BRITAIN'S DEFENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 164, 10 January 1912, Page 5

BRITAIN'S DEFENCE.

INVASION IMPOSSIBLE. BEST SYSTEM ON EARTH. By Cable —P*ess Association —Copyright. Received 9, 11.20 p.m. London, January 9. Lord Haldane, at Edinburgh, welcomed Lord Roberts' more generous attitude towards the Territorials, but conscription was impossible. A scientific defence scheme, evolved by the greatest military and naval minds in the country, made invasion impossible, while the new naval staff was the final step in the finest defence scheme in the world. "THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION." Referring to the recent changes in the composition of the Admiralty Board, The Times of November 29 stated:— That there will be much speculation as to the changes of policy which may follow upon the establishment of the new board is only natural. As everyone is aware. Mr. Churchill has already made it clear that he hopes, like his predecessor, to be able to effect some reduction of the Estimates. What we are concerned to learn is the way in which the reduction can be carried out without lessening the . margin of safety. As to the shipbuilding programme also, if there are to be comparatively few battleships, there will be a demand for more cruisers and torpedo craft, while a further development in design would only be in accordance with the "practice of the progressive Boards of Admiralty of the last few years. The columns of The Times bear testimony on any occasion of the launch of a new ship, to the enormous advances in gun power, in speed, and in other matters which have succeeded one another with each year's programme.! It may be hoped, however, asi it is surely expected, that in regard to naval policy the most marked departure of Mr. Churchill's new Board will be towards the reconstitution on larger, broader, and more permanent lines of a Naval War Staff—a staff from which the naval members of the Board and flag officers and their staffs at sea may be expected to derive common benefit. This, in the opinion of many high authorities, is the most important question with which Mr. Churchill has to deal In this journal we have not hesitated to urge for years past that, until it has been supplied, there can be no assurance of undiminished fighting efficiency in the fleet and instant readiness for the final test. That on some of* the most difficult problems of naval strategy differences of professional opinion exist is known to all. The first step to harmony must be looked for in the educational work of a War Staff with very Wide advisory powers. It is quite true that much of the machinery of a staff is at present in existence. There is little or nothing to create, but very much indeed to develop and extend. Here, then, is the opportunity for a Board which possesses in a high degree the qualities of energy, unity, and progress, and whose efforts the nation will confidently hope may be crowned with success. THE NEW SEA LORDS. MR. CHURCHILL'S CLEAN SWEEP AT . THE ADMIRALTY. London, December 1. ( Mr. Winston Churchill, the Admiralty "new broom," has made almost a cle&n sweep of the Admiralty Board bequeathed by his predecessor. With one excep- ' tion the members of the present Board go, and their places are filled with new men. The man-in-the-street is naturally asking what is the meaning of these wholesale changes, and why they should be made at this particular juncture. The simple and obvious explanation is that the new First Lord is anxious to avail himself at the earliest possible moment of the knowledge and counsel of men who will bring the Admiraltyfresh experience of the sea and of service afloat, rather than wait to carry out inevitable changes next spring when they would have taken place in the ordinary course of events. Viewed dispassionately, and ignoring the wild talk that has been circulating round ithe Navy of late, there is nothing sensational in Mr. Churchill's action. In any case there 'would shortly have had to be important changes at the Admiralty, for Sir Arthur Wilson will reach the age-limit of his rank in March next, while Rear-Admiral Madden would have held his appointment for the now regular term of two years in January next. At .the present time of the year the naval policy for the new financial year is being determined and "the Estimates drawn up; but in. three months' time the Estimate* will have been introduced into Parliament, and the debates on them begun. It certainly seems more apropriate that the new officers should be called to the Admiralty in time to determine the policy which they will have to carry out, rather than that they should inherit Estimates which would embody the expression of a policy for which they were not primarily responsible, and with which, perhaps, they were by no means In full agreement. Apart from some small grumblings that the names of such able admirals as Sir John Durnford, Sir Arthur Moore, and Sir Reginald Constance do not figure in the appointments on land and sea rendered necessary by the change in the board, there has been 'little or no adverse comment on the appointments made; indeed, they seem to command general confidence. Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman, who has been called to the Admiralty as chief naval adviser, in succession to Sir Arthur Wilson, hag had previous experience at the Admiralty. He was Second Sea Lord for two years, surrendering ftiis appointment in March last to hoist his flag as Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, of which he was first commander when it was formed in 1907. He has the reputation of being a splendid organiser, trainer, and leader. Prince Louis of Battenberg, who vacates the command of the Reserve Division of the Home Fleet to become Second Sea Lord, is one of the hardest working and most popular officers in the fleet, and has seen service in pverv part of the world. He was director of Naval Intelligence for a couple of vears, and is regarded as a representative of the most modern and progressive side of the Navv . The Controller. Rear-Admiral Charles .Tohn Bricks. is to remain, and he will constitute a link between the late and the present board. Like Sir Francis Brideeman and Prince Louis. he has held a command in the Fomp Fleet, and onlv came to the Admiralty to undertake the h'trhlv reswmsiWe chnrw of the Constructive Department in December last. The choice of a successor to Rear-Ad-miral Charles Edward Madden, the Fo'irth Son Lord, has fillnn unon Captain William Christopher -rho onions the distinction of bavin? been present nt tV Battle of Tsushima, nnd who will brin<r to the board the litest experience of actual naval warfare. AH the Son T.ords have the reputation of beinor inflexible advocates of an entirely inadequate navy, who will

not be likely to countenance any import- 1 ant changes in the shipbuilding policy of recent years. At the same time, it is believed that they will give sympathetic ears to the strong demand for alterations affecting the entry and training of naval officers, and to the undoubted grievances and aspirations' of the men of the lower deck, to whose demands for refo'-rs a more or less deaf ear has hitliuto been turned, with the result that the Navy finds it increasingly diffisult to attract the right class of man to its fold.—New Zealand Times' London correspondent.