THE PRESENTATION BATTLE-CRUISER.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1722, 12 April 1913, Page 15

THE PRESENTATION BATTLE-CRUISER.

Navy, Army, Diplomacy, or consular machinery. Mr. Churchill has now asked them for their aid in defending tho Empire. If their Parliaments have the will, they havo the power to respond to this invitation without inflicting on their citizens an onerous burden. A scheme for the upkeep of the Imperial Service Squadron 'might be arranged if each nation agreed to pay some such sum as below;— "■; ... .' : »■ ' £ Canada 900,000 Australia. 700,000 New' Zealand 400,000 South Africa V '. 250,000 United Kingdom 750,000 Total 3,000,000 Such payments as these, which would be accompanied by local economies, 1 ' would not press unduly, on tlio colonial taxpayr ers, and by .this expenditure the British peoples would be .enabled to continue to keep the flag flying in the Atlantic and .-in the Mediterranean, and we could insure the safety of those ocean highways on which our welfare as five federated I nations depends. i There is not a Dominion which, by its own effort, can make such a proportionate contribution to the strength of tlio Empire and to its security as. these several - payments represent., .Australia is proposing to spend no less than ,£750,000 annually upon- one armonred ship, three small cruisers, and a few torpedo' craft. 'Under Mr. Laurier's,scheme of 1909 Canada was to have devoted about £100,000 for the maintenance of -three .small cruisers and a quartet of destroyers. Last year the Dominion spent more than this sum , on her "naval service," and neither'she nor the Empire is the safer from attack, for not'a modern man-of-war does she yet , possess.-. . NEW ZEALAND'S LEAD, New Zealhnd has already responded to • the Empire's need. She has,given'-one Dreadnought cruiser for the general 'service of the Empire, and is making . a payment of annually ; in'... addition., Sho has set a splendid example, and would no doubt come into such a scheme as is hero outlined. At tho Defence Conference v inwl9o9, ?■ Sir-'Joseph' Ward, who wis then' Prime ,Minister and Minister for Defence, declared that lie favoured "one great Imperial Navy with all the. Oversea Dominions contributing, either'-in ships or money; and with naval stations at tho self-governing Dominions supplied . with ships by,, and. under the 1 control: of" the/Admiralty." The Government ,of' this Dominion, the smallest in'tho Empire, has: changed, but not, her ■ policy, 'and. hence r ths' battle-cruiser for ■which she is paying is to join the Homo Fleet. If the proposed scheme of naval co-operation were adopted,; this . vessel would, of course, ; form one of the units of tho. Imperial Service Squadron.' ■ i Tho one fact', to bo realised is tha!t the problem of the naval defence', of the E/n----pire is entering upon a new phase. Hitherto it has been regarded as one for the consideration of the people of . tho United Kingdom only; to-day .it is coming to be realised, in face of an increasing peril i to our supremacy, that it is a matter: for the peoples of tho United Empire. "For five centuries,'" .the . present - Minister, of Trade ' and Commerce ...in Canada has .reminded his fellow-citizens,". the patient, toiling' British 'taxpayer ' has paid , the bill, j and paid it witlv a cheerful countenance, and so, far without grumbling." This'is the bare, truth. ' And this colonial statesman added words which it is well, to recall, for sometimes it is thought that our kinsmen -do, not realise , what they owe to the Mother Country; "Can you .find in the history of the - world a more sublime figure and instrumentality of great'and powerful good'worked in so unselfish a way, and borne so cheerfully and unstintingly - by, the few* millions of peoplo who live in tho islands' of the North Sea? . To some," he added, "and I confess to myself, it is time, for very shame's sake, that we did something acd something adequate."

[ AN. IMPERIAL NAVY BOARD. Now tho opportunity occurs when the Dominions, enjoying to the full the, privileges of nationhood, can take upon themselves Eomo of tho, responsibilities of nationhood, helping, each according to its ability, to bear some share of the burden of Empire. The stumbling-block hitherto has been the difficulty of arranging that taxation for the provision of an Imperial Service Squadron, or other form of co-operativo naval movement, shall carry with it some measure of representation. This difficulty can be easily removed. As tho present writer has suggested previously, tho experience of the Committeo of Imperial Defence points to the solution of this new problem. The First Lord of the Admiralty has recently admitted that "the Admiralty see no reason why arrangements should not bo. made to give to the Dominions a full measure of Control over tho movements in peace of any naval forces which, with our help,

it would cruise far afield in the oceans of the world, showing the flag in the Atlantic and in the Pacific, and everywhere supporting British prestige and British trade. For many years to come the daughter nations will need all their manhood for their internal development. They have labour in every field of activity requiring labourers, while wo have labourers in tens of thousands requiring labour. We have the sea habit and all the machinery for creatiug sea-power at a cheaper rate than any other country in the world. By co-operation wo can pool what each nation can best spare for Imperial defence, and bv so doing can, at a small sacrifice, mako the Empire as a whole more secure. The peril to our supremacy is imminent, and the shortest road to the development of greater strength is tho safest. Local navies cannot in our timo aft'cct the issue if war comes. What influence can a few cruisers and torpedo craft liavo