The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1903. NAVAL DEFENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 66, 18 March 1903, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1903. NAVAL DEFENCE.

I_ _ _ This question if tlw n .val dt-fenc-j of j New Zealand and the naighb.uriiig ■ States of Australia isat;rac ing a large amount of attention, and may be exported to occupy a £ood deil of tiai'3 in ' thii e'swv.g a ssiou of wbtn the question of Uie naval subsidy is ucder considc>at : on. It would be interesting to ktow \vh;t number of the on <ho New Z-aland shipping regis'er wt.uld be available or able to take part iu ihe defence of th ■-■ colmy in the event of war. Take the c;s9 of the Union Shipping Oompany alone, they have some 58 steitnera on the Naw Zeihnd Resistor, and probably a considerable number of then would be to mount one or more quickfiring 4-7 inch gur.s, and prove very formidable to any foa delirious of raiding the colony. As regards manning these vessels, the rush of voluufe-ira lo take part iti the South Afiicw W?t shows thattiiefightit gins inctiss'ron" in thß young ui< n of tho colony, aiid wih our j um«rous p r:n a:;d ext«' sive ssaboard the e is no reason to suppose there would be a<iy lack «.f men to m*n any Vis el available, 1» wcull seen to be desirable when the House is dealing with the question that a committee of tho House shou'd be set up to go into the vtholo question of nival defence. We are indue dto make thfS" observations after consideration of the report of the House of Commons Cemmitteo on Mercantile Cruisers' issued as a Parliamentary Pap-r, which seem to indicate that a change is impeding in tho relations which have existed hitherto between ths S ate and certain steamship corporations. If the recommendations of the Commit tee are acted upo", the State in ihe future is likely te figure as the owr-er of a certain propov. ion of the fabric of each mail seamehip built under Admiralty survey, As matters s'and to-day a steamship corporation which desires to placi) its Vfs'e's, in return for a certain annual subsidy, at the disposal of the State must lay down these vessels according to Admiralty specifications. But the authorities appear, up to the present, to have concerned themselves solely with tho steaming capabilities of the " ocean greykounds," which, under i certain conditions, might p.-ss into . their hands. It has been s'tid more ■ than once of late that while the iner--1 chant cruiser left nothing 'o be desired | in point of ability to attain and to maintain a high rate of spied, there • was no certainty that h&r hull would 1 s'and the weight an J strain cons' quent on the mounting and the working of modern naval guns. Those who have accustomed to talk of the "shest of pap.-r " conctruoticn of the modern cce»n liner will read with su-prise the Committers opinion that the majority \ | if our large mercan'ilo vessels of high [ speed "aw structurally strong enough i to <arry and fight 4-7 inch guts." Furher than this, however, it is noted that the.ie vessels are " sub-divided up to the present Admiralty requirements,'' and that witliout difficulty they can be rapidly and economically fitted with a steering gear below the water line. From th's it will be seen that though the Admiralty merely looked for speed a3 the first essential the yessols had been built in nearly all cases with an eye to Duval requirements in other rtspecte. Expense is the objection that is usually advasced against a comprehensive measure for raising a mtrchant cruiser iquauron. Undoubk- ■ uly the taking up of vessel-; cf the ' modern ccaan liner type would entail a

very large expenditure of money, bub when the proposal is advanced in the interests of the Empire and of our trade we must not look too closely at the financial outlay involved, And by not leaving matters until the last moment, that is to say, by arranging to spread the payments over a, series of years the burden, would scarcely befell". The Committee inquired into the initial cost of vessels capable cf steaming from twnnty to twenty six kneta per hour, and also into the annual

subsidy which would be required by a) commercial company " towards making gojd tho losi which would be sustained in time of peace " by the running < f »u'h vessels. As a result of these inquiries, three alternative proposals are submitted for the consideration of the tiuthoriti63. The Admiralty might in the fi at place guarantes a sum representing the cjsVof each ship, thus enaV.ing the ship owner to raise capital on a 3 per cant, in place of the existing 5 per cont basis. They might, on tho other hand, contribute a lump sum towards the firjt co3t of the ship, anl

thus reduce the gfaipown r's ou lay, (r they might make an annual payment . extending over a term of years. Thß Oumaoittee id of the opiuion that it would be necessarj to guarantee this, ,üb~idy for a pariod of ten years. An'. mpor'ant p ation of the report is that u which tbe qu»stion of providing a I security agaiast the transfer to a oieign flig, without the conent of the | Admiralty, of a subsidised vsssel is con-', idtred. Tbe Committee practically; luggests that this safeguaid might be. >btai> ed by a schetno by which " dur- j ng the term of the subsidy the Ad- j niralty would ba registered owners of iot leas than thirty-threw sixty-fourths if the vessel," or, in olber word?, just hi shide over the half necessary to ;ive the Government the greater inerest, It is quite c rtain that the Suipire's next war will be largely a laval war, and it would seem wise for iclouial Uovernmentß to be prepaied. $o doubt many people would object to i sys em of subsidising our merchant 'earners ; bus it is necessary to look iboad. The provision of a powerful Merchant cruiser squadron spells proaction to our coas- and trad>>, ami leaves the mea-of war free in time of war, aod it ia the duty of the Government to keep that fact in view.