NAVY’S PERIL

Hokitika Guardian, 17 July 1929, Page 8

NAVY’S PERIL

EFFECT OF ECONOMY. VIEWS OF ADMIRAL EVANS. REMARKABLE SPEECH. SYDNEY, July 4. The march through the streets oil Sydney last Monday of the men of the combined Australian and New Zealand fleets was a fitting conclusion to the wonderfully successful manoeuvres. It was the first time the two fleets had. been engaged in practice together, and if Rear-Admiral Evans had bis way it will not lie tne last: Proposals have already been made that the Australian Fleet should, visit New Zealand waters next year, and this should be possible unless the economy craze, now in evidence in Federal circles, hits the Navj too hard. The Federal Government is facing the certainty of a deficit of more than £2,000,000, and in looking around for means of saving money the eyes of the politicians have rested on the Navy, which is not of much importance as a vote-getter. In this connection Rear-Admiral Evans, one of the most popular heads the Australian Navy has ever had—a man of a splendid disposition—has delivered a most striking utterance, the more striking because it came from a man in his position, chief of the socalled silent force. “.We are living ir an age of rapid advance,” he said “ in scientific accomplishments, hut he cause of the insistence on economy the Navy is not always able to keep pqne. The fleet lags behind to a certain extent, and we have to accept it. Some of us waste our time ,in vair imaginings about capital ships th" will fly or submerge, air forces tlia' • will revolutionise everything, gas tlia*' will render great cities like Sydney cities of the dead, and tanks that wd completely exterminate the infantrymen, the machine-gunners, and tlm general staff. But you all know in your hearts that these arc but dreams. THINKING IN TERMS OF CRUISERS.

“The most ''Vital : con-ern cif all najtions is their seaborne trade, and this ! particularly applies to our Empire which cannot exist as an economic entity without its sea communications. ‘The security of these sea communionitions depends lipon the cruisers, and ' consequently' all "maritime nations are i thinking in terliik of cruisers. Australia' is thinking -qf cruisers, New Zealand is thinking of cruisers, and discussion among the great naval Powers is mostly in terms of cruisers—and very much in the terms of 10,000-ton cruisers and long-range Sin guns, iHaying got our cruisers, and thus contributed our sha're to Imperial defence, what concerns us here in the squadroi is how to make the best of it with th funds at our disposal. The answer is -largely in terms of personnel—by properly , training our personnel, and Improperly educating 'that personnel to think public-spiritedly, and from the viewpoint df co-operation with the land and air forces of the Commonwealth and of the Empire. There is a great deal more in Australian naval training than the mere preparation for war. Australian naval training is making the best of its manhood, and it is inculcating the best qualities of citizenship into a large body of virile officers and men, broadening the horizon of their thoughts, and fostering the idventure spirit that has made the Empire what it is. DISCIPLINE OF THE SEA. “ It is not my place to give you advice or. matters of defence, unless askxl if or it; but it is my duty to see that your naval personnel afloat is kept in high state of efficiency. The combined exercises with the New Zealand Fleet have helped this and promoted a spirit of healthy competition, which is all to the good. These exercises have also been a big step towards concreting the principle ■of co-oepration, and T have to thank Commodore Swabey for the trouble lie has taken to think out some of the exercises that bear upon the problems that Australia may have to face. The advice, keenness, and goodfellowship of the Royal Australian Air Force has helped us tremendously, The discipline of the sea is not the automatic, ruthless discipline of Prussia, but a discipline based on mutual understanding and mutual support, keet sweet by the grave sincerity of facing at any moment the dangers of the sea. and the problems of the great ocean highways, upon which the future of New Zealand, Australia, and the Uhl Country depends.”