EMPIRE DEFENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1927, Page 6

EMPIRE DEFENCE.

| The figures presented in the lk>u.-c of Commons. showing the per capita contribution oi' Britain and the various Dominions toward the cost ui Empire defence for tho year 1924-5, are apt to he misleading unless we remember that in the ease of Great Britain the cost of both military and naval defence is taken, while in the case of the Dominions the figures are for naval defence only. The per capita contribution of Britain for the navy alone is about 26/. The contribution of the Irish Free State, which is put down at 18/11, apparently includes both kinds of defence. Australia's contribution of IS/1 seems high in comparison with our own, but this is partly due to the fact that Australia has her own navy. The South African contribution has hitherto been given in terms of total population only, and thus it has always seemed small by comparison. Now two returns are given—one for the white population, and anothy for the total population. From this we gather that the 2/2 per capita contribution equals 13/1 when reckoned for the whites only. Canada's contribution is given at 5/6, while that for India is '5 3. The New Zealand contribution is 0 10. Our naval contribution is perhaps not large when compared with that of Britain, bu£ it is substantial. 4