THE DEFENCE OF THE COLONY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 439, 22 January 1890, Page 5

THE DEFENCE OF THE COLONY.

(To the Editor.) Sir —I have read with interest the report re the defence of the colony, furnished for the edification of the New Zealand Government, by Major-Gent ral Edwards. I agree with the expressions in your leading article of the 11th inst. on the same subiect, and as you justly observe, without pretence to a knowledge of military science, the report of the Major-General throws no new light upon the subject but what has been patent to common-sense-thinking men, and as expressed by you in your columns from time to time. _ -n From a nautical point of view, I will endeavour to express'what has occurred to me before and since reading this report. New Zealand, it has been said, is the Great Britain of the Southern Hemisphere, resembling the Mother Couutry very much as to the island position on the globe, and, as M*jor-General Edwards has put it, • differs from that of the neighbouring colonies on account of the greater extent of the coast line.” Seeing that we resemble the Mother Country so much in this respect, would, it not be wiser to imitate her defence tactics by making an attempt to establish a mantime power afloat, to guard our coasts from the approach of an enemy, instead of raising a small military force, which, as the MajorGeneral pointed out in his report, are so distributed over the islands that until better railway communication takeß place it would be almost a matter of impossibility to combine the local forces in order to resist .an enemy. Until these railways are in existence, I presume we must pray that no enemy will cast a longing eye upon this beautiful land. During the time we have been waiting for the perfection of some de fence scheme, the descent of an enemy upon an unprotected part of our coast might, with the last year’s state of affairs in Europe, have been a matter of any day’s occurrence. The Major-General says—“ As_ it will be impossible to prevent any enemy from landing at manv points in the colony, its defence will be best secured by the lormation of reliable field forces in the four great centres of population.” While acknowledging that it is absolutely necessary that New Zealand should have a military force, I am under the impression that without strong naval assistance, if every man in new Zealand were armed and drilled up to the best fighting pitch, and some powerful enemy were to swarm in upon us, it would be a ca-e of short shrift. Like England, New Zealand is not the place for a battle ; the contest, it there is to be one, must be on the water, and it should be the aim of New Zea and to ■establish and maintain for herself that proud boast of our Mother Countrywomen that they have never yet seen the smoke of a foreign enemy’s camp in their own country. Now, we all know how this proud boast has been, maintained. Not by our military forces. Where it not for our navy where would Great Britain have been, •years* ago ’ I was surprised to see no mention in Major-General Edwards’ report about the co-operation of a maritime force, even in a troopship .point of view. Though Vthere are no. railways, .there are : Bhips that, could carry troops, providing’ of course, they were by a powerful ; fleet. Then as to, defence of harbours,' is that wonderful new invention, ;tbe , “ Brennan torpedo, lost eighty oi . .. a .niore formidable weapon .than any amount ■of big “ Sons stuck about an entrance. Judging from the report we had last year of its effectively blowing up & ship travelling at » ' speed of twelve knotsandata ■distance of two mites,’ this torpedo, like a swift fish, simply played, with its prey, and all uoder the cbntrol of one man. Now, 3f the Government, supiplied the defends ■corps with Brennan, toypedpes’at the entrance of onr and; if properly

handled ! don’t think many ships that were not wanted would come in. Now, the nearest approach to anything nautical as a defence force is the “ Naval ” Artillery. T do not wish to in anyway disparage this smart body of men, who “ are ot' good physique and look well on parade.” but there is no getting over the fact that “ they ain’t no sailor bold, and they never was at sea” (the greater number of them),so in a stric'ly naval point of view they are simply what the Major-General styled them, “garrison artillery, dressed as seamen,” and to their credit, I think, they prefer the dress to that of a stock and red coat. It is quite fresh in the writer’s memory, who was then an officer in the R.'M.s. Kaikoura, the instance of the Russian scare of three years and a half ago. That ship was detained, and we were expecting daily to go under the pennant, and mount a couple of swivels ; there was undoubtedly reason for some concern at that time, and had that deeply-laid Russian scheme been carried intoeliect a great number of New Zealanders who are now enjoying this glorious climate might have spent the rest of their existence luxuriating in Siberia. With this scare still green in our minds, does it not occur to us that the protection and defence of this colony, like that of Great Britain, lies in the possession of a naval power more so than n paltry attempt to establish a militaiy one ? I do not say the Government should rush into the expense of procuring first-class warships, but there is ample scope for the exerciseof ordinary common sense in making use of the material at hand. The merchant fleet that cruise around our coast, which, I believe, compares favourably with similar fleets at Home, could easily be strengthened to carry and be equipped with long range and quick-firing guns. Such guns could be stored, until actually required, in the Defence depots of the four principal ports. Every vessel selected as a fast cruiser would then be within, say, 12 hours’ steam of tier armament. It is needless to inform you of the many fast ships which the U.S.S. Go. possess that could be subsidised for this service. As to the seamen who man this fleet, I can safely say. having had experience of sailors in all parts of the globe, that a better class of sailors do not exist anywhere than those to be seen at the present day in the U. S. S. Co.’s fleet and other vessels plying round our coast. With such officers and sailors a young maritime colony could not have better material at hand t » form a Defence Naval Reserve Force. Not such naval sailor- as we have seen presiding at baby shows, and as lily-white chested as the babies themselves, but the real genuine article, who could “ lay aloft in a howling breeze ” if requested, whilst the other Johnnies would prefer laying down if it came to going afloat even. The system of Royal Naval Reserve as carried out in Great Britain is a good example for New Zealand to go and' do likewise. By forming a naval reserve the country would be placed in a more secure position than she i- at present; the strain upon the public purse would be far lighter than trying to raise a military force which would have to await the pleasure of the invaders calling upon them, and who when they did find they were no use to resist them for sheer want of numbers. An obsolete ship could, I believe, be got from the Admiralty at Home for the asking. This ship could be moored in a convenient place in the harbour. Officers and seamen could put in a a month’s drill every year, and become, with their local knowledge of every port and coast line round the colony, a source of protection that New Zealand has not yet had the privilege of enjoying. Of course a naval officer and staff of instructors would also have to be borrowed for instruction in naval tactics—the navigation pilotage included and seamanship is already supplied. Should such a reserve as this take place, and it really ought to very soon, it would undoubtedly be the forerunner oi what New Zealand has to rely upon for protection in the future, the possession of a powerful navy. In conclusion, Now Zealand has some splendid harbours, and maritime colony and all as she is, there is not a single training ship in any one of them, and still they say, what are we going to do with our boys? The same as England has had to do, make sailors of a lot of them to protect your homes.—l am, etc., J. H. W. Highman, Secretary Mercantile Marine Association