GUNBOATS FOE COAST DEFENCE

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 37, 4 July 1877, Page 2

GUNBOATS FOE COAST DEFENCE

(STDNEY MAIL.) A letter- from London appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald recently, sug« gpsting thnfe the Australian colonies should follow Mip example of China and Japan in procuring hpnvily armed gunboats far coast and' harbor defence. ISaoh would carry a 38 ton gun. throwing a phre piercing shot; of BOO' b., would \v enp'ible of steaming ten knots, and would require a full crew of thirty men only. Four cosh about thirty thousand ; and three mold be stationed at Sydney and one at Newcastle. The question of colonial defence is a lame and complex one. Its difficulty depends in no slight decree upon the probable unwillingness oi the colonists to incur the large outlay necessary to the. execution of any scheme that would carry the promise of efficiency. And. although we are in a fnir way to obtain the most trustworthy advice upon it, the point of doubt is, whether there would be a readiness to give it effect. But, in the meantime, the suggestion about tbe gunboats is worthy of consideration. Unless we can depend upon the Imperial Government to estab* lish an efficient nautical patrol upon the waters bordering npon our coasts, a great deal may be said to show that it would be wise to establish or provide for one ourselves. We should then have an outer line of defence, which would have to be broken through before the strength of our fortifications or torpedo system could be tested.