The Dominion MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1913. THE NEW NAVAL POLICY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1943, 29 December 1913, Page 4

The Dominion MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1913. THE NEW NAVAL POLICY.

, The proposals of the Massey Government respecting Naval Defence naturally havfi attracted attention in Australia, and have been comment* ed on by some of the leading newspapers. It is of interest to note the views held by our friends across the Tasman Sea and more especially of those in New South Wales who* appear to be in closer touch with NewZealand affairs than those living in the other States of the Commonwealth. The Sydney Daily Tclcfirnph, which at one time was particularly well-informed concerning happenings in this country, has of late displayed marked ignorance in discussing New Zealand matters, cspeciaJly. thoso relating to tbo politics pi

the Dominion, and it'has'agnin. fsl-j !en into error in its estimate of 'the sentiment of this country 1 regarding Nayal.Defoncc.--It is ;-i little diflicuit |o understand from its some-i wnav, disjointed comments exactly what-lt.'expccted i New Zealand to uo, but :it!.isi<iuite>cvidcnt that this country has ■ in some' way incurred its displeasure by-adopting the poldecided on.;,l&at ses-sion.vslt traces , , P? of .(ho-".Dominion from what it terms-i ■ the"® some bastie -Mr'.- Skunox. and their echoing by Sru Josk.ph Waud" to tiie present proposal nvhichj-it; re-! garcis as almost amounting to an- inof naval indifference."' : - '■ A chance reference to the willingness ot New Zealand to-assist Australia m time of trouble produces an ungracious response from the Telegraph , t!l ? f°f"' of clumsy ridicule di- i lected at the modest beginning.which the Dominion is able to make in the way of a local fleet. "The kings of! earth in fear will tremble," it gibes, -when they hear that if they east envious eyes at the Southern Pacific rrtn ®*°, ow ew Zealand's £■400,000 cruiser to smithereens before they can get- there and endure there. In a final burst of misrepresentation, this inaccurate and ungenerous critic distorts the attitude ot .New Zealand towards Australia m naval masters, .picturing it'as a compound ot aloofness and bumpti-, ous self-sufficiency, and concludes that the fact is that New Zealand has not made up its mind on tho naval question. These opinions aro not without interest although' they display a quite- remarkable ignorance on the part of this Sydney newspaper concerning the proposals and aspirations of New Zealand in the 1 matter of Naval Defence. One al-' most suspects the presence of a malicious desire to misrepresent and disparage the earnest though necessarily modest beginning this country has* made in formulating a policy which, according to the best infornow obtainable, seems cap■i/L almost indefinite extension without material deviation from the lines now laid down. The training ol men arid the establishment of a single Bristol cruiser may look pettv in contrast to the steps taken by the Commonwealth to build a.fleet of its own, but-equally the Commonwealth fleet is a small thing compared with what the Motherland has done. New Zealand is anxious to play its part i" .f. a . va ] Defence: it j s pt -oiul of the ■British fleet; and it honours and respects the people of Australia for what they haVe done and for tho sacrifices t-hcy have made to secure a fleet of their own; but New Zealand is not foolish enough to think that it can at present do more than lay the foundations for its own future naval development. The somewhat cheap sneers of the 1 He.fi raph arising presumably out of its inability to grasp the most elementary facts connected with New Zealand's late''departure are in striking contrast to the comments of another and still more influential Australian journal, tho Sydney Morninrj Herald. It takes up a very different attitude and one proving that it has something'like a t-ruo conception of what the naval aspirations of this Dominion amount to. Remarking that Australians welcome the decision of the New Zealand Government in favour of a New Zealand Navy (a somewhat ambitious description of the projected squadron) baciurse it is the only scheme which fits in .with the Australian ideal of a Pacific fleet, composed of Australian, Canadian. New Zealand, and British sections, the Herald adds that Australians well know that the one thing more than any other which would prejudice the success of that scheme would be any attempt on Australia's part to claim any sort of ascendency or control over whatever force New Zealand decides to put upon the water, At the same time, it takes exception to an objection raised by Sir Joseph Ward to the Naval Defence Bill thiit "it meant eo-opera-I tioti with the Australian Navy." This our contemporary stigina'tises as a flagrant appeal' to prejudice of a particularly unworthy sort and; it suggests that the attitude of the two countries should no* be one of suspicion but that, on the contrary, they should endeavour to help one another and to co-operate ,as far as possible. It is just as well that this point has been raised, for it does not present any real difficulties. Sir Joseph Ward's position is presumably based upon an erroneous apprehension that out of the i newborn naval activities of the Bo» : minions in the South Pacific, there , may arise some attempt to interfere with the supreme control of tho Admiralty over the whole of the units | of the Navy, whether they are Imperial ships or those belonging to | local squadrons. Such a fear has no justification in fact. It has been made abundantly clear by the Commonwealth and .'New Zealand Governments that the distinction between Imperial and Dominion ships relates _to peace conditions and the mode of contribution to the Imperial Navy only, and that in time of war there Would he one British fleet, under a single control. The, position, therefore, is perfectly clear. NewZealand's local snuaclron is intended to.be, in essentials, an integral part of the British Navy. This condition being satisfied there is no reason why she should not co-operate to any possible extent with Australia, always providing that the Commonwealth observes a similar condition in respect of its own squadron. This it has inthat it intends to do. The Australian ships, like those of the little New Zealand squadron, will be British ships in war-time. Until details of the New Zealand naval training scheme have been settled it is to say how far practical co-operation with Australia can go, but it seems probable that cooperation of some kind may be in every way desirable. To suggest, as has been suggested, that there should be no co--operation between any ship or ships that New Zealand may acquire and the Australian squadron is as unreasonable as to suggest that there should bo no co-operation between a New Zealand squadron and any other section of tlm Imperial Navy. -.