrenchment which is a Liberal watchword in Britain. It found, however, that even its revised estimate of the naval extension necessary to restore Britain's sea-power to its old safety was much below the. estimate of the Big-Navy advocates. The notice of a motion of censure which was promptly given by Mr. Balfour was intended no doubt to force the Government into enlarging its ideas upon the necessities oi the case, and it is to defeat this movement, and to supply a counter-force to the extremists, that Mn. Asqtjitii is now denouncing the interpretations which have been placed upon his Government's statement of the need for greater activity. The size of the programme necessary to secure British supremacy is a question for experts to decide, and the London Times misjudges the attitude of the colonics in its statement,'reported to-day, that "the country and the Empire, with extraordinary unanimity, have judged that the Government's measures are inadequate." The overseas Empire, we believe—the thinking portion of it—is only anxious to assure Groat Britain of its feeling that the position is a grave one, and of its readiness to give assistance when the times require it. It does not pretend to know the actual requirements of the situation. It must not bo concluded from Mr. AsQuith's vehemence that we have all misjudged the position; it is too plain to be misjudged. The Government is naturally anxious to_ avoid such extreme naval activity as will imperil its schemes of social reform, and that is all.

The motion of censure will of course be defeated, although to-day's cable messages afford evidence that there is in the Liberal party a strong feeling in favour of more drastic measures than the Government cares to apply. Now that the first excitement is over, we may glance at the net result of the disturbance. "Scares" of all kinds arc valuable .for their clearing away of the mists that gather round settled attitudes. As a man walking with his eyes shut tends to proceed along a curved path, so also nations will deviate from the straight road of sound policy if nothing occurs to pull them up sharply and make them take their bearings. In this case the most notable discovery has been the possibility that, the overseas Empire may have to take a large share in bearing the naval burden. Unnecessary as the New Zealand offer of a Dreadnought may be from the point of view of the actual needs of 'Britain, it is yet useful for its indication that the overseas Dominions are ready to do their part. The Daihj News and the Morning Post— journals as far apart as the poles on practically every questionagree in drawing the true moral from the enthusiasm of Australasia. As the Post says, the Australasian example will have a far-reaching effect "in quickening the spirit of and hardening the Motherland" in her resolution to remain supreme. In more caustic vein, the Radical News thinks New Zealand's action "should do something to restore the shattered nerves of our Imperialists." The offer of the colonics, it points out, is "an earnest of their readiness" to share the cost of any increased burden. That is an assurance which will do infinite good in Great Britain, it will allay many anxieties. But the Dominions must take steps to equip themselves to make good their pledge for the future. What does our own Government propose to do to secure that its promissory note shall not be dishonoured to our discredit?