The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) Swvant la verute. MONDAY, JULY 9, 1883 COLONIAL DEFENCE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 182, 9 July 1883, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) Swvant la verute. MONDAY, JULY 9, 1883 COLONIAL DEFENCE.

In a speech m the House of Lords, on olonial defence, Lord Carnarvon quoted some striking figures showing the volume of Biitish trade which m time of war it would be England's duty to protect from the enemy's cruisers. The total tonnage of the British merchant navy m 1880 was 6,500,000 tons, while the tonnage ot all the rest m the world was only 8,000,000 tons. These figures, he said, convey a very inadequate idea to the ordinary mind of the real extent of the British mercantile marine. The following calculation may, however, help on to realise what these vast figures really mean. Taking the average size of each British ship at 800 tons and the average length of each at only 250 feet, and supposing these ships to be sailing m single file with an interval of two ships' lengths between each, they would form a line 3070 miles m length — reaching, that is, right across the Atlantic and half way back a^ain. Sailing at the rate of eight miles an hour this array of ships woald take sixteen days and nights to pass a given point. How to afford better protection to this vast volume of shipping is the probein which England and the colonies are called upon to solve. This can only be done by th* joint assistance of an efficient fleet at sea, and sufficient harbour accommodation with adequate protection against intruders ac Home. Aust-aia, New'ZeaUni. and <<»in*>i» I) ive done much already towards suuplvin^ uieuu* tor def<<u, i»g the principal harbours against a hostile fleet, but local action m £>uch matters, to be really effective and useful, should be m harmony with und subordinate to Imperial action.