Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, JAN. 17, 1938. DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 41, 17 January 1938, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, JAN. 17, 1938. DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE.

There is a possibility, though a remote one, that in case of war in which Britain is involved, the Suez Canal as a waterway to the East may be blocked, in which case Britain must fall back on the Cape route. Although this contingency is a remote one, Britain is not leaving anything to chance, and the defences protecting that route are to be strengthened. This step has been ' decided upon in view of German interests in the Azores and the Canaries. Freetown, the port and capital of S.ierra Leone, is to be converted into an important naval base, and Capetown is to be provided with extensive fortifications. AYest Africa can provide plenty of black troops for defence purposes. Britain is proceeding methodically to restore her military prestige, and is succeeding very well. Major-General J. F. C. Fuller, in his book “Towards Armageddon,” indicates his outlook by quoting Confucius: “To lead an uninstructed people to war is to throw them away.” He points out that the defence problem for Britain is very different from what it was, and the first thing to be done is for those in charge of policy to get into contact with reality.. Many observers agree that the realities of the situation are fully grasped by those in charge of defence policy. General Fuller goes on to say that what the Twentieth Century demands in this sphere is more political authority in war and peace, national discipline, economic selfsufficiency, and adequate scientific tools in war and peace. For these two subjects can no longer be separated. It is a deplorable doctrine and many will dispute it.

In setting forth his views of national and Empire defence, General Fuller contends that defence policy must be based op air power and its time-tables. Behind air power must come the Army and Navy, and the_ three must be organised to suit the situation. A prepared and disciplined people who know beforehand what to expect and do if a conflict breaks out, will not be thrown into confusion. A careless and disorganised people who have not been instructed are likely to be defeated from the first, through complete social and industrial paralysis. AVith respect to Empire defence, General Fuller believes that instead of an Imperial Conference we . should have an Imperial Council with, under it, four great departments of Empire—the Departments of Imperial Culture, Imperial Economics, Imperial Politics, and Imperial Defence. This would give the Empire a thinking instead of a talking organ, and a kind of co-ordination suitable to the needs of this century. He considers that the problem of defence is fundamentally not rnili-

tary, but political. A false peace, it is contended, was established in 1919, and in consequence the main political problem to-day is war, its prevention, preparation for it, and understanding. Whatever language we use to describe it, the clash of the time is not between nations, but between civilisations. “As with human beings, the old normally die before the young, so also with civilisations, for their souls are human ideas.” The General believes that the critical period will come with the nest economic depression, and some “blue lie,” some misrepresentation of the truth, will detonate in the exasperation of a difficult time.