The Daily News. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1912. HELPING THE EMPIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 136, 26 October 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1912. HELPING THE EMPIRE.

We have received from Dr. W. Maloney, M.H.R. for Melbourne, a ten-page pamphlet of a speech delivered in the Federal House of Representatives on August 28. Briefly, Dr. Maloney's speech is termed a "proposal for building au Empire fleet to protect Britain's food supply by means of savings (capital and interest) for ten years in the Australian public debt, which amounts to £267,000,000." He suggests the appointment of a Commonwealth Commission to visit England to arrange for a conversion, which, if successful, as he thinks it certainly would be, then—"The Imperial Government shall be assured by the State Governments, through the Commonwealth Government, that the saving of capital and the annual interest during the next ten years so caused by such conversion shall be devoted to the building of an Imperial Dreadnought fleet in Great Britain for protecting the trade routes of the Empire, thus assuring the food supply of the United Kingdom." Dr. Maloney estimates that by this proposal there is "a tangible chance of saving something like £20.000.000." Just how this saving is to be effected is not quite clear. The average rate of interest on the Australian State debts is not high as colonial securities go, the average being £3 lis 4 1 / />d, or a fraction over 3 1 / a per cent., and even in the best of times money, whether for State or other purposes, is difficult to obtain at a lower price. No doubt it would be to the advantage of the Common wealth Government to take over and consolidate the State loans, and aadertake the raising of all future loans, apart altogether front the consideration mentioned by Dr. Mnloney. The latter, Who confesses but recent conversion to Imperialism, being at one time what lis characterises as a "red-hot Republican," has evidently little faith in Australia's naval policy, and favors the policy pur-

sued by New Zealand, for lie says:—"The seat of the British Empire is in Europe; the heart of the race is in the capital of the English world. If that be injured or destroyed, then all our hopes and ideals, the greatest the world has seen, must sink into the gloom of oblivion, and the world be the poorer, that our civilisation, with all its wider life and greater opportunities, was. strangled ere it had a chance." Whilst this may be true, we do not think his scheme of obtaining the wherewithal is practicable. If our margin of naval security is insufficient—and we believe it is—then the colonics and possessions should come forward with offers of help. Britain has borne, and is bearing, more than her share of the naval burden, and since we derive as much benefit from sea supremacy as the Motherland, we should certainly do more than we have been doing to maintain that supremacy. Britain has played an unselfish, beneficent part to the colonies in the past, acting as trustees of the Empire as well as of her own islands, and shirking no part of her responsibilities. We owe her a duty in respect to the fleet, and we should discharge it by helping her to make the margin of naval security greater than it is. New Zealand has shown that it is not insensible of its obligations by presenting a battleship and increasing its annual subsidy, whilst Australia is providing a fleet of its own. , But more than this is wanted. Whilst the protest uttered by the Imperial Maritime League, and reported in our cables of Thursday, that "Britain was never in such a plight (in respect to the margin of naval security) for centuries," is based in all probability on an exaggeration, there can 7 be little doubt that the present is a rather critical period for Britain so far as her maintenance of the command of the sea is concerned. Germany is making herculean efforts to overtake Britain. She believes Britain is tiring of the race and is about to faint and fall, and is therefore redoubling her energies. If we by an act striking and unmistakable show that we are determined io keep the lead, we shall have struck a great blow, not only for permanent supremacy, but for the prevention of all those attempts to wrest the trident from us by physical force, which all lovers of peace very naturally and very properly dread. The plan for making that signal effort has been advocated from time to time in the London Spectator for many years. "It is," in that great paper's words, "the provision of a naval loan, on an adequate scale, to give us 'extra cover' over the critical years. In the first place, the United Kingdom should continue to carry out her naval programme year by year on the lines already laid down by the Admiralty during the last decade. We also suggest that Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa should each and all combine to give us whatever naval assistance they have been giving, or which they have lately planned to give." So much for normal conditions. To meet abnormal circumstances and to provide the extra margin of safety, the Spectator suggests an Imperial loan on the following basis:—A sum equal to one pound per head of its white population. This would work out as follows: United Kingdom, £45,400,000; Canada, £7,200,000; Australia, £4,S00,O00; New Zealand, £1,000,000; South Africa, £1,300.000; a total of £50,400,000. The Spectator thinks the " money could be raised by Imperial Commissioners, and that the guarantee should be mutual for all the contributors. It also believes that a loan of this peculiar character and with such a guarantee might be taken up by business houses throughout the Empire as a patriotic loan, a kind of super-Consols. The money, the Spectator goes on to say. could not be spent in one year or even five years, without waste and confusion, but ho spent at the discretion of the Admiralty and the Imperial Defence Committee. If given effect to, the scheme would carry Britain's flag conspicuously in advance of the danger line, and place the Empire in an unassailable position. There is, however, no reason why opulent countries like India and Egypt who reap all the advantages that sea supremacy gives Britain should not also contribute to the upkeep of the Navy and to the proposed emergency fund. Dr. Mahoney might with advantage to the Empire for which he professes so strong a regard turn his attention and direct his energies to this more workable scheme and drop the crude and impracticable idea he has put forward as a solution of the problem of maintaining sea supremacy.