The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 2. BRITISH NAVAL PROGRAMME.
INveiil cable messages run lu thv cited that a somewhat -mious hitch had occurred i" ill'' imperial Ujvernni.iit, tin- Ch;un«ll.ii 01 1 lie KNchequcr I'll being able l.i .-*>■ his way to provide tinmuiK'y aAe.l liy the Admiralty for tile naval iMiiuati'?. Ihe >um» scl do.vrt were dccme.l imti-i>eiin:iblc in older !o I iiiaintain Britain"* two-l'uwcr pre-ciiH;i- i unce (in tin- sea. To it is gratiKing to learn that the Admiralty iiaisucccedcd ill having il- way. the niotiej required being obtained by the reduclion o! the Army estimate-. by no Ic.--a Mini than OU.whi. This di*p<ne> oi the question for this year, Imt an able writer has pointed out that it is scarcelv possible for Britain to continue i<» maintain the two-l'ower theory, ina.smtieh as, through emigration and othel causes, the number of her population remains almost stationary, whilst - the population of other lands is increa-iag
and some of ihem are yearly devoting a large expenditure and a two-fold energy to the building up of navies. Sime Trafalgar, up till a very few years ago, the Covernmcnts of Europe bestowed nearly the whole of their national strength upon their land forces. .Regarding it as a vain hope to attempt lo dispute with England on the sea. their naval powers were suffered to fall iir.o comparative iiisignilicance. so that it was easily within the measure ol England's resources to answer the call of a two-l'ower standard,
Since the advent of William 11., however, the position has changed, and changed considerably. ■ The Kaiser, having come to (be conclusion that lbs army was Millicieutly powerful to meet any possible contingency, has Been largely expending his resources in the consiiueiion of ships of war. In the Herman Navy Act of 1900 the sliipi building programme included the ■oust tucl ion in four years of seven lirst • class battleships. But under Ii ho new Bill submitted to Hi-' | Heifhstag in November last this programme is extended to twelve ves
-els. 'the construction programme (lias slows an increase of no fewer than five Villo-hips in four vears, and four of these vc-cls will Ik.' larger, faster, and mure heavily armed than the British lir.ii" ibVs. With Germany alone building I In cm- waisln'ps a year, it will begin to be nod, i stood how extremely difficult il w. 11 lie in the near future to maintain .h, el erished two-Power standard.
\cconlitte in what is known as the "Cawdor ' amlum." issued in the. later .lnv id I'd', the large armored I battle-hip- -in,! eiutsers to be laid down mnua'lv > i, \o,l by the British AJI'lirally ,i ■ !,. A radical difference i : -- : - : - •■ Germany and En*.1 "id is •■ ,w,iM the former never fails to carry out its programme the latter very rarely succeeds. Practically the programme set forth in the ■'Memorandum'' and pronounced to be absolutely strategically necessary, has since been abandoned.' In I'lflG Britain laid down three large armor-plated -hips, in 1(1117 again three, and for this year the original programme was for only two. The warship-buiidiiig of Germain, which i- obvious, and the failure "f England-- through the opposition of Germany—to ensure the carrying out of a policy of reduction of armaments, has constrained to a larger policy. The new programme, it will be seen, provides for the construction of one l,ir«e battle-hip of the Dreadnought class, and un fewer than six large cruisers, the total expenditure on the-e vc-el- running into 1.'7..,4.>.-2l>:_>. Tbi- may be taken ;i- England'- answer to German'-. In I H-17 llritain's expenditure on I„t navy was .only -.0n,, c.20.1)im.1111i1. but for rea-on- which have been here inilieatod her expenditure on sea-wal-r power had been forced on apace. In t!">7, tie naval expenditure had risen to c:lti.(Ul(l.(|il!i. ~n,l this vear tin- i-sii-mate- -h„w ;, conteniplate'd expeinlitu-e of no le- than .t.;12..'«!1..,uii. It j s not very difficult to realise how heavily this immense outlay in non-produc-tive- in the sense of intere-t-paying works most pies- upon the Itritis'h laxpayer. Neither j„ it dilliclllt to couiprehciid lew intensely bitter Labor ropre -entativcs. and the great bulk of lb' workers, inu-t feel towards it.
I hey are eager in their demand for tii„ establishment of old-age pensions, wi.h which every liberally-minded New Ze.ilunder inti-t heartily sympathise, and they look to secure their object bv cul- ' ting down the naval expenditure of th- | millions required to ens„r,, the funds necessary. Nothing could be more short-sighted or -uicidal. and did thev .live out of England thev would understand that such is the ease. Bv tnkin < I'lllJliHUiim oil' the naval estimates they might pos.-ibly.-for even then there is a doubt about it-secure old-age pensions, but what value would old-ii-e pensions be t„ the workers if England lost (he command of the sea and wHh it the markets of the world'.' Surely there is in England plenlv of scope for Ireiichant reductions i„ ,',(|,,, v departments ~,f expenditure, mid abundant I'ooin for a graduated scheme of taxaG»n Ihal wmild reaeh Ihe financial -tores of Hi,,-,, who are abnormally rich. liiif however it is eo„||-ive,| ,'„ find funds for old-age pen-i.nis fh" strength of the Navy must not be impaired. When England 10-cs the command of the seas, l,or Kmpire in H,.. world will cease to have existence- then -he will sink to (he level „f a very third-rate Power indeed.
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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 61, 2 March 1908, Page 2
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885The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 2. BRITISH NAVAL PROGRAMME. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 61, 2 March 1908, Page 2
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