WHY ARMING?

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2148, 14 May 1914, Page 6

WHY ARMING?

SIR lAN HAMILTON'S ANSWER. IMPORTANT SPEECH, RACES THAT RIM THE PACIFIC. 'By T^leurapfa.—Press Associations Auckland, May 13. Ono of tho most important and interesting speeches made bv Sir lau Haiailtoii during the course of his Australasian tour was that which he doiiveref) at ii civic reception at the Town Hall, Auckland, to-day, v/lit-n vefcrriiiy to t)w imperative- need for adequate defence measures in New Zealaiid, Sir lan Hamilton commenced by saying that, in Now Zealand's biggest city, 110 might make answer to the. qnei'.v which had directly and indirectly beer submitted to him throughout his tout from south north. That question had been: "Why, lvheu we are expecting the millennium, do we fine practical and prosperous countries like Australia and New 'Zealand earnestly engaged in furbishing 'up their armou'i of defence?" He would tike to trj and answer that question, not in t]« obvious way, but rather in the abstract It mlglit even bo that those whoih he was addressing would regard his statement .as original. The-first reason 'thai lie would give, then, was because of the shrinkage of distance, the advent ol elcetriaty, steamships, aeroplanes, and high explosives-—so high that n sliq-I frr>in_ a 14-inch . gun could kill , a mr.i 20 miles away. These had brought most dangers nearer. • Nest, there was the obvious reason that, in the Pacific great nations had either risen durtog the last 100 years, or else old natieiis wero showing marvellous energy.- Even as volcanoes, _ Ipijg quiescent; broke again into activity,, so it Was with sO-fiW of. the old nations of the Pacific. Pacific and its Asiatic Fringe, fliirdlj', the obviejis reason was that the Pacific,, despite its charming-Mine, Was, if ■ anything, mere storrtty than sonic loss distinguished parts of the globe, and while they would at! deplore such a contingency, it was' conceivable that in the future, apart from .-the storms of nature, there would be greater and mare terrible convulsions thai? in tho past. That was to. say, that tho Pacific wa» tl» meeting ground, not of nations, but of continents, and here it might bo decided Asiatics or Europeans were going to guide the destinies, of this planet. These were more or less obvious reasons, but there were others which he believed to be real and true, although they were more or .less tinder tlso _ surface. Iri tho .Malay States, for instance, they would see a fmo people going under before the influx of low class materialistic coolies brought in to work -for low wages from China. Tlio country, over which he travelled two years ago in the ee-nrse of his inspection, showed signs of breaking up; the old mofal restraints had gone. While there, ho saw a liioEfernised Chinaman scratching lil-s name with a. nail upon the wall of the Temple of Heaven. That temple, until recently, bad been held. so sac-red that the Emperor atone might, approach it, and that only ohco, in the year. This Was bnt an illustration to show the change nut of which was _ evolving -a chaos and weltering confusion such, as existed at the time of the -French Revolution from which Napci-letm arese. Cheek by Jswl With Yellow Races* , Lastly., .there . VFere. signs of. danger in our own limp-ire to the ''while race from tho existence of .this materialistic faotar. In Ladysmith. when lie first knew that io-svn, tl-ic main street was a street of prosperous business places run by European shopkeepers, What a change had teen wrought when hp went there two years ago. He had taken Sir George White's -place ; as President- of a Laslysi-iiit-h organisation, and had kept constantly and elosoly in touch with the pince* Where formerly n European -shopkeeper had prospered. Ihe inoriOpolV o>f .business was nowhe-M by buiiv-ahs aiW coolies, who -existed on a couple of weals of rice per. day. Titey had no constructive or progressive talent, bnt they could handle the coins of the realm with extreme nicety. This, then, was tins point of his stor.V; this was why. instinctively, hi timolol pro* jtress and pMsPeritv, Australia and New Zealand should not lose sielit of the necessity for pre-pari-its: for defence. If a "people, with high ideals and high standards, were forced ta live cheek by jowl with a people of low . standards and low ideals, tll-ey roust, cither bccome slave-drivers, or. sink to the level of those bv whom they were surrounded, in frliich esse they would be beaten. Our Own Part. Of conrse, added the Cieneral, New Zealand was a long wav off. bnt Australia was very dose to the danger anu>. and. when they looked at the map, it seemed to him that New Zealand occwnied the position of a little sister, small b\- comparison in' sfee, hnt no. less eager, If danger threatened Australia' he had Hot tho slightest doubt New Zealand would be ready and. wIV ins to 1-eud a hand to Her sister, in the Antipodes.' (Loud and prolonged applause,) , CI VIC RECEPTION, AND INSPECTION" OF .CADETS.' Auckland, May 13. General Sir ian Hamilton, who .arrives! here last -eveninc, was accorded a civic reception at tiie Town Halt at noon to-day. In the afternoon, he inspected a parade of over 4000 cadets in the .pamain, in company with His Excellency the Governor, and.afterwards presented a number of shooting prizes, awl addressed the lads. To-night, he Was entertained at dinner at the Northern Club and at a hall at Government' Bouse-To-morrow he inspects the forts, and lea-res in tho evening for Napier.