The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 1913. CLEARING THE AIR.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1840, 28 August 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 1913. CLEARING THE AIR.

■ The debate in the House of Representatives last evening on the subject of naval defence should serve a useful purpose in clearing away certain misapprehensions under which some members appear to bo labouring as to the intentions of the Government on this important question. Sir Joseph Ward, who took advantage of an Imprest Supply Bill to attempt to "draw" the Minister for Defence a-s to the policy of the Government on naval defence, spoke very fluently and well on lines we have grown accustomed to. His view is, of course, that New Zealand should continue to pay an annual contribution to the British Admiralty and leave tho Mother Country to provide the ships and the men to do anv fighting that may be necessary. "It is a policy which served very well in its day, but there is unquestionably a strong and a growing sentiment in favour of the overseas Dominions, which have developed out of their infantile stages, taicing a more direct responsibility in the matter _ of naval defence. There are public men who have so concentrated their thoughts on the merits of the old practice of a money contribution that they cannot Eee anything but evil possibilities in any departure on new lines. Sir Joseph Ward, for instance, last evening pictured ciuite a horrifying state of things as the inevitable outcome of the change which he appeared to imagine was in prospect. He saw the country plunging wildly into a huge navy .building programme, scattering the millions which should go to internal development in the construction of warships which become obsolete almost as soon as they were launched; and_ generally speaking, to quote' his own words, "bringing ruination on us." The member for Awarua had not a single shred of evidence on which to hang his gloomy prophecies, but he was so obsessed with his own ,ideas as to the best courso to pursue that lie could only view any counter-pro-posals in a most pessimistic and distorted light. It is possible, of course, that lie spoke in this wildly exaggerated fashion of the ill-effects that would follow 011 any departure from the existing practice of the Dominion, witn a view to forcing the Government to disclose their real intentions. Perhaps ho imagined that the alarmist deduotions he had

drawn from his interpretation of the Government's policy would compel the Prime Minister to make known the details of what actually is proposed to be done. If so he failed, and for two reasons. First of all the Government are still waiting on the Home authorities for information essential to the presentation of their scheme to Parliament; and, secondly, because Sir Joseph Ward's gloomy array of horrible possibilities was built up on an entirely erroneous assumption as to the line of policy the Government have in view, and therefore was utterly baseless. As the result of the debate, however, one or two things were made cjuite clear. The first, and perhaps, ill view of the attitude of some members of Parliament, the one most calling for emphasis, is.the fact that in the course which they have in view-, the Government are determined that nothing shall be done which will in any wav weaken the existing ties between the Dominion and the Motherland. The second point cleared up definitely is the determination of the Government to do something more than make a money contribution, as New Zealand's share in the naval defence of the Empire. In the past, save for the Dreadnought gift, we have not been able to do more than pay a small sum annually and place the burden of responsibility on others; now it is proposed that we should play a- more creditable though still a small part in sharing the burden of Imperial defence. There is no doubt that attempts have been made to create a false sentiment respecting what has been termed the local navy idea. It has been sought in certain quarters to convey the impression that to build a ''local navy" is a slight on the British Navy and an evidence of disloyalty. Nothing could be further 'from the truth. The idea, if given effect to on the lines hinted at last evening by the Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, should fire the imagination and stimulate the enthusiasm of every patriotic New Zealander as no money contribution could ever, hope to , do under any conceivable circumstances. Instead of affording evidence . of disloyalty to the Motherland, it is the finest testimony possible to the willingness of this Dominion to take a more direct- share of the responsibilities of Empire, and, where Imperial interests are concerned, to subordinate sll local considerations to the good of the Empire as a whole. There are other points raised which might be touched upon, but it will be quite time enough to go into them when the details of the Government's proposals are available. It is unfortunate that there *has been delay in making the details known, but that seems to have been unavoidable. Probably had the exact intentions of Ministers been ' announced in the Budget, some at least of the foolish exaggerations such as the probable cost to the country; the fable of an alliance with Australia, and other flights of imagination, would not have been indulged in. Even the member for Awarua seems to have caught the infection and jumped to rash conclusions which in the light of the information now supplied by the Prime Minister and Minister for Defence appear quite ludicrous.