The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1913. IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 28, 1 February 1913, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1913. IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in tte distance, And the good that ice can do.

Mr. Alien, Minister for Defence, made his first statement of the Government's attitude on this question in an interview in London yesterday. From it we learn that there has been a modification of the view that ;ve should depend on the Imperial Navy and the British owned and manned ship. The brief synopsis of the interview that has been communicated by cable 'leaves us to draw the inference that Government is prepared to propose the building oi New Zealand ships, presumably as a unit in Pacific defence in conjunction with the other Dominions concerned in maintaining British naval supremacy in the Southern hemisphere, and in the waters of the Pacific. It is remarkable bow closely Mr. Allen approximates in his views to the scheme propounded by Captain Macaulay, a modification of which we explained in these columns ten days ago. The suggestion as set out by Mr. Fiennes in the

" Navy League Annual " provided for a fleet of eight battleships based or. Colombo and Singapore, and a balance squadron of battle cruisers based on Capetown. The battleships would 'be i-rovide-1 iV the M_i ,cr Count:-.-, and maintained by India, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and Malay States and Hongkong. In return for the naval protection to be afl'orded by this fleet, it is suggested that the Dominions should maintain a force of 20,000 troops, according to their means and population, instantly available for service in India. The balance fleet of battle cruisers would be an Imperial patrol. "Based on Capetown, which I am sure is its proper station," writes Mr. Fiennes, "it would in times of peace represent the Empire in all the ports of the world outside Europe. It would be able to get into touch, at a given rendezvous, with the Eastern Fleet in a reasonable time, should difficulties occur in the East. This, it is proposed, should be the real Imperial squadron, consisting of two ships pro . vided by the Mother Country, two by Canada, two iby Australia, and one each by New Zealand and South Africa. The point on which it is necessary -o insist with emphasis is that whether in peace or in war, this Imperial patrol must be constituted as a unit, place it-where yxm will. It is not of the slightest use to keep a Canadian [ urn „ the North Atlantic, an Australian unit m Australian waters, and a South African unit at Capetown. The Domin--7 ™ ay ' if it, reasonably keep the administration of their naval strategy concentration is imperative" Mr Allen is the &.. responsible Colonial Minister to authoritatively exS" h V dhe " n <* to a really Imperial ~hem e for Em P i re Defence outs'oe Horne -waters. While we are constantly heanng of the concentration of the British fleet round the shores of the Wed Ki„ gdom , fey , Qf __ rea]i6e *hat an extent this policy has been canned. Only 76 British vessels were on the oversea station, in 1912, against 160 m 1902. At the time of the gift o{ Canada of three super-Dreadnoughts to the fleet, the Admiralty prepared a memorandum for presentation to the Dominion Parliament, showing the present and prospective reauirements for the naval defence of the Empire. Thi, memorandum snowed the loilowing expansion in the German Fleet: -• **, ... 1808. 19->n Battleships 9 41 Larce cruisers .. 3 ~i Small cruisers .. 2S 4n Torpedo boats ... if; ,;" Suhmarines . _ -% Men • =5.000 101,500 To-day the personnel of the German Fleet bad reached 60,000. In 1015 Great Britain would have 25 Dreadnoughts, 2 Lord Nelsons, and 6 battle cruisers; while Germany will have 17 Dreadnoughts and 6 battle cruisers. Other European Powers were also strengthening their navies. Whereas today Great Britain possessed IS battleships and cruisers of the Dreadnought class, against 19 possessed by the other Powers, and in 1913 would have 24 to 21, the figures fox lf>l4 would be 31 to 33, and for 1915 35 to 51.

_ This memorandum provides ample evidence of the necessity for concentration of the fighting ships oi the fleet in Home waters. Britain's naval expenditure rose from £30,400,000 in 1902 to £44,----000,000 in 1012. We must recognise that the time has come when we must shoulder a more adequate portion of this burden than we have hitherto done; •and some such scheme as we have outlined, and which Mr Allen plainly hints that his Government is prepared to support, is the best solution of the problem. As we have pointed out before, it is foolish for us to think that we can maintain in our territorial waters a fleet that could successfully cope with an expeditionary force of a forei-n Power. Our interests will be best served by a powerful Pacific fleet that will ensure the maintenance of the trade ■routes, secure the inviolability of our shores, and uphold the supremacy of the flag in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

One other point Mr Allen touches, on which -will be read with interest. He suggests that the Dominion should provide an expeditionary force of 8,000 men for service in any portion of the Empire. What he no doubt means is .-that a- .volunteer force of thai somber

can always be relied on in this Dominion, and that the Government is prepared to

pay for their transport and maintenance in the field. No scheme of defence which rendered our territorials liable for service outside the Dominion would be acceptable to the people of New Zealand, but we have no hesitation in asserting that no difficulty would arise at any time in securing S,OOO volunteers in this country for an Empire war in any part of the globe. The introduction of a wider outlook on this question of Imperial defence is welcome, for it is as an Empire that we must uphold against possible aggression from Europe or the East, and if we willingly assume our due share of the burden of armaments, we can rest assured that our ability to maintain the flag will be vindicated against any combination that may be brought against us. 'Our policy is cooperation, not individualism, and Mr. Allen strikes the right note. At the same time, the defence of our own land comes before all other considerations, and we do not see how any large number of troops could be dispatched from New Zealand at a time when a war with any one of th great Powers rendered New Zealand liable to invasion. Fuller details of the Government defence policy will be awaited with interest, and it is a subject on which Parliament will have a good deal to say.