SINGAPORE.

Hokitika Guardian, 28 November 1924, Page 4

SINGAPORE.

iSvdliey “ Hernid.”)

The centuries pass. Empires wax and wane. The high-powered cruiser speeds where long ago the oared ga!ley threshed its way. From the headland where once the beacon fires blazed the wireless sends forth its farlluug message. But principles are immutable. The operation of certain fundamental laws is not changed by the lapse of time. 11l all ages there have been places which have bceii invested. by their geographical position with exceptional economic or strategical advantages, and which have, in consequence, figured largely in the history of their day. Ancient Athens, for example, owed its rise to power to the fact that it looked north, east and southwards. It had easy access to the Eiixine, to the wealthy Greek States on the l Asian littoral, and to Egypt. The predatory Phoenicians, seafarers, and traders, found their original home in Tyre and Sidun too remote. Therefore they established a more' convenient base for their enterprises in Tunis, the midway across the span of the .Afcditerraueau, and the Carthaginian Empire grew and grew until it came within an ace of subduing proud Home herself. And so the truth '’oUtitlueS down through tlie procession of years. Circumstances and events lend some place a new importance. Jt becomes a key position, mi the possession and equipment of which an Empire’s destiny may hinge. The intrinsic value of iho barren ruck ol {libraltai\ or of the - unhealthy anil infertile Island of Malta, is small. In themselves they would hardly lie worth having. A'et the nation that holds one can seal the Mediterranean and turn it into n mere jake, while the other cdmtila fills Hie route to India. One hundred and live years ago an energetic and far-sighted olfeer ol the East India Company happened to he in the Sultanate of .loliore in the interests uf that corporation. IBs attention was attracted by a Mluill fthmd oil tile tip of the .Malay Peninsular. It was not a prepossessing spot. A

few square miles in area, it was a tangle nl swamp and jungle, anil its only inhabitants were a liaiidlul ol .Malay fishermen. Put .Sir .Stnmlnrd Hallies immediately grasped its possibilites lying. as it does, athwart tlie Straits of Malacca, tlie gateway of the Ear East. One cannot but be the more impressed with his vision wlieit one remembers that at the time Europe’s contact with the Ear East was comparatively limited. “.lolm Company” was firmly established in India, and Holland in the East Indies. But .Inpan was still a hermit kingdom, and, apart I rum a few factors and trading posts in certain Chinese ports Britain hail nothing in the Ear East that needed her protection. However, Bailies saw that in Singapore Britain would acquire a " point d’anpui ” that would prove invaluable in future. It would he the defence of India, and would become a great emporium of commerce. As so often happens to pioneers, his ideas were derided. Why spend money on this pestilential, microscopic spot of land which even the Malays avoided? But in the end his persistence was rewarded. The island was ceded by the Sultan (who thought lie was milking a capital bargain, as, indeed, lie was), and Die City of Die Lion was founded. Ere long Bailies’ prescience was justified. Singapore became a busy city, one of tlie most crowded ports of the world. The Hag of many a nation Hew from Die shipping in the roadstead, ami more numerous than all the other ensigns was the l niou .lack. The veals went hv, bringing new de-

velopments and new necessities, h the Ear East a great naval power cm erged. In the West a great ilnva Bower was reduced to impotence. A: a natural consequence I lie strategic. - !

cenliv of gravity, to use the hackneyed phrase, shilled In Die I’aeilic. upon which two ol Die chief naval Bowers ut our dav march, and :a who h a third lias vital interests and commitmenls. The corollary of this change n| balance was to strengthen Singapore, the importance ol which was multiplied. Such an action could give offence to no one, for it threatened no cue. nod was aimed at no one. Its object was simply to safeguard British Empire in all eventualities. There

;ii,* ;it :mv civon moment ill Eastern waters lirilisli merchant ships and <-nrgoes worth mi enormous sum. There is, in llio whole ol 11 10 Imlinii, uiitl Pi nolit ■ basins, Mil Hrilish duck capable of aecnmmndul in;' n modern oiijiit:il sliip. Tin* pniptisnl tu cslulilisli n now liuso ill Singapore v.iis tlu> logical uiitcuiiu* tif iho now sot ul cniiililions which hml aiiscn. In ptiinl tif fuel flit* pnipusnl 1 1 in I liot'ii talked nlioiit fur sovornl yonrs mid preliminary oporntiuiis hud already licgiiu. Itrifnin’s intent inns wore kiiuwii ft) all tin* world, and no mio fool; except ion lo them. They cun I ravelled lieillier the letter nor the spirit nf the Washington Agreement. The Initer is explicitly stated to apply only lo a defined area, which dues not embrace Singapore. The world regarded the oslahlishmeiit of the liase as a matter of course; a measure of prudence. Yet, in Hit' face of this, one of the first, acts of Mr Itamsay .MacDonald’s Ciovernment after assuming office in liritaiu was to announce that the selienv would he ahandoned. It was, said the Prime Minister, a gesture which would convince all and sundry of llrftain’s good faith and of the purity of her intentions, (textures are all very well. Hut a gesture which emphasised the fact that liritaiu cannot send a single modern battle eruisei into Indian and Pacific Oceans, and is resolved to perpetuate this perilfraught state of affairs was dictated, to put it mildly, by purblind idealism. It is significant that it was only after the decision had been reached that Japan discovered that the building of the base would have hurt her feelings. Previously liritaiu’s motives had never been (|UesLioned. The ahandoninent of the scheme was a stunning blow to the •dominions, and in particular to Australia. We realise clearlv enough that in the last resort our security and existence depend on the Hritish Xnvv. Hut what will its protection avail if the Pacific, for lack of docking facilities, is to he closed to capital ships? ft almost seemed as if the defence policy of the Empire were to he “ let the dominions shift for themselves as best they can!” Hut, fortunately, with the chance of Ciovernment the outlook has changed. It is thought to he rpiite certain that the Conservatives will go on with the work, and the news will he received with profoui

relief hy Australians. For we are convinced that the Singapore base will be tin agency for the promotion of pence, not of war, and that very possibly upon its establishment the integrity of the Empire depends.