Rangitikei Advocate. MONDAY, APRIL 8, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 8781, 8 April 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. MONDAY, APRIL 8, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

DURING tlio last few months a number of articles have appeared in reviews and elsewhere showing that a vague feeling of uneasiness has arisen as to the state of the British navy. Many of those articles are the work of anonymous writers who may or'may not bo well informed on the subject, and it is worth noting that most of them were loud in their praise of the Board of Admiralty until the Liberal Government came into power. The only change made in the personnel of the Board under the new Ministry is that Lord Tweedmouth has replaced Earl Cawdor as First Naval Lord, and it cannot be supposed that Admiral Sir John Fisher and his colleagues will permit themselves to be overruled on matters which they consider essential to the efficiency of the fleet. The Times, which is hostile to the present Ministry, has recently published an inter-; estiug series of articles in defence of' the naval policy of the Government, and in a leading article sums up strongly against the agitators who have condemned it. One of the chief

causes of . complaint has been that the Board reduced the number of armoured . ships to be built this year 1 to three, in spite of the. statement at . the end of 1905 that “strategic re- j quiremeuts necessitated an output of j four largo armoured vessels auuu- j ally.” The change, the Times con-j tends, “was abundantly justified Jiy , the fact that when it was announced j in July not oue of the seven battleships which France, Germany, and the United States had projected for 1906, aud not oue of the three additional ships projected by France in | the spring, had been laid down, or seemed at all likely to be laid down. The Admiralty, in fact, had merely done what their predecessors had done, and have revised their buildprogramme in view of the performances of other Powers. ’ ’ Much discussion has also arisen as to tho advantage of building Dreadnoughts. On this point the Times says, “It is a striking and significant fact that since the construction of the Dreadnought new construction of battleships has been suspended by foreign Powers. Their technical advisers appear to entertain a big respect for her. Indeed Lieutenant-Commander Sims, Inspector of Target Practice in tho United States Navy, is so much struck by the advantage in modern actions of the better firo control which the “all-big-guu, oue-calihre” typo promises to have, that he declares ’it would be unwise ever to build a man-of-war of any kind with more than oue calibre of gun in her main battery.” The only point on which it is at all reasonable to fed anxiety is as to tho composition of the new Home fleet. Hitherto no definite Information has been published on this point except that tho Admiralty has stated that the new disposition “will increase the immediate striking strength of the navy. To condemn the Board before its proposals have been made known is obviously uujust, especially when there appears to ho no sufficient reason for distrust. The wiser course 1 is for critics, however capable, to ; suspend judgement until they have ! something to criticise,

SIR WILLIAM LYRE, we are informed by cable, was very emphatic at the .Navigation Conference as to the necessity of bringing'British vessels up to Australian requirements. He seems fully persuaded that the tail cau be made to wag the dog, or, in other words, that the Labour party in Australia cau dictate to tho whole Empire the conditions under Which slapping shall be conducted. His statement that the Australian and New Zealand shipping laws ought to proyide a uniform basis of law for the Empire will hardly appeal to British shipowners? W lw aro already handicapped by regulations and restrictions from which their foreign, competitors are free. No doubt his arguments are intended chiefly for Australian consumption, as any sane man must realise that couidtious that may he enforced in Australia are quite impossible of application elsewhere. The proposal that the arrangement as to accommodation for sailors should he made retrospective would also be a new departuare in legislation which would not be likely to meet with support in the House of Commons. Sir William Lyuc displays, moreover, to say the least, a considerable want of tact in p anilely stating his opinion that the verdict of tho last British election was a mere flash in the pan, and in making tho unfounded assertion that Britain is willing to take help from her enemies while refusing the aid of friends. Mr Ramsay Macdonald, speaking at Sheffield tho other day, said that the British people wanted to be quite friendly with tho colonies, hut wore not going to allow a handful of political wirepullers to run tho Empire in • the interests of landlords and capitalists. This is the kind or answer Sir William Lyuc will got if he ventures to • interfere in politics at Horae, and colonial. Premiers will ho wise if they take care not to allow -themselves to be used to promote the interests of either party in' England, 'f.