PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2775, 19 May 1916, Page 7

PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

ADDRESS-IN-EEPLY PRIME MINISTER REPLIES TO , CRITICISM .

AN INTERESTING SPEECH

;The;Legislative Council met at,2.SO p.m. - Leave .of "absence for the session was to the Hon. Sir Henry Miller oil the ground of' ill-health . The H?n.,H. p., WIGWAM moved: "That in view of the rapid development pf the science of aerial navigation, which baa taken place-in recent years, this Council' suggests that the ' Government phould . establish a school or .'schools ..of flying in preparation for the formation of an aviation corps for purposes of national defence." Speaking in support of the motion he predioted for aviation a . great ; future as a means, of locomotion; and , he suggested. - that the aeroplane would, just as the motor-car had. * come : into fairly general use. Ho-sketched the remarkable, progress;made- in the art'-of - flying, stating that since'the-war all previous Tf.cords had- been broken over and over again. He expressed strongly +'■ e opinion that air power would be' exceedingly important in all. warfare of the future, possibly' just as'important as. seapower.' As furnishing, evidence oi . tllfl war . value of. aeroplanes, he cited thu recent raid on' Zeebrugge, in which a' fleet of 65 aeroplanes—'bomb-droppers con-! voyad ifry battle-planes—dropped .on Zoobrugge four.tons of projectiles. If in the future New Zealand „should be attacked,; the attack^must com© from a.bass tho-isr ands of miles away, and as the Tapge of aeroplanes just now was limited to a fbw hundred mile?, it. followed that no aerial . Taid on New Zealand could be made f-x----tept by -, those planes-which 'would, .come with . hostile ■ fleet.' If we .had a. reasonable number _ of' aeroplanes we could nave some certainty of beinp able to drive, off. any hostile raiders.. He referred to file practical work being done in Australia. in the establishment of a military ' aviation school, and in the' manufacture of. really useful machines. He believed that, similar - schools 'would be,- very .useful, in'. New. Zealand, and that they would be enthusiastically supported by..-the peopls,He even, suggested that 'planes inight bo used in peace times for the carriage of mails, and for other! purposes; Perhaps the Government might make the ownerchip and control of .. 'planes a Government monopoly,' as wireless was now, or it : miehfjsubsidise. privately owned machines:: The Hon. O. SAMUEL seconded the motion. ' ■ The Hon. S. THOENE GEORGE saw]* he supported the motion, but he did not think the ■Government-should take complete .control;' ; but'', Tather thftt it should ■assist: private 1 aviation schools, :in addition to establishing schools of its own. Ha believed that the;.-Auckland 'A viatioD School, .which was iecog'nisM':.by the. Im-. penal authorities, ,was doing exceedingly good work. He spoke ,'of .-the. gallant ploiTit of Lieutenant- Brandon,/ for whjcb' he had been awarded the Military Cro*s -The Hon.' Colonel. C.OLLINS,, N.Z,M.C.! spoke of A -1143;. pf the -jse3 of aevoplaiies. in .<war. He. thought the time, would . come when the* .develop* ment,of a; good'fleet of aircraft,-and r good fleet'of .wonM be the fljst; lines of defense.. for the islands of • New Zealand. v • ■ The Hon.;W. EAENSKAW said. ; thaf there was no doubfc .that ■. great - strides had been made in flying,-and that-greater strides would yet_be;.made.::But;tlie. con. '"Btruction of aeyoplane' engines • was • thd post difficult epgineering.' work that oould be attempted, ■ and to .try to do it heixj woul4.be idiotio nonsense.. We" could not •'eveu a.shrapnel shell, op-o, bicycle,, at :a payable rate. -He was of opinion:that the present, was. not the time to embark an .enterprise ;of : ttiis sort* because the Bcience»of flying was still; developing, .No one could, say ! yet that it was not 6tiU in its experimental spells. We were not in danger of iavaswii'-iiow,: and we should- not waste money.-now when, all that was available for war services was so badly needed for all that we could' do at the front. Alflo,- we could get no*aero« planes, because" all that wero oeing ihodo were ..needed for the war.. He was of opinion thitt wo should- leave the experi-> ttente! .work'• to ;;§reat' i/ooiwtries like Iji'itam and 'Amencai . Aft-?r a permanent type of, serviceable machine had been evolvedj we. might - then think of doing something here.- • Hon. -J. BAEIt supported the molion. -' • • • - The Hon, gjr FRANCIS BULL said. he had ro doubt th,ere were many men who thought the Government had little enough to do, and could spare time to devote their .individual andcol-« lective minds to, effort not necessary ■ for linmediate needs. He could assure tha - Council that this was not so, Jt was the opinion of the' Defence Minister, and in this he agreed, that 'wo could not with advantage now undertake the training of men m aerial navigation and aerial warfare. He: could .therefore hold, out nohope that wish of the mover oould be complied with. He would remind the Council that for! the' purposes of , thepresent war the establishment of a flying, school here woujd not-be of present or futureadvantage. All our efforts should -be concentrated-now on supplying ■present needs; the Government had no effort to spare in providing for the future.: At .Honie the best skill -.obtainable was available, and the,.variations in. the ficience as the result of '• experience must ' be wmsiderable from time ..to time. If we attempted to teach, flying, here we could never hope to have, the benefit of sucli expenenco as was thei-e available, and our teaching- would, have-to, be only .rudimentary, and. thorefopi comparatively useless. He realised that all refoi-mers ■were impatient, but the • mover would have to bear with the Government at this time in its inability to launch out in new enterprises. He was, however, glad to have had tho subjeot introduced and dis- . cussed. ,i The motion was carried.

. The Council adjourned at 3.50 -rim until Wednesday, May 31.