SINGAPORE BASE

Hokitika Guardian, 27 April 1927, Page 4

SINGAPORE BASE

XEW ZEALAND GIVES A MILLION MU COATES’ NAVAL POLICY. WELLINGTON, April 20. The Prime Minister announced the following important statement regard-, ing the Dominions' naval policy, on Saturday last: ‘••The Government have for some time past been giving careful cnnshUration to the future naval policy of New Zealand, and I am now in a position to make a statement on the matter. It will he remembered _that New Zealand’s first assistance towards the naval defence of the Empire was by means of a monetary contribution to lhe Uo.val Navy, and for a considerablc period this arrangement ■ proved satisfactory and enabled the people of this country to assume in ■ some small Tlegree the heavy cost of l the Royal Navy. A significant development oi this method of coiitiibu- ■ tion was the timely gift in 1909 by 1 the Government, led by Sir Joseph ' Ward, of the battle cruiser New Zen- ; land. This gift was a practical exem- ' plifieation of the Imperial spirit of our ■ people, and the ship proved tu he of ' material assistance in the dark days " of the war. ••In the institution of a Now Zealand Division of the Royal Navy we wore greatly indebted to the advice and assistance of Lord Jellicoc, to l ' whose guiding hand the Division as it exists to-day owes much. His fust ■' visit and report in 1919 enabled us to ‘ proceed with confidence and despatch ° in the difficult stages and made it possible for us to work out in detail the steps that we intended to follow. “ft will lie remembered that in the initial stages, one cruiser was provided. The expansion of New Zealand’s I programme on these lines was, how(l ever, somewhat complicated by the deeision of the British Admiralty to prox vide a first-class naval base at Singatr pore. This decision was made after p the most detailed consideration and on (lie advice of competent authorities. lt Once this decision had been arrived at it was fell in Now Zealand that it would not he proper to allow the British taxpayer to pay the whole cost of tlu' base, and accordingly during Mr Massey’s Government. Parlia■t merit was asked to vote, and did vole, •s a first contribution of £100,00!) towards the cost. A similar feeling was expressed in Australia and there can it lie little doubt that assistance would g have been forthcoming in that quarter s also, hut before the payment of the n New Zealand contribution was made a Ichange of Government in Great r Britain led to the postpoiieiiint of the d Singapore project, and in the meniid time nothing further was done in that u direction. > This alteration in plan proved disII I'oiicerti ng in many ways. For cxy ample, as a result of the stoppage of work at Singapore the Australian Go- • vornineiit felt compelled to lake nddi- * tional precautions for their own n " defence and embarked upon a scheme based upon a number of years, and * New Zealand became more impressed with the necessity of providing an effi- ' clem local naval unit. Fit imatcly ' Ibis feeling led to ibo decision by the New Zealand (loveriiment Lo maintain in New Zealand waters a second I) class cruiser, which actually arrived at the beginning of 1929. When therefore, as a result of a further change of Guvc milieu t, in the Foiled Kingdom, it Was decided t > resume opera t ions--at Singapore and to proceed with the completion of the base, the Dominions more directly concerned were placed in a somewhat difficult position and matters were in this indefinite state until the last Imperial Conference. New , Zealand was then maintaining two D class cruisers and was considering the maintenance of a third cruiser msimilar terms. The advantages of providing this additional ship were very great and the New Zealand Government were anxious to proceed on those lines if this were found to he possible. It. was known, however, that, an additional D class cruiser was not available. Those cruisers, moreover, were somewhat small for the purpose, ; and it would in any ease be neecs- ; sarv to withdraw them in seven or eight years’ time. It was known also that certain portions, of the Empire had already offered substantial assistance towards the cost of the base. Land for the purpose bad been provided by the Straits Settlements. Hong Kong • bad granted a quarter of a million, and the Federated Malay States no lcits than two millions. “Just prior to my depart lire for the Imperial Conference T took the opportunity of stating in the House my eon--1 viction and that of mv colleagues that New Zealand should take upon her shoulders a further proportion of the burden of navaT defence, and I stated that the Government of New Zealand regarded tno provision of an adequate naval base at Singapore as an indispensable neeessitly for the naval defence of the Empire. “Bearing these two principles in mind ami with a full realisation of the advantages on many grounds of maintaining a third cruiser in Now. Zealand waters, I announced my intention of being guided as to New Zealand’s future steps after a conference with the Admiralty, when the Government would have a better opportunity of drawing a sound conclusion. Tu. London we had the advantage vf the advice of Admiral Hotham. who has been closely connected with the New Zealand Division, and who rendered the greatest possible assistance in considering the host course to adopt in the future. The fullest Opportunity of conferring with the Admiralty was made available and T was able to obtain sufficient data to make a confident decision as to the attitude we should adopt. The view of His Majesty’s Government in Great Britain was expressed at the Conference by the Prime Minister (Mr Baldwin) in the following words : ‘This development (i.e. Singapore Base) is most urgently needed at the present time from the point of view; of Imperial defence. We would therefore ask those Dominions whirl are specially interested in the Far East to consider most carefully whether tljerc is any way in which I they can Vi-opcrate in the develop- * ment of Singapore, either now or within the next few years. There could he no more valuable contribution to the defence of The Empire as a whole.’ ‘ •’I have now consulted my colleagues i and we have decided, having regard to 1 the very definite views of the New i Zealand Naval Board, the British Ad- i miralty and His Majesty’s Govern- r ment in Great Britain, to provide for 1 the following naval programme, which is regarded as that best qualified to j: meet the position ns it exists to-day, t and proposals to this effect will lie sub- cmitted to Parliament in due course, n (a) The sum of £1,000,000 will lie h paid to His Majesty’s Government in b Great Britain as a contribution to- p wards the cost of Singapore Base, o; This amount will not he paid as a t! lump sum, hut will take the form si of annual payments spread over a m period between the present date and ti the completion of the base, estimated ai at seven or eight years. <p (b) A third D class cruiser will ti not be maintained., .but when it pi necessary to withdraw the two exist- i it

• iug cruisers, they will be replaced by two 13 class cruisers. Tlie.se ships t have a tonnage of 8-100 ami the is--2 timatod cost of their maintomie.ec i will lie £800.00!) each, as compart'd 1 with some £‘280.000 for a I) clas. ) cruiser. 3 (e) During the period heiween the present time and the date when 13 class cruisers will he taken over, the I necessary alterations in equipment and plant of the New Zealand naval : base required for the upkeep of class cruisers will he undertaken, i AVhon Singapore base lias been fin- ■ ally completed and the contribution from New Zealand on that account I is no longer payable, it is definitely intended to resume the policy of de- . voting the whole of our expenditure I* on naval defence to the New Zealand Division. The present deviation from that policy is a temporary one. due entirely to the desirability of assisting towards the completion of Singapore base. “I feel sure that every citizen in Now Zealand will welcome the opportunity of assisting more sum tonally in the naval defence of the Empire and will he proud to bear a burden approximating more closely to that already carried mainly by the people ot the United Kingdom. "As New Zealand's conception of the part she was to play in the affairs of the Empire expanded, however, it became clear that in some respects this method of contribution did not entirely meet the position, and with the outbreak of war the vital necessity of providing for ships and personnel in our own waters was brought homo to the people of Now Zealand. The war , showed us that if and when it became - necessary to transport New Zealand > troops in ail Imperial emergency to ; any part of the Empire, or to any , quarter of the globe, it was impera- , tire that there should be at hand naval \ protection for this purpose. Indeed, c it may & said that the war taught us £

clearly ami for the first time the geographical situation of our country. We realised that Xew Zealand is the furthorest outpost of the Empire, comI plotely surrounded by sea, peopled by the descendants of stock that has for centuries been essentially a maritime race, and that with the large export , trade built up on the fertility of the soil and industry of the people, our "hole prosperity as well as our prosj pods of rendering assistance to the Empire in time of need depend entirely upon the safety and adequacy ol our sea communication. That this iact is accented and acknowledged today by Ihe vast majority of our peo- ' pie is undoubted, and it was for this reason that the Government of M > Massey instituted the present naval policy of Xew Zealand, namely that "e should maintain in X’ew Zealand waters a unit of British ships, supplied by the Royal Navy and maintained at the expense of Xew Zealand. Though the cost of this unit was to be paid by Xew Zealand it was considered to-da.v hy the present Government, to he essential that this unit should ho in every respect an integral part of the Royal Navv, manned, trained and maintained according to the methods of the Royal Navy, ami available automatically for use in time of erne gouty in the same manner as any other unit of that Navy. ‘Ail important feature in the policy adopted was that these ships should, as far n= practicable, he manned by young New Zealanders with the object of developing in this country the spirit of pride and attachment to the ideals of the parent navy, and of providing a means of deepening the “sea sense” characteristic of the people front whom we had sprung. It was felt also that the presence of ships of war in New Zealand waters would bring home to our people the fact that the growth in . wealth and population of our country j was inevitably accompanied by an increase in her responsibilities and rfbli- £ cations in world affairs.'»