NAVAL DEFENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 146, 20 June 1906, Page 6

NAVAL DEFENCE.

MR. SEPDON'S LATEST UTTERANCE

H hen leaving Victoria on liir. homeward journey to New Zealand last week, the late Mr. Seddon was accompanied on the i train aa far as Seymour by an '"ArgUii" j reporter, to whom lv talked about Aus- j tralian naval defence, with special refer- i ence to the subsidy paid io the imperial Navy, and to which Xew Zealand contributes. His views cannot fail to be of interest to our readers. "Over 40 I year;- ago," Mr. Seddon said sarcastically, "the sloop Victoria was the nucleus of the Victorian navy. Twentyfive years ago the Cerberus appaared. She was ii white elephant then, and she lias l>een a white elephant ever since. She was intended to command and protect Wobson : s Bay, and any cruiser that appeared outside the Heads and attempted to enter was to be smashed to smithereens. As a matter of f;ict. if the Cerberus had gone outside the Heads she ■would have gone to th' bottom. 1 know that there are those who speak of the possibility of vessels of the Australian Squadron being- ordered in time of war to proceed to action elsevvnere. Wei], the Imperial Government has undertaken the naval protection of Australia, and in the protection of Australia it does not necessarily follow that tltt* squadron must be outside the Sydney or Melbourne Heads. If the enemy v-on't come here, Britain may have to go to the enemy, and cripple him at his weakest point. The feedinggrounds of the Empire air- at the points •which the vessels of all nations must pass With these threatened, the Mother Country might be starved, and the produce of the self-governing colonies, in transit to the Mother Country, would be blocked. In this respect the opening of the Panama Canal will add another change in naval affairs. Hut the present Australian Squadron is not now equal to what the Admiralty said was necessary in 1902, and, with the changed conditions that i refer to. what was not adequate in ISO- must necessarily be much weaker now. We in Xew Zealand ar<! satisfied with the British navy. But we are prepared to increase our contribution if the Imperial Government will bring the squadron up to the strength which the Lords of the Admiralty have deemed necessary."