EMPIRE DEFENCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3197, 25 May 1909, Page 5

EMPIRE DEFENCE.

SPEECH BY AN ADMIRAL. United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph Copyright. Received May 24, 11.35 p.m. SYDNEY, May 24. Empire Day was celebrated to-day : in gloomy weather, and outdoor functions were somewhat marred by the rain which fell in the morning. The Admiral commanding the Australasian Station, speaking at the Royal Exchange, said that a year ago Britain held unchallenged the proud title of "Mistress of the Seas." She held that title still, but not unchallenged. They were brought face to face with the fact that under certain conditions the peaceful command of the seas may be endangered, and we must strain every nerve and gladly make any sacrifice so that that command of the sea shall be recognised as absolute. Germany had reached the point of being able to build battleships as speedily as Britain—that in three years from now she would have an equal, if not superior, force of the latest type of battleship ready for sea. Then the fact had to be taken into account that the Triple Alliance existed. Germany was a Power in the Northern Seas, and Austria and Italy in the Mediterranean. Both the latter Powers were building Dreadnoughts. Any disaster to the British fleet in the North Sea ' or in the Channel would imperil the safety of the Empire. This fact held equally good in the Mediterranean. In either case the routes to the East and Australia would be cut He did not speak as an alarmist or a pessimist. He simply put his opinon as a naval officer, speaking on his own responsibility. They had looked a grave crisis in the face in the past, , and the British race was never at its best until faced with an emergency. Why a state of things which threatened their existence as an Empire should suddehly have been brought to > pass was a matter difficult to understand. If there were two races in the world which should march side by side they were the British and Teutonic races. Both were mercantile m their instinct, both have world wide experience, and both aim for the settlement of a great population whose instincts and feelings are almost identical. Consider, said the Admiral, the capital invested in the world's affairs by the British and Teutonic races. Should either fail it would be a world wide financial catastrophe, Consider what power for good would ensue from two races meeting in commercial rivalry only. Instead of this peaceful competition there unfortunately exists the present extraordinary and acute military antagonism for which he could not but think there had been excuses on both sfdes. The present crisis must be met by co-operation on the part of the'.Mother Country and the colonies in the naval schemes put forward. Australia should resolve to meet the danger which was common in all parts of the Empire. The Dreadnought movement showed the keen appreciation that the first and foremost necessity was the command of the sea. A scheme to provide a torpedo flotilla would be of great advantage in the defence of Australian ports, or as an auxiliary to the main fleets if ever engaged in these waters. The true defence of Australia lay in the capacity of the main fleets of the Empire to overpower the main fleets of the enemy. Whatever was the*form of naval defence for local purposes it must be under Imperial control, the personnel must be trained by Imperial officers and men, and that must be a constant flow of officers and men, Australian or otherwise, passing from the great naval manoeuvre grounds. There could be no divided control in naval defence, and there could only be one fleet* one flag. Australia could build fifteen Dreadnoughts or their equivalent in the next five years for duty in the Pacific, and equip them well and good, but the period with which they were concerned was the next five years. They must act now and that word "now" must be spelt in capital letters. If they were united and realised that they would in the end hold their own. If they were not united or let matters drift each of them would be more or less responsible should disaster occur.