The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 1921. AMERICA AND THE PACIFIC.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 May 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 1921. AMERICA AND THE PACIFIC.

The safeguarding of the Pacific is of vital importance to the Dominions, so that any naval developments on the part of America and Japan that have a bearing on the safety or otherwise of the large volume of commerce borne on the Pacific Ocean, and of the territories bordering that highway, should be of great interest to those concerned. The outstanding lesson of the late war was the immense value of the British Navy as a factor in success, and to none was this lesson more apparent than to the people of the Dominions, who. but for the Navy, would have been at the mercy of the German raiders, and unable to transport their produce overseas. The United States has apparently been impressed with the concentration policy adopted by the British Government as the result of which the greater part of the Navy was stationed in the North Sea, the wisdom of that policy being justified by subsequent events. When the crisis came, Britain had to rely on the friendly help of the Japanese Navy in the Pacific, and that help overcame what would otherwise have been an almost insuperable difficulty. Since the war the Pacific question has loomed large and been the subject of much controversy, one result of which has been America’s enlarged naval programme and the advent of a feeling on the part of Japan that she must keep pace with American naval expansion, not only as a matter of policy, but. also in view of American action towards Japanese emigration, as well as over the mandates. Fortunately these friction-causing elements are gradually benig smoothed out, yet it has come to be recognised that in all probability, should there be another 1 world upheaval, the storm centre will be the Pacific. Under these circumstances the recent announcement by the United Press Agency that the United States Administration was considering the Navy Department’s plans to merge the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, probably in the Pacific, would seem to indicate that America is taking time by the forelock, with a view to testing what the position would be in the event of a war in that quarter. There would be little, if any, experience to be gained by a naval concentration in the Atlantic as compared with the Pacific. At the same time it has to be remembered that one of the chief objects of the British concentration in the North Sea was an effective blockade of German ports. However many warships America might concentrate in the Pacific, she could not apply a similar blockade against Japan, nor do we think that would be her object, yet the proposed concentration is bound to accomplish a useful purpose, and would certainly be a noteworthy move, denoting that America is keeping an eye on future possibilities. It may also be inferred that, at heart, the American authorities are perfectly convinced that the amicable relations existing with Britain are on a foundation that will stand all strains, justifying, in the event of a serious emergency in the Pacific, leaving their Atlantic coast unprotected, and relying on British friendship to do what. Japan did for Britain. That is the feeling which should exist between these two great. Englishspeaking nations, and the more it is fostered the better it will be for the peace of the world.