ONE FLEET, ONE CONTROL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1934, 17 December 1913, Page 4

ONE FLEET, ONE CONTROL.

OPINION .OF-.THE NAVY LEAGUE. ,; The annual report of- tho Wellington' Executive of the Navy League,- for- the year elided-March 31, 1918, to he presented at- the fiencral meeting at the Town llall'on Thursday next, mentions that the credit balance of the local branch is £80 4s. The subscriptions from all sources aggregated £129 9s. "It has been argued,'-' continues tho report, "that New'Zealandcrs should be more -interested in the permanent command of the Pacific than in the control of the North Sea and Atlantic, and the guarding of the heart of the Empire. One of tho objects of the Navy League, however, is to stress the point that once our naval forces in Home waters arc overcome, tho dismemberment of the Empire would immediately follow, and the .protection by the Navy of our enormous oversea trade would be at an end, with disastrous results all round. A division of strength is decidedly wasteful —as well as dangerous. Absolute unity and co-operation in naval defence can alone give the necessary strength to discourage attack or secure victory in the event of war. As with other outlying portions of the Empire, New Zealand could not help but loso her independence, as well as her trade, should the. British- nayai,; forces, be. defeated .ai;d,tlio , general command of- the sea go to another nation. It is largely duo to retrenchment and false economy in British, naval..expenditure (some ten years back) -that Germany was encouraged to so greatly increase her Nav.v, .in the hope that she could outbuild Brtiain. Continuity of preparation (as urged by the league) on the part of our nation in tho past would, no doubt, have saved many of the millions since- expended by both nations in rival shipbuilding. ; "One of the arguments Used against New .-Zealand's' direct contribution _ (in : money and material) to the . British ; Navy", as compared, with' tho 'Australian. : 'local fleet' -idea, is. that the former. ' merely'-mean's: a saving to the pockets " : of tho British taxpayer, instead of an -. actual increase in the number of warships available. And why should special "exception' bo taken to this? Has'not the British taxpayer been bled sufficicnllv in having, until quite recently, paid annually nearly twenty times as much per head of population for naval defence a - , wo New-Zeakuders have paid? The time has arrived when wo and the other oversea States should realise our responsibilities, and contribute a little uioie in proportion to our interests at stake, New Zealand's total oversea commerce now aggregates over £44.000.600 annually, and the total amount of our naval contribution (treated as an insurance premium) works out at a very sinaii percentage of that huge sum. However much may be spent on local defence by the respective oversea Dominions, an all-powerful British Navy will be the only uieaim of keeping-, the general command of the seas of tho world. . ' "To help overcome the apathy - and .equanimity with which u large perccnta'.'.e of people view such questions as these, the Navy League, in co-operation with tho public I'rosx, is endeavouring to educate public opinion, and' especially the younger generations, as to the critical stage wo have reached in our national existence, tho rapidly chawing conditions of the world's history, and above all the supreme importance of retaining our nation's unchallenged command of the sea, won for us over '100 years ago, after years of stubborn determination, self-sacrifice, and selfdenial."