OUR DREADNOUGHTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 60, 5 April 1909, Page 3

OUR DREADNOUGHTS.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY HIE PREMIER. 10 BE PAID I'Oll IX OUR o\V.\ TIME. In iiis speech at Upper Hull on Friday evening ihe Prime Minister (Sir J. U. Ward) made a statement un the Government's position and intentions in regard to the offer of a Dreadnought Ito the Imperial Government, lie said that some critics had exprc-sed absurdly erroneous ideas as to ihe constitutional position in the mailer. The Executive, or the Cabinet, were ll.e agents of Parliament during the recess, and- what they did required constitutiouallv t 0 be ratilied by Parliament. If parliament did not do so, the course of the Government was perfectly clear. They must either resign or ask the people of the. country whether or not thev approved of the action taken. If the people's verdict was unfavourable, the clear dutv of the Government wa 3 to go out of office. The members of the Cabinet

fully recognised this position, ami took the action they did with their eyes open and without a moment's hesitation, because they believed it was the right course. He believed that when the matter came before Parliament the members would endorse the course that had been taken in the loyal desire to help the Empire in what had been an important crisis in its history. (Applause.) WHY M.P.'s WERE NOT CONSULTED. It had been suggested that the Government should have consulted members ' of Parliament by telegram, as was done in the ease of giving help at the nine of the South Alrican war. The circumstances, however, were entirely uiucreut. No Government would accept the responsibility of sending human lives away to battlefields in another portion of the Empire without first obtaining a recognition from members of Parliament, because ratification afterwards could not possibly make good the loss of life that was to be expected. The question of presenting a battleship in a time of crisis was an entirely different matter. It would have to receive the

ratification of Parliament, and the British Government had been informed to that efi'cct when the offer was made. He was proud to be able to say that, as far as he could see, the action of the Government was approved from the North Cape to the Bluff, if not unanimously, then at all evsiivs oy a large majority of the people, showing that they were favourable to the maintenance of the power of the British Empire, to which they were proud to belong. The Premier also drew attention to the speech of Sir Edward Grey, in which the Foreign Secretary stated that Germany would eventually have U Dreadnoughts, and the most powerful navy in the world, and that, tuercfore, to meet the national peril, England must rebuild h»r Navy. "Are we going to say," asked the Premier, '■ that because of the opposition of a section of the community, however well intentioned, we arc not going to show the ordinary courage which as a race we arc proud to possess! The Government has followed a constitutional course, and you cannot find in history a government that was worth its salt that would have delayed in such a matter by sending out telegrams, instead of acting at once and trusting to Parliament to ratify the action, as We have done." FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS.

Proposals would be submitted to Parliament for the repayment of the principal, the interest, and a sinking fund on the loan to be raised, the repayment to be effected, not by those who would follow us, but by ourselves in our own time. (Applause.) This would be done without trenching on any of the present sources of the consolidated revenue. The revenue for the purpose would be specially earmarked. NOT FOR COMMERCIAL REASONS.

There was no such thing as party about a proposal of the kind, and h'<: regretted that party considerations had been introduced in the Old Land, so far as New Zealand's offer was concerned. The oiler was not made to bring about colonial preference. (Hear, hear.) It \vas not made for commercial reasons—(hear, hear)—but to make stronger and greater and more impregnable the power and prestige of the British Empire on the seas, which was essential to the interests of every portion of tlie Empire (Applause.) How much were we doing as a country from the standpoint of our own protection, in presenting one, or, ii necessary, two, battleships to tho Empire, and what were we getting i"i return V We were getting the support of the whole British Navy, wherever it might be. NO LOCAL NAVY.

Those who thought the arbitrament of war was going to be settled around the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, or Canada, were very much mistake;]. If New Zealand was going to embark on any undertaking in the shape of a local navy, if they were going to be foolish' enough to go in for submarines and destroyers, without a licet to attach theiu to, for which the country could not bear the expense, of what assistance would such a service lie to the Hid Land in a time of crisis if they woe called upon to carry out the defence of a Dominion thousands of miles from thct" shores? Jf the Old Laud by any chance was called upon to look to her delences, such a system of defence would be an absolutely uncountable quantity. The course to be followed was quite clear) to those who considered the position impartially. The protection of the country's interests must be looked to far away from our shores. The protection of our sea-borne produce from New Zealand to the Old Country was the British Navy, and if they realised that as a people they had to look for protection in. that quarter, then they must co-operate by means of internal equipment and land forces to help at any time when the country should He threatened. In these days a great battleship could be seven miles or furthe" out at sea and bombard Duneilin, Oamaru, or Timaru, could shell Cmislchureh from the sea, or Wellington, or even Auckland, from well outside the harbour. Some people were urging that they should co-operate with the Australian Continent in having an adequate system of submarines and destroyers. With their own knowledge of these things they could not but see the childishness of such a proposal, when they kept in view other important interests.

VIEWS OF Mil. BVJCHANAN. M.P. Speaking at the opening of the Featherston Post Office on Friday, Mr. W. ('. Buchanan. M.P., alluded to the Government's offer of a Dreadnought. He said that the Premier had done the right thing, and when Parliament met he would have no stronger supporter than himself. The step taken should have the heartiest endorsement of every man who claimed the name of Britisher. The people would not consider in 1012 or 1013 that an undue burden had been placed upon them, when they realised that the Empire might have been involved in an infinitely more disastrous conflict than the South Africa war. There were people in some countries who never "Ot bevond thoughts of the Almighty Dollar,' but such a class as that was fortunately in a minority in New Zealand. What he had expressed was his own personal opinion, but he felt sure it was also the opinion of the Opposition generally, and he did not know that there would lie a dissentient voice among them.