THE NAVY AND CANADA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 260, 26 March 1913, Page 5

THE NAVY AND CANADA.

THE GOYERXMEXT'S REPLY TO THE LIBERALS.

By CaWe—Press Association— Copyright Received 25, 10 p.m.

Ottawa, March 24.

Mr. Borden, in reply to Sir Wilfrid Laurier's manifesto, states that if the contracts are let immediately the construction of the three battleships will not be completed until next general election. Then, if the' Canadians believe the battleships ought to be recalled to British waters the Government may recall them, proceeding thereafter to build the Canadian licet. He denied any attempt to gag discussion. The Liberals were proregrettable spectacle to the world and the Empire in refusing to grant aid to the Mother Country, whose Ministers had asserted she needed help. The Liberals' alternative policy would entail a cost, of thirty millions, spread over ten years. BUILDING OF WARSHIPS. IIOW THE COST HAS INCREASED. London, March "20. In the memorandum which was forwarded by the J'irst Lord of the Admiralty lo the Canadian Iloverwuent; .and which was produced in the Dominion Parliament the other day, the cost of a plant for building battleships is fixed at £1 ,->,000.0(10.' .

It i.s pointed out that a fleet unit that could have been ordered in 1!)0!) at a cost of £4.407,000 could not be built to-day for less than £3,15!),000, the increase being due to the rise in prices and the greater power that was required in the later battle cruisers.

Mr. Churchill, in his memorandum, remarks that the Australian unit stands on a different footing, because it is relieved by the British vessels that are maintained on the Australian station. The Times, in a leading article on Canada's navv, says: "\Ye do not doubt that if the Canadians set themselves to build battleships thev will achieve their purpose as rapidly as any other people in the world who were undertaking the business for the first time, but effective help for the Empire would be delayed some years." The article goes on to say that the more rapidly the Canadians succeeded with their project, the more certainly would their success be "rained at the cost of Britain's shipbuilding establishments.