The Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1913. THE NAVAL QUESTION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume xxv, Issue 10713, 29 August 1913, Page 4

The Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1913. THE NAVAL QUESTION.

Sir Joseph Ward was acting quite within his rights as a member of the House, and in a perfectly honest and straightforward. manner, when he appealed to the Government on Wednesday for information concerning the it was proposed to adopt in regard to naval defence. Before he had left England it was understood that the Hon. James Allen had made a tentative arrangement with the Imperial authorities in the matter. On his return to New Zealand, he stated that the intentions of the Government would be made known after Cabinet had been given an opportunity of considering the , question. Weeks and months passed by, and no definite announcement was made. Then we learned from the Budget that Parliament would be taken into the confidence of the Ministry before the end of the session. It was not until Sir Joseph Ward forced the position on Wednesday, however, that the Minister, saw fit to make a definite statement on the matter. Frocn this statement it is gathered that the Government has been in communication with the Admiralty, and that certain information has to be received by letter before definite proposals can be submitted to the House. Nobody can object to the delay under such circumstances. The pity ia that the Minister did not make his position clear on the subject weeks ago. From the tone of the debate in the House on Wednesday, it is fair to assume that the Government and Opposition are in perfect agreement that the establishing of a local navy on the lines adopted by Australia, is out of the question. The Hon. James Allen is

in aooord with Sir Joseph Ward that 1 the Imperial fleet should bo under one control. It does not follow, however, that the Government may not demand from the Adimralty that the trade routes in the Pacific shall be adequately protected, though such a demand, if made, might compromise the , Home authorities. It was understood, when New Zealand made its gift of a Dreadnought, that three fleet units were to be placed in the Pacific—the Australian, the China, and the East Indian. Circumstances have apparently arisen which have compelled the variation of this understanding. The Admiralty, for reasons best known to itself, has considered it neoessaty to strengthen the North Sea Fleet at the expense of all other portions of the Empire. Can we assume that the Admiralty is acting in a manner that is inimical t* the interests of the Empire as a whole? Of oourse we cannot. If we are to have one control of the Navy, we must place ourselves unreservedly in the hands of the Imperial authorities. Australia, in its wis- ] dom, ia acting, separately. It is constructing a Navy of its own, for im- j -mediate use ixv it» own waters, but. available to the Admiralty, when required. Can this be regarded as in the best interests of the Empire? Who knows better than the Admiralty which are the vulnerable points ;in the nation's defence? What would be the value of the Australian navy, as such, if the British fleets wer©" smashed in another part of the Empire? If we are' to maintain our. supremacy on the sea, we "must place 1 the most implicit in the First Sea Lord. It may benight that we should be represented oa th» imperial Oounci 1 ! of Defence,.: so that our' interests might be more fully considered. in times'of crisis; but if we are to maintain the integrity the- Empire as- a' whole, if the money we are expending) upon sea and land forces-is not to be absolutely thrown away, we must allow the Admiralty a free hand in. all- matters. As far as can. be ascertains, the. position, taken up by Auistralia ia not one that can be perai&nently maintained* The expenditure of a. few millions of money in Constructing war vessels with Austrar lian labour may ■ placate the Labour Party in the Commonwealth. It will do: so at the cost of the efficiency of the Navy. New Zealand cannot afford to follow such an example. It cannot with any decree of. 'Safety join with the Commonwealth in constructing an Australian fleet, unless it has in view the ultimate separation of .the Pacific from British control. Such< a proposition were unthinkable. Taking. the whole position* into account, and with a full realisation of our. dependence upon the Imperial Fleet for the preservation of our interests as a nation, we can conceive no other possible means of assisting the Empire than in making, a, oasli: contiibu?tion,, as we have been doing in the past, with a condition that we may be adlowed to man and provision aportion of. the fleet. " }