THE NAVAL CRISIS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 51, 25 March 1909, Page 4

THE NAVAL CRISIS.

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL. SPECIAL TAXATION PROPOSED. Ohiristehurch, Monday. The Lyttelton Times, after expressing warm approval of the oiler of a warship to the Mother Country, and suggesting that the cost of the vessel should be defrayed by special taxation designed to extinguish the debt in twenty years, says: "Sir Joseph Ward has simply taken a broad view of his national responsibilities. The shipbuilding programme oi the Imperial Government has proved inadequate, and New Zealand, conscious that in all these years she has left her share of the burden. of defence to the Mother Country, is grateful that the opportunity has occurred in time of peace for an emphatic recognition of her duty. The announcement of the gift will be aiii impressive reminder to, the worldl that the people of Britain's oversea dominions are Britons at all times, aud that even the smallest of the self-governing colonics is prepared to undertake a heavy burden in defence of the Empire." PROMPT AND SPONTANEOUS. Auckland, Monday. The New Zealand Herald says:—"The prompt and spontaneous action of Cabinet in, olfering to the Imperial Government a first-class battleship, with another to follow if required, deserves, and will receive, the unanimous approval and unqualified endorsement of the Dominion. Under ordinary circumstances it would have been the constitutional duty of Sir Joseph Ward to have asked the necessary authority .from Parliament, Init under the extraordinary circumstances the people of New Zealand ■will appreciate the confidence reposed ill them by the Premier and the Cabinet, and will duly justify, through their Parliamentary representatives, this swift and effective expression of the national feelipg. The action of the Government could be justified by sentiment alone, but we need not appeal to sentiment in order to persuade one another that the step we instinctively approve is a step which ought to have been taken."

SPLENDID DISPLAY OF PATRIOTISM.

Christchureh, Monday. The Christchureh Press says:—"There is no question that Sir Joseph Ward's offer will be received at Home with ■enthusiasm as a splendid display of patriotism on the part of a young country which lias only just completed its first

tnillion of population. Wo do not think the contribution is too large for New Zealand. The money will have to be borrowed in, London, and the loan would go oil' like wildfire. If it is raised at j 3'/4 per cent, it will mean a permanent addition to our naval contribution of £70,000 a, year, bringing the total up to £170,000. This amounts to less than 3s Gd per head of the population, whereas. tjie people of Great Britain pay 15s per head per annum." The Press urges, however, that Parliament should, have been specially called together to consider a step of such importance. "More important than- the contribution of money for Dreadnoughts," adds the Press, "is the organisation of our own defences on a sound economical andi effective footing. Our young men (must take a personal share in the defence of their country, and they may rest assured that in so doing they are rendering the most effective aid in the defence of the Empire."

INTEGRITY OF THE EMPIRE. Dunedin, Monday. The Otago Daily Times expresses the belief that had Mr. Seddon been alive some such offer as the Government ii now making would have been made by hi'm immediately on receipt of the intelligence that the Daily Telegraph, had suggested that Australia should uudev[take to supply the Admiralty with, a Dreadnought. Frankly, the unconstitutional course pursued by the Govern'inent of committing the country to heavy liability in the expectation of Parliament sanctioning it is one which the Federal Premier would probably hesitate to adopt. Still, Mr. Fisher has struck obviously the true note when lie says all the resources of the Commonwealth are at the disposal of the Imperial authorities in the event of international difficulty. The integrity of the Empire must 1m preserved at all hazards and at whatever cost. No sacrifices that may be demanded of a British community wherever found must he counted too great when this object is in view. The. Times concludes: "Whether the ■necessities of the ease aTe such as really justify the offer of, as we are entitled to say, such generosity as that made" i>v the Government of the Dominion, we cannot pretend to judge. The Go■vernment has Opportunities denied to ithe man in the street 0 f gauging the position, and 510 doubt it will be prepared in this instance to accept complete responsibility for its action."

AN OBJECT-LESSON. The Wellington Dominion says: "The chorus of approval with which the Goverainent's action has been greeted is .prompted, we venture to think, more by the general anxiety to let British people and the world at large see that New Zealanders' are as ready as ever to take their 'full share in tlfe burdens of the Empire in time of threatened 'trouble than by any reasoned conviction that the particular form of action to which the country has been committed is a reasonable one. The, public expected and desired that the Government would do something, and sometiling handsome, but it can hardly have been prepared for the staggering size of the offer which has been made to the British Government. The capital cost of two first-class battleships of the latest type will be very close to four 'millions' sterling—a larger sum than the real necessities of the case require Ifrom a State in New Zealand's position. The Prime Minister, we are afraid, has suddenly given way to the excitement of the hour, and, acting with the best tnitentions possible, ha 9 been led into indiscretion. There was no occasion for 'the liaste which has been displayed—a haste that did not permit time for conisulting members of Parliament. Even (Mr. Seddon, 'for all his impulsiveness and love 'of sensation, communicated •with members before offering assistance ■to Great Britain in the South African war."

LEADING THE WAY. "While the Australian. Commonwealth has been merely discussing the question of presenting a Dreadnought to the Imperial authorities, New Zealand has acted, and given demonstrative application to the axiom that "when right is right, to follow right were wisdom in the scorn of consequence," says the Wellington Times. The precipitate boldness of the action of the Government 'was calculated to take away the breath of the average citizen. There were some who thought that wlu«;i the Parliament 'of New Zealand at its last session increased, the naval subsidy from £20,000 to .tlOO.nmt a step liad been taken in ] advance of our resources, if not of reasonable requirements, and that it would lie a long time before 'we should be culled upon to augment this lstoal vote; lmt the cordial approval with which the Government's actios! lias been. received by representative men in all walks of life is proof t'liat the welfare of the Empire ranks above mere parocliial considerations in the breasts of the people of this Dominion,'