The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1935. THE BRITISH NAVIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 299, 18 December 1935, Page 6

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

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1935. THE BRITISH NAVIES.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the ic/rong that needs resiftanco, For the future in the distance, And the good that tee, cart do.

The delegates at the Naval Conference, who have a task sufficiently formidable, were

wise not to be drawn into a discussion of the constitutional relationships of the nations of the British Commonwealth. If they had hem so drawn, it is possible that the foreign delegates would not have been less puzzled at the end than at the beginning. But it is not surprising that the question has been raised. The Conference consists of delegates of five Powers, including Britain. There is an official British delegation, but there are also Dominions' representatives, who, including our own Sir James Parr, have all expressed their views. The Japanese apparently inquired whether the Dominions' spokesmen were in. effect members of the British delegation, or whether they were independent. To that inquiry possibly only a constitutional lawyer could have given an answer, and it may be doubted whether his answer would have satisfied all the Dominions.

The question raised at the Conference should probably be considered in conjunction with the report that acceptance of the Japanese proposal for equal recognition of the defence needs of each country "would mean the creation of new minor navies, one in each Dominion, separate from the British Navy and supported by Dominion taxpayers." At present the situation is anomalous, though not unsatisfactory in practice. The Royal Australian Navy, for instance, is nominally independent, though in time of war its control may, if Australia agrees, be transferred to the British Admiralty, but the situation might easily arise in which the Commonwealth Government would refuse to allow its ships to leave Pacific waters. \el the cruisers of the R.A.N, are units in the quota allowed to Britain by treaty.

As Britain and the Dominions are most unlikely to agree to the Japanese proposal, the possibility of the Dominions each being required to maintain an independent navy may be disregarded, "but it appears probable that the Dominions will in the near future be expected to spend more for naval purposes. If no agreement- can be reached to replace the Washington Treaty with some similar arrangement, Britain will embark on a rearmament programme, and without a doubt the Dominions will be expected to show greater willingness than in the past to bear their fair share of the burden.