AN IMPORTANT FORECAST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 171, 6 December 1912, Page 4

AN IMPORTANT FORECAST.

The London Daily Telegraph forecasts that when the Canadian Primp. Minister makes his naval statement he will be privileged to announce that the desire of the Dominions to participate in the Council of the Empire has been responded to. There is good ground for lending credence to the statement of the London journal, whose information is usually fairly reliable. If the Imperial Government have decided in favor of consulting the colonies in matters affecting the defence of the Empire, it will be a departure that will be fraught with considerable importance and live in the history of the race. This important change is, after all, but the natural and logical corollary of the naval arrangements which have been and are about to be entered into by the colonies. One of the most treasured principles of the British Constitution is that there shall be no taxation without representation. The principle was laid down in the Magna Charta, and it is to be remembered that because of its' non-observance the American colonies were lost to England. Up till recently the colonies have been contributing little towards the cost of naval defence, it being left to the Old Country to shoulder the whole burden. Now a change is coming over the scene. The colonics realise, as they never have realised before, the value of naval protection, and have either come forward or are coming forward with help in various forms. They realise, since Britain's supremacy has been challenged by Germany, that in the first and last resort the Empire rests upon the command of the sea. The Empire, as a gifted English writer once remarked, is like a pearl necklace. It depends for its excellence upon the cord upon which the pearls are strung. Break that cord and the necklace ceases to exist as an entity. It becomes nothing but a fortuitous concourse of precious beads. So it is with the Empire. The Empire is strung upon and kept together by sea-power. Destroy that binding force, and the Empire is but a collection of geographical expressions. We are united only so long as we are the possessors of sea power. Therefore everything depends upon the maintenance of sea-power. With the realisation of this truth has come action. Australia has "gone on her own," and is building a navy. Xew Zealand has built a Dreadnought and presented it to the Homeland to use it as she desires. South Africa has not yet made up its mind as to what form its contribution to naval defence shall take, and the same with Canada. We should know the intentions of the latter shortly. The Indian princes are reported to have made an offer to provide twelve first-class battleships and armored cruisers for the British navy, at a cost of at least £20,000,000, though some doubt has been expressed as to the practicability of the scheme. The Malay States have also come forward with an offer to give a Dreadnought. All this shows how great and general has been the awakening of the colonies and dependencies regarding the question of naval defence, and we cannot help thinking that the action of New Zealand in coming forward at the time she did with the offer of a Dreadnought, and the somewhat dramatic way she made it, may have largely contributed towards the awakening. Germany has also been nf service in this respect. Had it not been for her menacing Britain's power, the spirit that is now being displayed by the colonies and dependencies would probably have lain dormant. India's loyal action, particularly at the present juncture, is very satisfactory, and its significance is not being overlooked by Germany and the Continental nations. More convincing proof of the confidence and hold Britain possesses over her Oriental subjects could not be afforded. But apart from sentiment, it will pay India to contribute towards naval protection. It is, after all, only in the nature of an insurance premium. The same is true of the other dependencies, especially Egypt. Each and all should bear sonic share in maintaining what is for the good of all—the command of the sea by our fleets. The principle of co-operative service can and ought to be maintained. Tf the problem is properly handled it will be found that, without any undue strain being placed upon any colony or dependency, great and material help can be rendered the Old Country in maintaining naval supremacy. The proposal of Britain to admit her children to the Council of the Empire, which yesterday's cable says will shortly be announced, will be welcomed as an important step forward in the scheme of the Empire's defence, and as an achievement second to none in the matter of true and sound Imperialism.