DOMINION NAVIES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 299, 10 May 1913, Page 10

DOMINION NAVIES

.Ml!. UIH'KCIIILI/S OPINION. N'KKI) l-Oi: (OXI'KREXCE. A SKRIOI'S SITUATION. London, March 28. Jt is useless attempting to disguise tlie seriousness of the statement by Mr. Winston Churchill ' in his speech explaining the Navy Kstiniates on Wednesday. I was present during the delivery of ihat speech: and although Mr. Churchill guarded himself in everv way iiif.iiust attempting lo bind down or inllnence the naval policy of any Dominion, and promised to help with the policy thai was adopted, yet he definitely gave his opinion, and' the opinion of his technical advisers, against the naval policy followed by Australia, and in favour of another policy altogether.

It is no use asking whether Mr. Churchill's views have changed, or 'whether thosi; in touch with him have been mistaken, as to what his views really are. lie was known to be favourable to the Dominions conferring with a view to combined action; and the ureal policy wlist-li he ior.iniiiy support;',! u„s t \ Ureat Britain should guard the decisive point, and that the Dominions should be responsible fur the outside. Later there arose an agitation over the Admiralty s supposed intention to abandon the .Mediterranean. Lord Kitchener is said to have hurried from Egypt to protest against it, and the outcry was loud foa week. Mr. Churchill partly allayed that outcry by promising to keep tile battle cruisers in the Mediterranean, iiicludin" ships previously destined for- the Paciik" And he has now apparently decided that the Mediterranean is the centre' of the ''outskirts," and proposes to base the •Dominion squadron on Gibraltar [f e explained that "this squadron should, as opportunity oilers, cruise freely about the British Empire, visiting the'various Dominions." The Dominions would be consulted as to its movements (except when military considerations came in) and "special facilities would be given to' Canadians, Australians, South Africans and Xew Zealanders to serve as men end oflicers in this squadron." This protection for the outskirts could reach "Halifax in five days, Quebec in six, .Jamaica m 13, Alexandria in three, Sydney in 28 Xew Zealand in 32, and Vancouver 7ii 23 days.", It could reach any portion or the British Empire more quickly •than any European force of similar power,,"

THE PACIFIC. Now tho Admiralty knows that a fleet will be needed "in the Pacific by the.year 1921, and that even to reach a one-Power standard it must be a fleet of 10 or 12 Dreadnoughts-or whatever their equivalent in 1921 will be The :T,' St , L^ l '?, twl,nk ' al il(lvis, ' ls undoubtedly hold ih fi view that Dreadnoughts would be wasted in the Pacific until that yea,- approaches. And if Mr. Churchill had even mentioned the Pacific problem or given any hint that his proposal was simply a temporary one—that for the time being a fleet could be built up and trained, and near the Mediterranean where there was an urgent temporary need for it and that it was in his mind that the Pacific contingent could be afterwards transferred to make the beginning of tho Pacific fleet when the time arriyed-this proposal would appeal much more forcibly to Australians ami New Zealanders. But Mr. Churchill has not =o far ever approached that tion or given any hint of it. His outlook of late appears to have been increasingly influenced by his technical advisers, to whom, in recent pressure of other urgent business, the question of what is to happen in the Pacific eight years hence has become a very minor afiair. But still that cannot' be the view of Australia and New Zealand If the First Lord of the Admiralty has drifted with his technical advisers into forgetfulness of the Pacific, the only way is to get him to face the subject at a conference, which it is understood that he is willing to do if this can be arranged. Tndepd. there is reason to believe that Mr. Churchill either has been or will be invited to discuss with Australia, Xew Zealand and Canada the whole question of the future in the Pacific, and especially what class of ships the Admiralty holds suitable for the needs of the Pacific. Whether that conference ends in complete agreement or not. the Admiralty will be as good as its word, and will no doubt give the same thorough and generous assistance to Australians as at present. The only safe way however, to ensure for the Australian policy certain success over all obstacles is to increase Australia's proportion as largely and rapidly as possible.

GOOD CHANCE OF ACREKIXT.'. There is however, one important fact which may enable that conference" to come to a decision far more easily than might at first sight seem'possible after Mr. Churchill's , sneech. For Mr. Churchill mentioned "that side !>v side with his Imperial squadron, the Dominions would be encouraged to maintain cruisers and local flotillas. He clearly has no wish to'encourage them to build Dreadnoughts, except as part of his flying squadron. At first, sisrht that 'is strictly contrary to the Australian policy. But he may not prove so opposed to it as he probably intended for there was another portion of his speech, a passage full of intense interest, in which he signified, if words mean anything, that the. day of the Dreadnought may be drawing to a close, and that the dominant ship in the near future may be "a totally different form of naval construction." Tt would almost seem, from the trend of Mr. Churchill's speech, that the Admiralty is questioning whether the torpedo has not beaten the gun as a weapon and whether the enlarged submarine and enlarged destrover may not short'y supplant the Dreadnought and battle-cruiser. If that be so, then in building .submarines and light-armoured cruisers (which turn out to be really an enlarged form of destroyer). Australia would be building the ''capital" ships of the Pacific fleet. And although the Dreadnought cruiser of Australia might lose in value and become in time little more than a mother ship to a flotilla of lighter cralt. yet Australia in the Pacific wouldgain. Tt would be the fleet in the Pacific with the heavy Dreadnought squadron that would be most seriously discounted; and Australia and New Zealand would start on even terms with the best of them.—Sydney Morning Herald correspondent.