NEW ZEALAND'S POSITION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 599, 30 August 1909, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND'S POSITION.

■ The ; ' general feeling ■ of, the .-New' Zealand ;public. as to the share. which . it■/;is proposed that'this country ehould take in the work of naVal defence will almost certainly be one of\ disappointment; Yet the arrangement is not much more disappointing than might have been' expected. Sir JosepSi Ward, .who can be as expansive '.as you;please when it is a question of domestic policy, cannot endure to think of the-financial cost -when it is a question 'of national defence; he, went Home with nothing to guide, him; He could contribute nothing, therefore, to the'debates of the Conference excopt- : ing a ; statement : which, whatever its form and its length, would; in substance be; this: "Proceed,' gentlemen, .with your . deliberations. ■ ,1 cannot help you, but I do , not wish to hinder you. -You have only to remember, when devising your :scheme, to proceed.on the understanding that: New Zealand does not aim at havi 'ing.a definite naval policy,!and does not 'intend'to alter, the existing arrangement beyond gradually .paying off the cost of the', battleship • which we. have offered." No doubt the experts found it rather troublesome to" work out a scheme that would include New Zealand's battleship and that would also recognise that New 'Zealand had a finger in the pie! They succcedod in their task, but it'is quite ; plain that the necessity for studying tho feelings of the New Zealand people by giving them something to look, at and to sell stores to has so split up the China unit that it ; is, strategically; not'an effective unit , at all,- • ; . •''■. .':,■.'- ' ... '• Should Parliatuonfc sanction' 'tho'

rangemont proposed the position of New Zealand will bo very much.as it was. We ehall continue to pay the existing sub: eidy of £100,000, and a further annual sum to pay off the cost of the cruiser., TKis latter payment is given in a cable message as, amounting to £150,000 per annum, but wo have no authority for accepting these figures as correct. .No doubt the sum named will be something like the actual amouht, and the cost of the veßSol will therefore bo ■ paid-off in ten years, assuming that a loan for £1,500,000 is.raised at 3 per cent, on an Imporial guarantee. (The interest bill would be £45,000, and the extra £105,000 each year, which would be laid aside to earn interest, would ' 'in •; ten years amount, with its interest, ■to ' about £1,500,000. Unless something', more is done in the next decade, then, the .position in 1920 will be exactly the same as it is to-day: New Zealand will bo paying a peppercorn fee for naval defence, and will. have the comfort :of knowing that it paid for. tho second-rate cruiser, the depot ship, or tho wreck that'wae once our Indomitable. Of course, however, something more will be done dur : ing the next decade. We feel, arid we are convinced that this is the general feeling of the New Zealand public, that that something should not have been, deferred. As we have;often pointed out— as we pointed out, before the Prime Minister, thought.of the .Dreadnought offer—it is .vitally; important that New Zealand should losVno time/in cultivating a naval Bense> and ,in making the financial 'without which-, it' will not be able to bear.: the burden that must one day be borne.'.: ■■■<■.".■' V

. It is his failure to realise that this country must have a progressive policy of' naval and military defence that marks Sib Joseph Ward's weakness. There is really nothing in'the new arrangement to encourage and stimulate New Zealand feeling. , The great value of Canada's and Australia's fleets is in iho fact that they are, not hired, but owned. by the people. whose, coasts and commerce they will guard. Tho few minor 'vessels of "the China unit which. will 'have their headquarters in New Zealand, waters will have no stimulating effect. They will not bo refreshing .to Now Zealand ; pride; there will bo no senso of ownership (to encourage - effort. The leasehold naval policy, as; _we may .call: it,. will again demonstrate that there is a radical wisdom in the policy of the freehold, in regard to more things than land. No doubt there" may here and; there be a New Zealander. whose pulses will., quicken and whose blood will tingle with 'naval; ardour at .the thought, ~that'r';far away in the- Yellow- Sea, or "in the dockyard of Hong-Kongj/'there is a cruiser 'which 'we bought' on --the time-payment" system. ' But euch patriots will not bo numerous enough to man ■■■■ a submarine. > As we'have said,' we eball have ! to adopt 'a progressive naval policy, before long,. and wo) Shall, be- handicapped to the oxtentof; tho' annual payment f6r the cruiser,- which is a, thing altogether apart from and- outside the policy that is to come.'lt is. then , that the-real weakncsß of the PeimeS MiNiSTEß's simpulsiveness of a few months/ago ! will become J ~apparent,: and then the public will real-' ise'that the "moral effect" of the famous' •Dreadnought offer -wa's -purchased at 'tc-o , high.a price. : :;/V .:',;:' v. :. :: : ■'■■ :':■-.',