“HANDS OFF OUR NAVY!”

Hokitika Guardian, 9 August 1929, Page 7

“HANDS OFF OUR NAVY!”

AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE SERVICES.. DRASTIC CUTS ALL ROUND. GREAT PUBLIC PERTURBATION. \ SYDNEY, July 14. It takes something very much out of the ordinary, even in great national questions, to shake the great Australian public out of its usual calmness—a calmness that persists in the community aS a whole despite strikes, lockouts and other sectional disruptions. But in the latest . development in national, as contrasted with State, politics, Australians fecJ they have been given cause to curse with extra cordiality, and the BrucePage Government is being apostrophised from the Leewin to Cape York, and from Wyndham to the Gabo. The cause of this perturbation is the decision of the Government to try and make good the £2,000,000 deficit of Federal Treasurer Elarle Page by taking the huge slice of £BOO,OOO out of the Naval Estimates, and making other enormous cuts in the cakes of the army and the air force. Now, although Australians do not say much about it, except when “wound up/’ at some function which stirs the patriotism, they habitually disguise with so muoh professed Indifference, they take a real pride in their navy. Call it the “Royal Navy,” and you will quickly be corrected—“the Royal Australian Navy, please.” And if you say of, .for instance, the cruiser Canberra, “His Majesty’s ship, Canberra,” you will as quickly be told, “His Majesty’s Australian ship”—with heavy emphasis on “Australian” in either case. Increased attention had been given the navy by reason of its recent manoeuvres in conjunction with the ships of the New Zealand squadron, and there was much talk of how splendidly and effectively the warships of iAustralia and New 'Zealand could combine for the common defence, if necessary, when, like a douche of ioy water, came the announcement of the Federal Government’s intention to make a tremendous cut in the Defence Estimates. ®

A OF FIRE. Now, if there is anything the Australian resents, it is having his rare outbursts of warm enthusiasm being smitten with the “icy mitt,” so to say. It arouses .fires of another, and not so genial, a kind—and these are the fires that are just, scorching the Bruce-Page Government. <# WRat -a 'Government I .It never was a Government ! ;It muddled; it wasted money on mad extravagances; it did nothing to earn its pay; it was a 'squib’ Government that wanted to ‘chuck’ arbitration overboard as soon as it became too complicated a matter for its incompetence to deal with it couldn’t see any way out of a financial muddle excepting retrenchment”—and so on.

Yes; and what was the purpose of Federation, if you please, if not to combine the six States into a nation? And where was a nation without adequate provision for defence? And how could you have defence without a navy? This Bruce —a fine patriot, he! Talked of Imperialism, and helping the Mother Country in the burden of defence—and (although New Zealand had given £'1,000,000 for the purpose) when asked to contribute to the Singapore base, said Australia couldn’t do that, as it was maintaining a navy to help in Empire defence! Now he wanted to scrap the' navy, and in the event of war, the Mother Country would have to do all the work. That, and much more. A*nd among the harshest critics are many of the erstwhile wannest supporters of the Bruce Covleirnment, although whether their indignation will last until the next elections, when Labour will make a mighty challenge, is open to question.

The fires of indication were fan Med by a speech delivered on M.M.A.S. Australia by Rear-Admir--1 Evans, after the return of the Australian and New Zealand squadrons from their manoeuvres in the northern waters of the east coast. Ordinarily a naval officer preserves m, discreet silence on matters affecting policy determined ashoiite by sail'M*s who have never been to sea; but Evans Ibroke the customary silence when rumours of the Govcrntinont. s oroiposals came to his ears. Boldly, : f politely, he made his protest. “Good old Evans—‘Evans of the Broke.’ ” Australians are now reneating this with particular pride—- “ Evans of the Eroke . . . Hte’s the bloke!” Evans only newly arrived to take command of His Majesty’s Ausiralian Navy, but the stand he took In connection with the proposed cutling down of naval expenditure has delighted the people, and they look upon him as a brother and an Austral inn—if an imported one. “The security of the seas.”, said Rear-Admiral Evans “depends upon rmisers, and consequently all marij inie nations ane thinking in terms of cruisers—Australia is; New Zealand is.” “Then,” said the Admiral, straight ’lv and courageously, “We inj the naval service look upon our unit as

the best form of national insurance; but, as Admiral Blake said, it is ‘not for us to mind State matters, but to keep our enemies from fooling us.’ Nevertheless, the naval side of British history shows that rash economy has always led to disaster, and I personally believe, that too long a stop in recruiting is rash economy, for., if the continuity is too long broken, we shall have all babes and greybeards in our service, and no> link between. We may have to face a very serious’' issue if our recruiting is stopped for any very long period.”

At the annual dinner of the exNaval Men’s Association, when Captain Patrick referred to the Government’s economy scheme as “a terrible shame,” he was cheered to the echo. There were more cheers for Archdale Parkhill, M.H.R., a foremost member of the Government party, when lie said lie could not conceive why there should he a move to reduce the Naval Estimates, and assured the gathering that whatever happened in regard to the military side of the defence-question, a great number of men in Parliament would be strongly adverse to any reduction in the navy.

Mr Bruce’s statement that nothing would be done, to “permanently” injure any of the defence organisations or impair their efficiency “to any material degree’’'’ is received with stony suspicion. “All the new ships are to he kept in commission.’’ But what of the Anzac and her five accompanying destroyers? The fact is apparent, or so it is thought, that there is to he a cessation of recruiting, and that no additional seamen will he supplied to maintain the personnel even of the new ships; and that apart from the Australia, the Canberra, the aircraft carrier, Albatross, and, perhaps, 1 two submarines, the Australian Navy wiilll he “laid up.” To wian tho whole fleet would, it is stated, take double the personnel provided for by Parliament. The attitude of the Australian people is: “The whole fleet, adequately manned with full provision for the maintenance ’of recruiting—that or nothing!” For in the event of a powerful enemy squadron descending on Australia, without the assistance of some ships from the Royal Navy the skeletonised fleet of Australia would be almost , as impotent against it as would he-a boy with a catapult.