DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 26

DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE

RESULTS OF THE CONFERENCE, i NAVAL LOANS REQUIRED. . COST TO NEW ZEALAND. s - VALUE OF CRUISERS. : „ LONDON, August 24. The Times declares* that Australia's eirong initiative in military ' and - naval defence is a source of' She profonndest p satisfaction to all in Great' Britain 'who' - looked for the speediest elaboration by each dominion, ot. a self-reliant system and the co-ordination of sill British- foroee. While the relations of the Federal and State Governments (says the paper) are no concern of ours, we must welcome meet cordially the growth of co-operation between them as the surest means of increasing their wealth and strength. The Daily Mail's Ottawa correspondent reports that the initial Canadian naval programme is expected to include four or five cruisers, six torpedoers, and six sub■narjjnas, requiring a payment of £600,000 yearly in interest ; also the later construction of shipyards on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. August 25. The Commonwealth naval contingent will consist of one armoured cruiser, three other cruisers, six destroyers, and three submarines. This information is announced in correction of erroneous statements that have been cabled from Melbourne. August 26. The construction of another Dreadnought will be commenced at Portsmouth after the Neptnne has been .launched. Tie new vessel will exceed the latter in length. August 27. In the House of Commons Mr Asquith, in reply to Mr W H. Long, made a statement regarding the Defence Conference which was listened to with intense interest. ; ■M? Asquith recalled the fact that th«j

conference had bean convened to discuss the general question of naval and military defence, with special reference to the" recent proposals in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada He ako referred to the House of Commons* '■esolution of the 29th March,' and said that the decisions of the conference, as far as the delegates of the dominions were concerned, were subject to the approval of the various I Parliaments. The South African delegates" L did. not consider themselves to be in a- ; position t6 subnart positive proposals until the Union - was an accomplished fact. After tire main conference a military conference -was held in the War Office, and th'is^led to an agreement on the funda-. mental - principle embodied in the papers prepared by the General Staff for the' delegates" consideration. The substance of these papei6. which will be included among the papers to be published, was a, recommendation that, without implying that each dominion should have complete control over the military forces raised within it, tne?e forces should be standardised, the questions of the formation of units, the arrangement of transport, the pattern of weapon^, etc.. beiag as far a« possible a^imilated with tho-s-e recently a orbed out for the British prmy. Mr Asquith continued as follows : — ''Thus, while the dominion troops in eacli case will b? raised for the defence of the dominion concerned, it will be made readily practicable in ca = c of need that the dominion shall mobilise and use them for the defence of the Empire as a whole.'' Tl*e Military Conference entrusted a sub-conference of experts from headquarters and the dominions, presided over by Sir._W. Nicholson (acting ior the .first time as Chief «f the Imperial General Staff), with the. duty of working out a detailed application of these principles. The creation early in 1909 of the Imperial General- Staff was thus broujrlit into astiye. working. It was the .result of the conference held in 1907. The sub-con-ference reached complete . agreement, its conclusions being finally approved by the main conference and the Committee of Imserial' Defence. The result is a plan of

«o organising the forces of the Crown wherever they are that, while preserving each dominion's complete autonomy, should the dominions desire to assist in the defence of the Empire in a case of r.eal emergency -their forces can be l'eadily combined into one homogeneous Imperial army. Dealing with the question of naval defence, Mr Asquiith. said that the Admiralty's memorandum which had been submitted to the dominions' representatives fo:*aed the baeis for the preliminary conferences. The alternative methods which might be adopted by the Dominion Goveroiments in co-operation with Imperial naval defence were discussed. New Zealand preferred to adhere to the present policy of a contribution, but Canada and Australia, preferred to lay down the foundition of their own fleets. It was recogni>cd that in building a fleet a number of conditions should De conformed to. The fleet must be of a certain size in order to offer a permanent career to those en<raj;ed in the service, and the personnel should bs trained and disciplined under , reguhtion* similar to those in the Royal Navy in order to allow ot the interchange ."ind urron between the British and the Dominion servioes, and with the same, object tlie standard of the vessels and armament!: should be uniform. Mr Aequith Mated that the remodelling of the squadron in the Far East vra* considered on the ba-is of establishing a Pacific fleet, consisting of three units in the East Indies Australia, and the China Sci, each compm-insr, with some variation-*, one Indomitable, three crui-serc of tha British type, six destroyers of the River class, and three C submarines. The generous offer, first of New Zealand, and than of the Commonwealth, to contribute to Imperial defence, each giving a battleship, had been accepted, with the substitution of Indomitables for battleships. These two ships are to be maintained ; one on the China and one on the Australian station. A separata meeting was held at the Admiralty Office with the representatives horn Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and general statements were agreed upon

in each case for further consideration by the respective Governments. Regarding Australia, the suggested arrangement was that, with some temporary assistance from the Imperial funds, the Commonwealth should provide acd maintain an Australian unit of the Pacific fleet New Zealand's contribution would be applied towards the -maintenance of the China, unit, whereof some of the srrL3llei vessels would have New Zealand as their headquarters. N«w Zealand'sarmoured cruisar »rould be stationed in China waters. Great Britain contributes a quarter of a million annually towards the cost of the Commonwealth fleet. It is expected that the Commonwealth will raise a naval loan requiring half a million annually for interest and sinking fund. ' ! If New Zealand floa.ts a loan it will require £150,000 annually for interest and sinking fund, in addition to tine present subsidy of £100,000. Mr Asquith_ informed the House of Commons that it was part of the' arrange- I ment proposed with the Australian repre- ; sentatives that the CoromonTV-ealth. eveoitu- I ally should undertake the maintenance of ] a dockyard at Sydney. He hopa<d that all ( , the material documents' relating to ,the conference would be laid before "'Parliament before the end of the session — (Cheers.) i Mr Asqudth said, regarding Canada, that it was propc^d, according to the sum available, that a. start be made with the Bristol typs of wuisers and destroyers of the improved River class. PaTt of the fleet would bs stationed on the Atlaoitic seaboard and part on the Pacific. In accordance with previous arrangements, Canada had undertakekn the maintenance of the dockyai-ds at Halifax and Esquima.lt. The Times says that public opinion will do justice to the wisdom, tact, and foresight wherewith the Admiralty and War Office have approached a difficult and complex task. Tlie results, of the confer-er-ee mark a. definite advance in the organisation of Empire defence. The paper welcomes particularly the proposal to create a Pacific squadron. The projected arrangements, besides being suitable, present conditions that are capable of lexical and systematic expansion in accordance with the ideal of free cooperation bstween kindred nations owing allegiance to one Crown, which all the mental and moral strength of Imperial statesnvujiship is now set to realise. The proposals mark the opening of a > new period in Inn*eria<! history. - T-he Daiily Mail.- Daily Telegraph. Daily, - Chronicle, antd Standard are equally con- '■ % gratulatory. ~ " - " ' ' ' August 30. Lord Charles Beresford, -in the * course . of a conversation which*, is, -reported in 4 the Montreal Witness, states : "We want f cruisers, and we will have them. If the \ trade rents between Canada and Britain is not kept clear disaster will follow. Armed tramps are what we. fear. Dreadnoughts are only for going along with a lar,ge fleet." He added that cruisers could pursue armed tramps and prevent the destruction of commerce. Cruisers were much better for the colonies. BERLIN, August 28. The newspaper Berliner Tageblatt, commenting on Mr Asquith's defence statement, predicts that the debates in the oveisea.i Parliaments regarding the De111 1 fence Conference proposals will be excited 515 1 and that objections will De raised to the ' » j new programme. It denies that there is I * any cause for particular anxiety in Ger-i many regarding the reorganisation of the I r British Imperal defences. It adds taat ' , Britain's turning to the colonies for a=eAstj ance is a symptom of exhaustion. 1 , The Loksl Anzedger interprets Mr - Asquith's reference to the approaching co1 opei-aticHi between the oversiea dominions - a^n-d t]k9 Motherland as an intention to r parade Britain's power before the eyes i of foreign countries. 1 ST. JOHN'S August 24. r Sir Edward Morris, Trenxier, has returned to Newfoundland-. He states that the Defence Conference was the- most j effective step taken in our day to prej s-erve the world's peace by maintaining I England as mistress of the seas. Such ji. conference would have been impossible three years ago. It was jicesible now because spontaneous, and it was successful oecauss it was voluntary. During the conference there was not a discordant note. Tlie only difference of : opir.ion was regarding the methods to be adopted. The prevailing sentiment was '• I th-e desire of the overseas dominions, to ( I bear their share in the cost of contiibution to the maintenance of the Em- ( pire. They did not want to live and 1 trade and have their liberty amd be pro- ] tected any longer by the British tar and soldier v ithout contributing to the mainte- ; nance of both and sharing in the work of ! both. j MELBOURNE, August 27. . Mr Deakin states, in connection with J tlie cablegram giving the probable strength < of tlie Australian navy, that it will involve a constructional cost of something like 1 three millions. 1 August 29. 1 Mr Fisher, Lea<ler of the Opposition in l the Federal Government, regards the new ' j Naval Agreement with serious misgivings, j He says it means no Australian navy, j but an improved Imperial squadron for \ Aurstjalia. If so, it is a huge national 1 blunder. If, however, it means a greater j contribution by the Commonwealth towards « the creation of an Australian navy by the [ 1

T Motherland it is less to be condemned, I and if it means the se-al upon an Aus- . tralian navy then the only mistake is that it is mixed up with a loan policy. To build up a fleet or an army out of loan ' money would end vi disaster, and kill the national pride of the people. SYDNEY, August 30. The AlinLster of Defence (Mr Cook), referring to tlie satisfactory results of the . Defence Conference, says that the Govarnj meiit will begin at once to establish a naval college of first-class quality. CRITICISM IN NEW ZEALAND. (Fsoic Oub Own Co-respondent.) WELLINGTON, August 29. . The statement made by the Prime Minister of England regarding the naval' agreement, clearing away, as it does, doubts and misunderstandings, is fully , appreciated here, and generally seems to be received with satisfaction. Its ultimate potentialities, apart from the immediate advantages, are recognised to be very great indeed. Some people seem to see in the creation -of a new. .facific squadron a possible non-renewal of the Anglo-Japanese treaty, and as this is an j idea that may gain ground, "some pronouncement on the subject., froni'^the.i Home Government -would be opp*b;rfcunV.-