The Press. FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1896.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9322, 24 January 1896, Page 4

The Press. FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1896.

NAVAL DEFENCE. We congratulate the promoters of tho Navy League meeting yesterday on the enthusiasm which animated the gathering and the successful inauguration of the local branch. There is no doubt that they struck the *.* psychological moment." In ordinary circumstances, theoretical questions of Imperial federation,and even the practical subject of Imperial defence, may appear to excite but a languid amount of attention. Let the Mother Country for one moment, however, appear to be in danger and her children are at once on the alert. She need not be in actual peril—if there is only the slightest sign that other nations are disposed to treat her slightingly, a wave of patriotic sympathy and affection at once thrills through the Empire and shows not only the Mother Country but those who would trespass upon her rights or affront her honour that she and her offspring are one.

I The formation of branches of the Navy League in New Zealand will not only be of service as an outward and visible sign of the loyalty and patriotism to which we have referred, [ but it ought to be of value, as was I pointed out at the meeting yesterday, in educating the people on the subject of defence. In this connection some information recently ' communicated by Admiral Bridge, commanding the Australian station, to an Argus interviewer, will be of interest. "What he has to say about the condition of the British Navy is distinctly reassuring. Its force at present numbers over 95,000 available officers and men, without counting the reserves, and this is considerably more than the aggregate war footing of two of the most powerful navies in the world. The position in the Mediterranean at the present time is that Eussia has one small vessel there, her other vessels being as far off the West Mediterranean as the men-of-war on the British coasts. France has seven first and one second class battleships and two cruisers, all of modern type, there, and ten smaller vessels, but her reserve is not manned with full crews, except at manoeuvres. The British have ten first-class battleships, all of modern type, one firstclass cruiser, three second-class and three third-class, and twenty torpedo vessels, besides eight small vessels of the Karrakatta type in the Mediterranean. In addition the Channel squadron usually winters at Gibraltar. Our interests on this most important station therefore may be considered to be well looked after. Coming nearer home, it is of moment to know what amount of naval security we in these colonies possess. In Australian waters alone there are no fewer than eleven British war vessels, and there are the same number of ships at the Cape. Speaking generally, the Admiral tells us that, in his opinion, the British navy is sufficiently strong to hopelessly ruin any enemies' attempt at conquest, and to give reasonable protection to our vast ocean trade. Still, it would not be strong enough to guarantee every port in the British Empire against attacks which might be of sufficient magnitude to cause intense damage and misery. To give reasonable security against such attacks, he urged, every place should be provided with sufficient trained soldiers to beat ofi' an enemy. Our Navy was strong enough to prevent any large hostile expedition slipping through its fingers, but not to furnish an absolute barrier to all raids within, say, twenty-four hours; but a feWxhundred

men, well armed and trained, would make a raider think many times before attempting an attack. The moral, of course, is that we should not only keep our fortifications in good order and properly manned, but that the Volunteer force should be maintained in a state of efficiency. A popular fallacy on the subject of defence which cropped up at yesterday's meeting was dealt with very decidedly by the Admiral. It is a mistake to suppose that it would be at all an effective use of the Australian Squadron, for example, in time of war to split it up for the separate defence of individual seaports. We, in New Zealand, in consenting to join in the contribution towards the cost of the Imperial Navy made it a stipulation that two vessels should be stationed in New Zealand waters. That is all very well jn time cf peace, but if war broke out those vessels would have to go where they were most wanted. •• There '- is only one position in war time," said Admiral Bridge, " for the British " man-of-war to occupy, and that is in " close proximity to the enemy's " ship 3." It has not been the custom of British ships in the past to wait in port for the enemy's fleet but to go out and attack it, and we in the colonies do not want the Navy to abandon the good old plan to which it owes most of its glory. In following out the historic course it will best fulfil the office of acting as our first line of defence, and it devolves upon us to see that the second and third lines are kept effective. Much of the work of the Navy League, we believe, will consist in seeing that the Colonial Governments do their duty in this respect.