THE AMERICAN FLEET

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 280, 19 August 1908, Page 7

THE AMERICAN FLEET

■ ft-— THE REGENT VISIT. IMPRESSIONS OF POLITICIANS. PROBLEMS OF THE PACIFIC. > That the visit of tho American- Fleet, which lias just come to a dose,. i 6; an event of no 'ordinary significance' is obvious to everybody in' proportion as tile, issues,, national and. international, involved' and: embodied ih tho Flbot's progress- round; tho world are. recognised; To many.-no. doubt the visit, of the. great White Squadron! of. the United- States was primarily an. occasion for plbasure and: holiday-making,, but legislators have recognised, that there, was something I above &ud ; beyond this, something which, if no.t immediately, at any rato in the not r distant future, will' be manifest in the political ideals .and! ambitions of. the people in the grouping'of nations for. purposes, of Welt Politik. With 'this idea in his mind a representative of the Press Association, on the trip from"" Auckland- to Wellington, interviewed a, number of legislators for the purpose of giving tho public- some notion of the views wliichi prevail in tho active political world on, a question of importance not only to Now Zealand, but also to. the. Empire. Tho : interviewer' iieminded; membprs. that Great Britain has. contracted' an. alliance of a verydefinite nature with- . Japan, primarily, it is alleged, for protection of her great Asiatio interests, which interests do not mucll. concern the Australasian, dominions o£ the King, | whilst those'dominions ill turn are, it, would . seem, becoming more and mprc conscious of I: their complete concord with the policy- of : the United States iu the Pacific. Common Interests and Sympathies. Sir Joseph-Ward said that, in his position as Primo Minister of New Zealand, it would bo improper. ;or him to,express-any opinion whatever on the policy of the Anglo-Japan- . e-se Alliance. With regard to the visit of the American Fleet here, there could bo no doubt, that all who had seen it in Auckland Harbour- had: beeii • deeply impressed with the great possibilities of. its future, growth and development. The' whole proceedings during tho stay of the Fleet had been imbued with a. spirit of mutual esteem, friendship, and. co-operation, and fi;om the Admiral downwards every member of the Fleet had been gratified in the truest sense with the sterling enthusiasm' begotten of natural affinity of the English-speaking races. "Therev has been- nothing sycophantic on either side, said Sir Joseph, "and let ma say so far as New Zealand is concerned that while wo have profound respect for our American cousins, we' recognise our own Old Country as the right bower for New Zealand. No ono can foresee what the future expausion of the trade of the Pacific will be, but it is quite certain that both Great Britain and the.. United States recognise that. their commoiv interests call for- tie preservation of the .territories in the Pacific against tho domination of Eastern coloured races, and in that aim both our sympathies and efforts go in one direction. The Pacific must be preserved for the uso of the predominant white race, and I have little doubt that tho American Admiral and his clever coadjutors holding responsible positions m the American Fleet are fully ali\;o to. the -facts that Great Britain and her dominions: beyond tho. Sea-aro at cue with the citizens of tho United States of America in upholding that ideal,"- - Mutual Asslstanoc. Mr.' Massey, Leader of the Opposition, remarked that tho visit of the American Fleet would undoubtedly bo productive of good. "But," lie said, "I am not one of tlioso who think it necessary to cultivate | friendship with America as a provision against possiblo trouble in, the East. "I am quite certain that America'is just'as likely to requiro the assistance' of ' the ' British N.-ivy as Britain is to acquire the assistance of tho American Nay if." ; Mr. Massey also said hq hoped tho Auckland peoplo who rose to the occasion understood that Auckland represented tho Dominion on this occasion, just as the Dominion represented the whole Empire. Cobd of Humanity, - The Hon. C. Louissonj after expressing gratification at t-hd highly satisfactory mannor in which the Auckland people had acquitted themselves; said that it was the duty of both English-speaking nations to polico the iPacifio. .That they would do with moderation, and just ice, and the present, feeling, V which was bound to. remain, was sure to work for tho good of humanity. In.his opinion the continued friendship of England with both Japan and America would go. m tho direction of smoothing over and preventing troublo which" otherwise might arise between two of those nations. He waa ;confident at any rato that British diplomacy would bo oxeroised in that direction. Poaoe of tho .World. j ' Thq Hon. W. Carncross looks upon tha' visit -".of the Fleet as a very significant event. :' A union of the English-speaking nations' nn(st havo tho effect of bringing about" tho pcaco of tho world. . "V ' . "I said to one of the Apieriean officers," Mr. Carncross declared, " 'After tho way we received you- would you. not fiudit a bit hard to come-and bombard this city?'" He thought for a moment, and roplicd, "Sir, I wouldn't canto." And Mr. Oarnpross at|ded, I'T'he earnest manner in which' he spoko damonstratpd that lie spoke from the neart." The Anglo-Japanese Allianco. Mr. W. Frasor said lie, had no patiencs with those who affected to find in the AngloJapaneso Alliance a hindrance to good feel« ing with Ainorica or tho realisation of colo* •nial ideals of policy in the East. , ' "Wo are continually" told," 'said Mr. Frascr, "that somo white nation or other is "coming to blows with tho Japanese, but I ask why? Japan has no prcsont intention of making a descent upon us, and it does not requiro extraordinary perspicuity t,o' j-oaliso. that when the day . comes tor-a cpn< flict between the white and yellow peoples we shall not have to look to the American Fleet but to the. united fleets of Europe to vindicate tho titles of the white races, to 1 On tho day when the Kast and West are arrayed against ono _ another tha Britisl; Fleet will bo in tho Pacific as strong if not stronger'than that of any pt-her nation." " " The Yellow and Whita Races. Mr. F. W. Lang said tho proper colonial point pf view was that an alliance with America would effectually restrict coloured immigration, whereas the Anglo-Japanese Allianco to somo extent prevented that, restriction. : " "But," said Mr. Lang, "I do not, think' there is any real danger of a conflict between the yellow and tho wliito races so far as we ourselves are concerned! It is to bo roiuombcrcd that if any foreigners £ont ono of their ' ships hero to attack us they would weaken thorn homo fleets and expose, themselyos to a raid by a British Fleet. If war should ever take placo botwoen Great Britain and Japan vou may be perfectly certain' that the British Fleet would be in these waters before tho outbreak of hostilities. In anj case wo are not in a position to dictate to tho Admiralty. The dofcnce of tho Em. piro is in tho hands of tho Homo .author* ties, who may ho Bupnosod to understand tha" difficulties and problems involved, and to have mado provision accordingly." . A' Revelation, Mr.' Poole said tho visit of -the: Fleet was one of tho greatest events in tho history of Now ; Zealand. It had intensified the friendship between tho two peoples, and no doubt helped to extend our influence and trado villi other lands. ; "The Fleet," said Mr. Poole, "has been # revelation to New Zealand, and New Zoaland has been a revelation to tlio Americans.' It was a sublime diplomatic move op tho part of' Mr. Roosevelt to send tho White Squadron to foreign waters. • It is quite evident, from the equipage of tho slims and the .plans of the cruise, that an effort is being

made to call tho military. authorities of the East to attention in viow of any possiblo international complications. The absence_ of any effective British Fleet from the Pacific waters, and the advent of • the battleship squadron from tho United States have called forth both regret and delight, and as Australasia looks with misgiving upon the present Eastern situation, the most natural development is closer union with the AngloSaxon people of-America, but unfortunately the Anglo-Japanese alliance seems to be an * obstacle in the way of closer union." Mr. Ngata's Views. • Mr.-Ngata said while the material of tho. Fleet satisfied the ej-o with tho outward semblanco of concentrated power the personnel created tho impression on tho ima- . gination and tho heart of ,our peoplo that would 'deepen; with growing intercourse and an enlarged vision of common interests and aspirations in tho Pacific. Tho predominance of the Japanese Navy, and tho insufficiency of the British Squadrons in the Pacific to protect British interests present . problems for the immediate consideration of the Australasian statesmen. The-United States seemed to recognise'the gravity of the situation. Tho Hospital Ship. The way in which, the American Navy looks after its sick impressed Dr. Mason, who returned from Auckland. last night. Belonging to the special hospital ship were trained surgeons, trained bacteriologists, and pathologists, and tho vessel was equipped with the most up-to-date : appliances for effecting isolation. An outbreak of diphtheria occurred on board the Nebraska, and all tho medical forces lof the Fleet were at once concentrated upon it. All tho doctors of the hospital, ship, andtho assistant surgeons of all the other vessels, combined to hold . the outbreak in check, and in two days they had not only isolated all tho men affected, and transferred them to the ■■ hospital ship,, :but had taken every other precaution possible to prevent tho spread of the disease. Tho result was the outbreak was confined to 62 persons. Dr. Mason had a good . deal to do with tho Fleet surgeons, and ho : admits that he learned not a little from them. - TRAIN AND TRAMWAY TRAFFIC. ' POSTAL BUSINESS. ' (by tiisoeaph~peess association.) Auckland, August 18. To-day the.,city is once more itself, and flags and greenery, lamps and set pieces, have been dismantled. Only- hero and there remain one' or two stray flags, and a frond of nikau, to remind Aucklanders of tho festivities of :tho past week. The demolition of the Queen ' Street arch is proceeding apace, and in a few days' time Auckland will have scarcely anything, material to remind it of Fleet Week. Business places, shops, and restaurants, hotels, and boardinghouses, have once more quicjtly settled down to every-day :routine, although only , a day or two pre- ' viously- tradesmen of nearly all callings wero experiencing one of the most abnormal increases in business yet felt in the city. '• As - was only to be expected, the tramway traffic totalled surprising figures. For the eight days from Saturday, August 8, until Saturday, August, 15, the receipts were . £6500. from 1,014,000 passengers,' while on Monday 149,000 . travelled on the cars. The Railway. Department estimates that' tho inward .traffic during Fleet Week accounted for between 25,1300 and 30,000 passengers. Yesterday the, two expresses took away 1500. passengers, and the Hclensville train, connecting'. with the' Northern Wairoa; boat,'some'4oo more. The Rotoroa express; to-day conveyed many more to their homes, and 'the Rarawa, on tho West Coast, had also a very largo complement. : - Duriiic. tho five. days tho Quay Street postal . bureau - open the officers there ■ handled 40,328 postcards, 9112 letters/-3454 newspapers, 667 parcels, and 2513 book packages. . It must ,bo remembered that this bureau' was 'only used by officers and'men from;the battleships,: and only:a portion of ' the correspondence was dealt with there.'