NOTABLE SPEECHES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 14

NOTABLE SPEECHES.

IMPERIAL MILITARY DEFENCE. (Fkom Oub Own Co3szspondent.j LONDON, June 11. On Wednesday the conference demoted itself more especially to the military side of Imperial d'Sience. 'ihe debate was slightly less interesting, and would probably have fallen rather flat but for the presence of Mr Haldane (Minister of War) and Lord Roberts Mt Balfour (the chairman) spoke in his usual and vigorous style, dealing, if anything, more with the navj than the «rany. Mr Haldane spoke somewhat in the detract, but very interestingly, emphasising the fact that the British army .•was, and must be-, an oversea force, and that oVopetratioin between the diffesre-nt parts of the Empire must make provision for oversea armies. Crititasiaj.? the del-ays in getting the army into the field in South Africa, he told the conference that a distinguished British general, the Duke of Gomnaught — (loud applause) — *nd likened an army to printing. The trouble about the army in South Africa was tJiai there was not enough " Ate" and not enough "B's," but there was a superfluity of "Z'e." — (Loud laughter.) Lord Roberts, who read most of . his speech, recalled with pride- tie fact that he was the first British CSommaaider-in-Ohief ■who" had ever • had -command of, an army conifakmng contingents, .representing' every part ol the British Dominions. Mr Fenwick's contribution to this discussion was unfortunately out short by tihe effluxion of the 10 minutes time limit before lie had really entered upon the subject. THE MDHTARY PROBLEM. The main theme of Mr Balfoar's speech was Imperial defence, and while the military side was uppermost, the Leader of the Opposition dealt with both navel and military, an the ground' that the two aspects "wore inseparable. Be said bhat each of iihe communities had to ask iteslf two questions : — How are we to provide for local defence? How are we to provide our fair ■and proper 6foaxe of Imperial d^ifence? Those two questions "may be put separately, but they catn really only be answered together. Continuing, Mr Balfour said : I «im the last person to throw any doubt or discredit upon efforts of a purely local -character for purely local needs. I think it is desirable and necessary that each of the self-governing constituent of the Empire should consider whether it ought not, whether it must not, have both land, arcd■sea forces to prevent raids, to prevent insults to their ports, and to see that- they do not fall an easy prey to the firstcomer. But, efter all, local defenoe, though it be necessary, is really subordinate to Imperial -diefence — (appiauee),— and it is subordinate *rom the- point of view of the localities themselves, not from the point of view of *2« Empire. The individual constituente of the Empire never can be safe, never can be powerful, never OKn be ehrong—-what-ever their local defence be— if that defence is only local.— (Applause.) Ota the other fcand, a serious mena-nce of tfeear independence m, I -believe, quite impossible as lori? as the Imperial, system of -defence is a*2<£ 4}uaie, as long as we maiwtairi— as I hotie we ever shall maintain.— that maritime pr«P<WMteramoß which is the very condition of ■our bemgr.— (Applause.) Mr Balfour went en to say that mere superiority at sea would not give the necessary security. There must be an oversea army a ™,. southing more than an oversea army. While the problem was a difficult one, it was not too difficult for the eelfgovermng portions of the Empire to work out for themselves. On this subject he remarked:— "l remember a time when these foreign problems came before the t^overnment of which I was a member, and ™ c W»r Office of a c aa.y, naterajly, »jmJ from their own point of view rightly, considered tha* if the colonies were prepared to rause a, land force for Imperial purposes that land force should be ear-marked and placed in certain contingencies under the «ontrol of the military authorities here. I believe that to be absolutely impossible. I <k> not think the self-governing colon ies would like it at all. and I do not think the self-governing colonies ought to like it. It must be managed^ under the constitutional theories which wo ail share in common. TEh« Ministry -which raises, equips, and pays the troops is the Ministry which must control the movements' of the troops, and not some other Ministry elected by some other community and responsible to some other section of public opinion. Then the question «rises if the land forces of the various selfgoverning portions of the Empire cannot be under the centralised control "of the War Oifioe - here, how can we expect unity of ■action in the time of great Imperial emergency? I. am not ihe least alarmed at that prospect. I do not believe the difficulty ■will prove itself in practice a difficulty at ■all; provided that the self-governing colonies taike care, as I am sure they will, that the drill, the equipment, the 'nterohange of military ideas, the interchange of staff, the 'general" methods of organising troops, are identical, I am quite sure they, may be trusted to utilise those troops when the time comes to the very best advantage of our common needs. — (Applause.) We may lay down the proposition that -tibese forces of Hie King must be under the control of the self-governing community which re-ises -and pays for iihem, and we may lay down the second proposition that they must be, or ought to be, as I think, organised on a common system, so that when they come together they may come togetih-er not only as citizens of one Empire but as members of one force. — (Applause.) The fate of Australia and New Zealand, ■Canada, India, and South Africa, Mr Balfour felt, would be decided in Home waters, and not in the Pacific or Indian Ocean. He agreed with Lord Rosebery's weighty -words, and after saying that there was no ■question of panic, he continued : "I am no pessimist on these subjects — (applause), — and I am utterly sceptical about the value of such criticisms. lam certain that when the moment arrives the national spirit will be equal to anything that it may be called upon the face, but we must give that national spirit its chance. — (Applause.) No courage, no self-devotion, not even the Consciousness -that we have now what our forefathers had not — we have now behind us the patriotism, the courage, and the spirit of the great self-governing members of the Empire — will be adequate unless we ourselves are prepared, in these days of rapidly Jnoving invention, to give to our people Wk» weapons with which £hey may effe'e-

« tively meet any danger that may be brought against them. The responsibility upon all of us, upon you who represent distant parts of the Empire, upon us who ' are placed here in the centre, the responsi- ! bility is great; but that that responsibility will be faced — that all that it involves will be recognised by those whom it may concern — I think the very existence of this assembly, the very discussion we are having here this morning, provides an adequate and sufficient proof. I therefore at all events look forward — not without anxiety, not without some feeling of concern, but still with a high and cheerful courage — to all dangers that may menace the Empire in the future. — (Cheers.) Mr Haldane said a new stage in the evolution of counsel on Imperial defence seemed to be approaching. The overseas dominions were taking counsel not merely with the Mother Country, but with each other. — (Cheers.) No one could fail to be struck with the fact that in the speeches at that conference there was a common purpose shown and an anxiety to make that purpose clear, and reduce controversy to a controversy about words. The notable feature of that conference was that, as far 'as lie was aware, it was the first occasion on which that spirit had been clearly made plain. Mr Balfour had just made a speech with every word of which he agreed. — (Cheers.) Mr Balfour had a record in connection with Imperial defence, the full significance of which was perhaps even yet ■hardly realised. He founded, _at a stage in the history of the • Empire when the necessity it had become manifest, the Committee of Imperial Defence on which not only, the representatives of the army and, navy at Home, but the representatives of the overseas dominions, when they were here, sat in council upon these Imperial problems. That represented a step which was not merely limited to the extent of the ground immediately covered. If the Empire was to become one it would not be by the imposition of any outside will or the will of any one part of the Empiresit would be by the evolution of the will of the Empire as a whole, under the unwritten constitutions which represented one and the came spirit, which took their origin in the Mother Country, but which meant absolute freedom on the part of the constituent parts of the Empire. Mr. Haldane proceeded : It is impossible to suggest to the overseas Dominions that in organising their forces they should put them, under the control of any staff which was not their own staff, but it is not impossible to say to them : " Organise your own forces with such regard to your own necessities as- j'ou find essential, but keep ; in view right through that those forces may 6ome day have to be used for the . great common purpose of defence." That could only be done through the agency of a general staff, which must be of an Imperial character. That staff must be. of course, subordinate to the power and direction of each, Government, but if it was there, at the elbow of each Government and its commanders-in-chief, it might become a potent agent. The colonies could send representatives over to the Mother Country to study military organisation, and she could send her own staff officers over to the .Dominions to tell them whafe had been worked out, and to come back with an infinitely better understanding of -the situation in Canada, Australia, the Cape than could be " possible without that organisation.— (Applause.) Like Mr Balfour, I feel the burden of the present time. I see difficulties rising round us. difficulties which are not accidental, which arise from the fact that the world is striving on and other nations are becoming more and more wealthy and powerful. But are we, as an Empire, not developing, not becoming more powerful? I believe the rate of progress in thie Empire is as gerat as if not greater than, the rate of progress of any other race under the sun. And on all of us it rests to see that we bring to bear the science end energy— for both are necessary — which should deliver us from the danger of falling behind. I>et U3 see to it that we can hand down to ■ those who come after us the tradition ' undimmed and unstained of the glory ol the Empire. , , ! : Mr Fenwick (Dunedin) observed that tho ' overseas section of that important confer- ' ence had come there as a body of working ' journalists. They were not speakers, and he certainly laid no claims to be a speaker. H© quite realised l.hat nothing he could say : i could add to or impress more upon them the tremendous importance of the repre*°nI tations made to the delegates by tho speakers of the P^mpive to whom tbov had , listened dining the List few days. Ideals . 1 and logical conclusions had been laid before I them, and these they would take back to j their owr lands and place before a ready and sympathetic audience. Dealing with the question of Imperial Defence from the ! aspect of New Zealand, he could 6ay that I when Sir- .Joseph Ward -cabled Home the ! offer of a Dreadnought, he (Sir Joseph) did , ' not know Lc^y it would be received by the . ! people at large. Sir Joseph took upon, i • himself an enormous responsibility, but •• j when the Cabinet met it agreed that he . had done .the right thing.— (Applause.) There was no dissentient voice in the j j Cabinet. Sir Joseph hinteolf told him that ! the offer was approved with perfect unanii mity, and without any hesitation at all. In his opinion nine-tenths of the people of ' New Zealan-o heartily approved the offer j • It hed been said that the providing of a Dreadnought by New Zealand was not the right way to assist in Imperial defence. Personally he believed it -was the right way of going to work, for he recognised tha enormous value of a spontaneous offer of that kind. It represented t'-o feeling of patriotism and loyalty to tho Empire, in the future and unity of which they wore al! so j deeply coroernttl. He by no m-eans <Hi- . approved ihe decision of Canada, for • exarnpl?, or tihe views of a considerable J fecMon of the public of Australia to provul-e ! for tlveir own local defence It was right ' that provision of that kind should be mad-a, j and co far as financial arrangements per- , ' xnitted Ns:v Zealand had done something in J that direction also. But when all was said j and done they all had to recognise how • utterly inadequate local provision would < be without the Imperial fleet. The over- | t seas dominions realised that their safety lay in tihe maintenance of a united navy, which was the true solution of the problem The absolute security of the whole Empire rested with the navy, and it was their bounden duty to conserve the navy in every possible way in order to maintain the 6upremacy of the Empire — (Applause.) Mr E. S. Cunningham (Melbourne) stated that the two systems of defence — the local and Imperial — could be developed side by side* i

• Lord Roberts, who followed, observed that if they attached any weight to the opinion of an old soldier, let him say that the situation was one which demanded their closest attention, and that of every patriotic man. A new era had commenced, in which ihe whole Empii-e might again have to flsrht for its existence, as the people of these islands had many times had to do. The question was — Were they prepared lo fio-ht? Nothing b'lt forethought and preparation extending over years could gl\o them, the naval and military strength which might be relied upon in ■> any great emergency, and which was in itself the greatest guarantee of peace. UNIVERSAL TRAINING. At this stage the Hon. Theodore Fink (Melbourne) put forward the following motion: — "That this conference affirms tho urgent necessity of placing the defences of ths Empire on the surest foundation, and to that end considers it essential that in each of the self -governing Dominions systematic and universal training of the male population should be strenuously advocated." Air Mark Cohen seconded the resolution, and heaTTily endorsed the principles which it contained. In New Zealand the State spent so much money on the child that they had a right to ask for some return for that expenditure. If the young people were equipped mentally so as to be able to do their duty as citizens of New Zealand and' the Empire, then they O'ig-ht also to demand from them some service in order to defend the shores, should occasion arise, of the country t in which they resided. When Lord Roberts iold them of the necessity of that, then the armchair critics knew nothing at ail. Ho wished Lord Roberts would come to the colonies and give them information and advice. — (Applause.) Mr St. Loe Sftrachey (Spectator) proposed that Great Britain be incorporated in the resolution, which was seconded by Mr I*. S. Amery, and accepted by the Hon. T. Fink. This brought up an Indian delegate, who pointed put that the amended resolution did not include ludia. The objection was not3d, and Mr Balfour got o\-er the difficulty by inserting the words "each of the self-governing portions of the Empire," and another objection was met by making it clear that the advocacy was to be "by the press." Mr J. A. Macdonald (Toronto Globe) strongly objected to the resolution, and questioned the wisdom of introducing it at all.- After further discussion the resolution was withdrawn. Lord Roberts added a few words in conclusion, and after a vote of thanks to Mr Balfour for presiding, the oorference adjourned. I' = ==