EMPIRE DEFENCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9603, 24 September 1909, Page 5

EMPIRE DEFENCE.

THE AUSTRALIAN BILL. A CHORUS OF PRAISE. United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph Copyright. Received September 23, 8.5 a.m. LONDON, September 22.

Ail the newspapers give much prominence to the details of the Commonwealth Defence Bill. The "Daily Mail" heads its articles "Every Australian a Soldier," and "375,000 Men and Thirteen Ships for thfl Empire." The "Standard" states that the importance of the proceedings of the Imperial Defence Conference to the Empire may be measured by its fruits, It emphasises the importance of compulsory naval, as well as military, service. The "Chronicle" heads its leaders with the Hon. Joseph Cook's phrase: "Australia should be a Buttress, not a Burden." The article continues:—"lmperial defence has hiherto been occasional, spasmodic, and unorganised. A new era has been inaugurated, which will mak3 the year 1909 memorable in the annals of the Empire. The Australian Government deserves all credit for the practical shape it has given to the people's partiotic sentiments. The reception of the compulsory principle will be watched with lively interest. "The challenge to the supremacy of the British Navy which Ministers disclosed to the country," proceeds the aritcle, "elicited a spontaneous outburst of colonial zeal. The Defence Conference has been the means oj giving it shape,substance and permanence. The Australian scheme happily combines the principle of nationalism with Imperial co-opera-tion." NEW FACTORS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION. Recieved September 22, 8.20 a.m. LONDON, September 22. The "Pall Mall Gazette," commenting on the Australian Defence Bill, warmly praises the Commonwealth for setting an example which the Motherland ought to follow. Compulsion under the Bill is wisely limited at the outset to thickly populated areas.

The scheme, adds the "Gazette," adds,two new factors to the international situation—a fleet' which materially affects the balance of power in the Pacific, and an army which not even the greatest military Powers can regard as a negligible quantity. The "Evening Standard" says the scheme sets a pace which all can follow. It expresses a newer and better understanding destined to render the Empire a true, tremendous hegemony.