DEFENCES OF EMPIRE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3568, 2 September 1920, Page 6

DEFENCES OF EMPIRE.

KEEPING UP TH B MINIMUM. - BEATTY ON WAR’S LESSONS. m ■ XEW YORK. August 29. ; The New Kork ''‘Sun" prints an article bv Admiral Beatty, in v.luc e saysJ—-*' lt is well to utter a word of warning lest in the reaction after the great war strain we believe that such dangers as were successfully surmounted are not likely to> recur in the- near future, or if they recur will b.s surmounted iu the old fashion. The position of the British Empire to-day is incomparably more powerful than it was before the war. Wo must be prepared not only to diefend ourselves from external aggression, but also assist cur friends in less fortunate circumstances. “For ourselves the Royal Navy suffic.es, ’ ’ he continued, “and history justifies its upkeep on a scale commensurate with the Empire’s position in the Council of Nations; and to those who advocate further reduction beyond the present bare minimum, I would repeat the fable of the fox who saw. the boa," sharpening his (teeth after winning a battle. We must keep our fusks sharp, we cannot afford to let them get blunt. We menice nobody; the Navy is the policenan ox the seaboards which compatible with the safety of the . Empire, ind there is no man or woman in the Umpire who would require us to reLuco our forces below the standard irv V:'- « hat is. ,es imated to be safe. 1 ‘ Out policy as begbfds construcion has been to investigate all probems of war, to co-ordinate them, to imr> cur Scientific methods and all he, technical requirements of the treat service so that when the time lom.es, as it must, for us to put these fessons to useful purpose they will be applied with wisdom and understandng.’’