THE EMPIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 88

THE EMPIRE LETTER.

By Maorilanda,

LONDON, July 2. Once again the navy lias usurped a large share of public attention, and small wonder, since the .gathering of ships is the largest ever known in the history of the fleet. No fewer, than 350 _ vessels are taking part in the manoeuvres. At the two v former great reviews — those of the Diamond Jubilee and the Coronation — there were respectively 165 and 125 ships engaged". To day there are more than double that number." Another feature of the present affair which is worthy of note is that practically all the vessels are modern in the nav.al meaning of the word. Of the battleships only eight out of the 40 are over 10 years of age. In 1902 11 of the 22 battleships weTe between 10 and 20, and three had seen their majority ; almost the same data would apply to the fleet in 1897.

At the moment of writing the whole vast armada has disappeared, andi strict secrecy is being maintained by the Admiralty, as if it wew wear in deadly earnest. The presumption is that there has been, a period of strained relations between Great Britain and another Power, and that the several fleets have taken up strategic positions with a view to speedy developments. It is known that the "White" Fleet of the enemy is somewhere in the North Sea, and is endeavouring to unite with the "Blue" Fleet, now off the western Scottish coast. The efforts of the Bed Fleet are to prevent this union.

It is at this rather drastic moment, when the man in the street is inclined to boast over the magnitude of the fleet which is hie, that Lord Charles Beresford has come forward with a demand for a definite naval programme and the guaranteed expenditure of £60,000,000. His speech is as much to the point as usual, and as definite. He began by saying frankly that in his opinion the situation was more serious than was generally) known, and that if we went on in the way we are going by 1914 this country in heavy ships would be of one-power standard. According to Lord. Charles Beresford a definite programme and brave showing on the part of Geat Britain now would do much to check "the wild and •insane competition that is going on abroad." He believes that we are now paying the penalty of boasters — that when the Dreadnought was launched we boastfully cried out to our enemies: "Look! With that one chip we could knock your whole fleet into smithereens in ten minutes !" Therefore, other nations started to build- Dreadnoughts — and we have got to go on building them. Another point this statesman emphasised is the out-of-date belief that our shipbuilding capacity was greater than that of any other country. This was true in the past, but to-day our power of rapid construction' has gone from us. Germany can ©uiid two. for one of our heavy ships.

Hence the demand for the abolition of the policy of expensive economy, the building of 10 Dreadnoughts, to be completed within five years; 18 second class cruisers to act as scouts in time of war, an equal number of commerce protection cruiser, 24 sea-going torpedo boat destroyers, and 52 of a smaller type. It is also necessary that there 6hould be four floating docks, for the speed of the fleet ifi that of the slowest and if a shin

has not been in dock recently her speed ' is four knots an hour less than her usual _ rate. As regards men, Lord Charles de- ] crees that 16,000 more will be necessary. It takes six years to train them to efficiency. But perhaps his remarks on stores were, the most startling — for three years they have been drawn upon without replacement. We are £3,600,000 worth short. The Imperial Press delegates are still careering over the. country seeing and questioning as they go, but despite their list of "pleasures," all of which » re i n " structive in their way, a programme of work is being negotiated. A deputation of them had a most important interview with "the Prime Minister lately on the subject of the Imperial cable and the redaction of Tates. It is evident that a move in this direction will be made very shortly. According to Marconi, who gave an address before the conference, he can, at the present moment, transmit words across 'the Atlantic at the cost 2^d each, and by the end of August he believed that as many as 20,000 words could be sent in a day. A definite step has at length been token in the direction of establishing Im- - perial travelling scholarships, and it is . hoped that the first interchange may be made next year. The scheme is not particularly wide so far, but rthat is owing to lack of funds. This necessitates nearby countries .only being benefited. These scholarships are therefore to be offered in , England, Canada, and the United States, as a kindred English-speaking and particularly interesting country. In all, 28 travelling scholarships will be provided— l 4 for -- universities in the United Kingdom, 10 ' for those of the States, and four for > Canadians. Candidates will conform to the rules laid down for the selection of ; the Rhodes scholars. The objects of the movement are brief, but practical : To foster understanding between students, and afford those studying technical and industrial subjects -opportunities for investigation in other countries and introductions to the heads of manufactures, etc. Special effort will- also be made to interest these students in student life m other centres, and to" promote interchange of academic work among all English-speak- j ing universities. To these ends, students' travelling bureaux are to be established , in the great- centres : these will be under college men, who will be specially ap- ' pointed to afford assistance to graduates or undergraduates travelling for the purpcse of obtaining an insight into the student, national and industrial life of this country. It is expected , that the United - Kingdom will contribute £7200 towards the expense of the scheme, while Canada should come in with £1800 and the States with ..£4soo. The cost for the', term is estimated at £13,500. No effort | 1 will He made to obtain permanent endowment for the scheme until it has passed 1 an ' experimental- probationary period of three/ years. • Though Canada sends up a perpetual cry for more immigrants, and it wrathful over the fact that while 1,147,296 people have gone from Great Britain to the United States in the past year, only 596,096 have found their way to Canadian territory, she is almost as vigilant as Australia in pouncing upon undesirable immigrants and returning them whence they came. During the fiscal year ending March 31, nearly 7000 were excluded. Some five 'hundred were injected a-t the ocean ports, the remainder were caught as they tried to slip in over the United States boundary. In addition to this rather formidable number, 1748 recently admitted immigrants for whom Canada has "no use" were deported and restored to the lands from which they had come. Taking the last 10 years as a whole, Canada's population has been increased by immigrants to the tune of 1,166,126. Of these, 819,213 came from Great Britain and the United States. Large as the number is, it is small compared with figures of the same kind that could be* supplied by American authorities. For those who j look far ahead) the old age pension scheme of Canada may now be an added inducement. Applications are being received from Yukon to Cape Breton. , Curiosly enough people in the outlying j districts are taking more interest in it j than those in populous centres. At the moment the receipts amount to £113,000, and when the applications now in hand have, been dealt with at least £50,000 a year will be added to this sum. ! Nova Scotia is one of the few oversea ' Dominions thoroughly content with the progress of the stream of immigrants towards her shores. The Government is making a decided effort to advertise the district, witih a result that a compact little army of 5000, settlers of excellent type has arrived, arid the Agent-General reports ' an increasing average of inquiries coming in. Jamaica is another to discover the value of advertising in somewhat the tame direction, but she caters for tourists rather than for home seekers. A substantial sum has now been placed upon the estimates to be expended in judicious advertising. In these directions Australia is casting her coils over the younger members of this generation in an entirely original , manner. Victoria's new and splendidly- I equipped building in London is becomin" ' the objective of intelligent bands of school children, who find a ready welcome there, permission t« inspect the exhibit.-,, and someone to talk to them and describe the vast resources of the State, its indubtries, climate, and many attractions. During the past week 140 of these children have been welcomed and sent home excited and interested in a country which before the visit was to them merely a large spot on the globe. For the moment Africa's interest is centred round the departure of the delegates who are to help to pilot the Bill for Union through the Imperial Parliament : she can spare little attention for her I future or even for the revival of mining activity in those districts where it has seemed on the wane.