The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1914. NAVAL POLICY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2298, 4 November 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1914. NAVAL POLICY

In 'discussing ah Imperial problem of such vital importance as Naval Defence, an endeavour should bomade to set aside party and sectional considerations. People of every shade of political colour in New Zealand are at one in-their loyalty to King and Empire. There is no real division of opinion as to the necessity of an efficient and, adequate system of Imperial Defence, and it is simply ridiculous for any party to. claim a monopoly of the virtue of standing "firmly by, the Mother Country." Such high-sound-ing generalities arc of no assistance in arriving at a practical conclusion as to what isbest- for the country and the Empire. They are not only futile, they arc worse. ' than futile, for they are liable to stir up ■needless strife by throwing doubt on the sincerity of. the Imperial sentiments of, other people. New . Zealand is fully determined to stand by the Mother Country, • and' this fact may safelyv be taken for granted' in discussing the question of Naval Defence.. We are all anxiouß, to see this problem satisfactorily solved, and we all recognise that, as New Zcalanders, we have a duty to perform in this matter. It is only when we come, to consider the best way of discharging this duty that differences of opinion arise. The old subsidy -system served 'its purpose for a time, but of late years it has been tried and found wanting, and a majority of the people of the Dominion have come to the conclusion that the time has arrived for making a change. Some years ago an arrangement was ■ made between the Admiralty .and Sir Joseph Waed by which .two "Bristol" cruisers, three destroyers, and two submarines were to be stationed in peace time in 'New Zealand waters, the ship's", to be manned by New Zealand officers and men.- This agreement: has never been carried out, though the present Governmentoffered to increase the subsidy by 50 per cent.—from £100,000 up to £150,000—in order to induce the Imperial authorities to give effect to their undertaking. _ In these circumstances and in view of the trend of events generally the Government was compelled to /reconsider , the' whole position, and it decided that, in view of the fact that we are on the'eve of great changes in the Pacific, "we should commence to shoulder our responsibilities and look to the future Doth of the Empire and our growing Dominion." This meant, broadly speaking, th©. inauguration of a policy of self-protec-tion instead of paying other people to protect-us. ",--.' Sir Joseph Ward clings to the ;■ annual contribution system,, and expects that as a result we should have British warships patrolling the New Zealand coasts and adja-" cent waters, with a base in the Dominion; but not a word has he to say as to the course to be pursued when the subsidy does not have the expected result. He shuts his eyes to the plain facts of the situation, and blames the Government for adopting a policy which will provide the protection he himself considers necessary. sis criticism of the' Government's proposals from the financial_ standpoint entirely fails because it isbased-uponanaval scheme which has no_ existence outside his own imagination.' The Government is only making a beginning on a scale in accordance with the population and financial resources of-the country, and the cost for the present will not exceed the* amount which, is now being paid as naval subsidy.' It is foolishto ridicule the scheme because of' its modest beginnings, for it-will grow with the growth of the country and develop on lines that will satisfy the rcquiremonts_ of the Dominion and of the Empire. Moreover, recent events in these waters have proved beyond all question how valuable an aid to the Empire in the present crisis even one fast- modern cruiser stationed in New Zealand waters would have been. It is not desirable at the moment for obvious reasons to discuss'this phase of the question in detail, but when the proper time comes this point will prove Bomewhufc dijeancevtirtg to those narrow-visioned critics who

have sought to cast ridicule on what they' have been pleased to ' describe as a ."toy navy." No one need be at all alarmed by the huge figures mentioned by Sir Joseph Ward, for the full control of tho expenditure will always be in the hands of Parliament, and the representatives of the people are not likely to permit the cost to becQmo unduly burdensome- But even" on this subject of naval expenditure, as was pointed ou.t by Mk. R. A. Wright in a recent address to the electors of the Wellington Suburbs, it is a pathetic thing to find the Leader of the Opposition of one of the most flourishing'and certainly not the least patriotic of the Overseas Dominions suggesting that New Zealand, is incapable of or unwilling to bear its full share of the burden of Imperial Defence. We are perhaps over-fond of dwelling on the wealth and resources of_ New Zealand, yet we have permitted the people of the Mother Country to pay more than ten times as much per head for Imperial Naval Defence as. we do in New Zealand; and in addition we have looked to them to provide the fighting men as well as the ships. In our early days that was perhaps necessary, but is it to be the permanent policy of a oountry that has grown and developed as New Zealand has done 1 We all know that the naval operations now being carried out in the North Sea are of tremendous importance to the whole Empire—that they are the vital part of the Empire's naval policy—hut the urgent need for cruisers in the Pacific and other oceans and seas to protect our mercantile fleets has also been brought home to us with unpleasant force during the present war, and the splendid work done by the Australian Squadron is patent to everyone. The protection of our mercantile shipping i is essential to the life of Britain in time of war, and it has been demonstrated clearly enough during thepast few months that more fast cruisers are required along the great ocean trade routes to cope with the raiding operations of the enemy's ships. The old subsidy system has not-provided a Pacific Fleetcommensurate with the enormous British interests which require protection; but ■ apart from this is the larger question, of our national obligations and aspirations not merely in the present but the future as well. It is a great mistake to think that when the present struggle is over it will be no longer necessary to maintain .the British Navy at its present strength, arid that it would be safe to, weaken the fleet now stationed in the North Sea and around the coasts of the United Kingdom in order .to send more warships to other parts of the Empire. We cannot say what the position of tho British Fleet will be at tho close of the present war. Britain, however, must always have.a Navy sufficiently powerful to prevent her supremacy on the seas from being challenged, and to ensure the safety of her vast interests, at 'Homo ahd~abroad. No one suggests that it would be a wise thing, even if it were possible at the present stage of affairs, to embark on any scheme of naval development involving heavy expenditure.; Such a policy would be absurd and impossible. But there is no reason why the question should not be discussed on broad lines and the public educated up to a fuller realisation :of the fact, that New Zealand has outgrown the wet-nurs-ing stage of its existence,' and owes it to itself as well as to the Mother Country and the Empire that it should more directly sna're 'in the responsibilities of' Imperial Naval Defence than by an annual money payment to the naval authorities in London.. .' .