The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 30. 1912. ONE NAVY, ONE CONTROL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 286, 30 May 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 30. 1912. ONE NAVY, ONE CONTROL.

The permission given by New Zealand to .let the Admiralty dk) what' it likes with the Empire's property is merely a small sample ,of the new kind of courtesy jwhich has sprung up between the HomeKid' and the Dominion. The intention send the battleship New Zealand |Bh s Dominion for dtity is a reassuring jHß|[t is n °t considered necessary to really up-to-date fighting ma|H^^^Ht -of attack. The concentraH^HB^BN§£: e in the North Sea is is- fully' alive of the Ger-

to the des not

sumed, the casualties would be extensive. I It would perhaps be impossible to ob- J tain an efficient reserve to fully lean a warship if volunteers were called for in New Zealand in time of trouble. Therefore it is suggested 1 that it is as much th a duty of the State to anticipate rouble at sea as ashore. We may inflate our chests and' urge that wo. have individually done our duty by promising to be taxed for the purchase of a battleship, but the man who in the time of trouble steps forward and says, "Here I am; take me," is the true patriot. In the future, as in the past, the great conflicts will be a matter of men, of big hearts and good brains and strong arms. If the Empire believed that war would never come it would not stand the expense of a huge navy for a fortnight. The Empire knows that underlying all the frilly international compliments, man in his instincts is as primitive as ever, that he is a physical fighter at bottom, and that when this primal instinct dies his nation dies too. So it is his duty, both in the matter of sea and land defence to step out and say, "Here I am; take me!"