SHARED DEFENCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 788, 11 April 1910, Page 7

SHARED DEFENCE.

DUTY OF EMPIRE. BRITAIN'S UNEQUAL BURDEN. SPEECH BY MR. HALDANE. By Tole B raph-Preß3 Aeaociatlon-OoDyrleht. (Rec. April 10, 5 p.m.) ' London, April 0. i Mr. Haldane, Secretary for War, addressing the Royal Economic Society, drew sympathetic attention to Professor Joseph Shield' Nicholson's contributions on the question of the defence of the Empire, in which the professor has sketched a system of defence by the medium of contributions collected by import duties lovied on a common scalo throughout the Empire. Mr. Haldane added: "It is through the intelligence and will of the Empire aa a whole that the perplexing question of dofence contributions must be solved. It is not right that taxation for naval and military purposes should be enormously greater per head in Britain than in. the colonies.'! The reason was that Britain had had to -maintain a force which went overseas wherever the Empire was assailed; and the burden should m the course of time be more evenly borne. ......

Continuing tho Minister said that when -the Prime Ministers at the last two imperial Conferences avoided abstract views, and saw the real living purpose, difficulties which had seemed almost insuperable vanished like magic. This might be the case with regard to the larger questions which Professor Nicholson had discussed. Perhaps the Navy might have an Imperial General Staff before long.