EMPIRE DEFENCE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 99, 2 June 1914, Page 8

EMPIRE DEFENCE.

THE DOMINION'S NAVIES.

MR A. M. MYERS RETURNED. Press Association. AUCKLAND, June 2. Among the passengers who arrived by, the Niagara was Mr A. M. Myers, M.P., who has been on a visit to England. In an interview Mr Myers expressed surprise at the numerous invitations he received to various public functions at which he was called upon to speak. The. Empire Parliamentary Association did everything possible to make his visit a pleasant and interesting one. Turning to the question of defence, Mr Myers said that this important question had never been —and he hoped would not be —treated as a party question. Therefore, he had spoken his own conviction with every freedom, as a sound defence and national security should be the first plank in every political creed. His views were, that having regard to the present situation — that is to say, the unexpected developments in the North Sea, and European waters, having presumably influenced the Admiralty to deviate from the original terms as agreed upon at the 1909 conference —there Was every justification for the reconstruction of the whole position. As an outpost of the Empire in the Pacific Ocean, which, in the future, was likely to be the main theatre of international rivalry, the time had arrived for New Zealand to prepare, commencing obviously in a small way, for such a contingency by the building of navies for the Dominion, properly nianned and trained and organised in proportion to our population and wealth. He ventured to assert that it would assist in creating a naval and national spirit, and, irrespective of its defensive value, give the ideal of a united Empire fresh impetus.