CANADA'S NAVY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 763, 11 March 1910, Page 8

CANADA'S NAVY.

THE BILL AND ITS CRITICS. IMPORTANT SPEECHES. Canada'?now naval Bill is entitled "An Act. Respecting the'. Naval Service of Canada" (writes the Ottawa, correspondent of the "Standard of Empire"). The Bill provides for the creation of -.- a. naval force to be. composed of a permanent corps, a reserve force, and a volunteer force, somewhat on the same pattern as the present organisation of the militia force. Under the Militia Act .it is provided that the whole male population of. Canada from the age of eighteen to the age of sixty is liable to- military service'. Some discretion is vested in the Government under the law. Under the Naval Bill no man in. this countrv;under the Naval' Service Act -or any other, will be liable'to military service on the sea. Those who will be enrolled in the naval service will be by voluntary' engagement.

Control and Service. It is provided that there shall be a director of naval service who must be of the rank of rear-admiral or captain. A Nava Board will advise the Department and the Government will determine, the length of service. The Commissions will be under the name of His Majesty. Active service" means service during an emergency, and "emergency" means war, invasion, or insurrection, real or appre-' headed The;Bill provides that the Navy; although under the control of the Department .of Marine, can be placed bv the Government by Order in Council at the disposal of His. Majesty for general thSS ln r f the , Eoyal or ;<4 thereof. If such an order is passed then Parliament, if not sitting,, wilfbe snmmoned to meet within fifteen days. The ft \ a n^,I pro n dosfor i , t ' 18 establishment mimnrt al if° Uege * *£• P"tternof the. military college at Kingston. The naval discipline shall be ih "the form 0 f the King's regulations'.-■ ' : ° B In, answer to a question from Dr fe£ W* %*<* -«S3Ttha r i inL7 Ut -? everywhere-not merely "tvW n \ - AS - the Premier Plt-it:-V\ hen Britain is at. war, Canada is at T \™ dist ™tioii. If Great rintain,. to: which we are subject, is at war with -any; nation,. Canada becomes liable to invasion, and.so Canada is at ' Armament. ~\

•c- th . B °.uestion -of armament, £.H' Witrid said, that the Government proposed to create,, and start with i Bristots, 1 Boadicea,; and 6 destroyers.. A Bristol has a total crew of 391 men, and a Boadicea 278, of ; whom 17 are officers, ihe'cost of the 11 ships will be .£2,338,000, or a little oyer. 11,000,000 dollars, if built m Britain, or 33 per cent, more if constructed in Canada. The. Hon. R. L. Borden, Leader of the Opposition, said that he was not to recede from the position taken last session, when a unanimous resolution on the subject was adopted by the House. If he were speaking to-day under the same conditions he would support that resolution. It was idle/to put forward the cry of corruption ; and extravagance against the creation of a navy, unless Canada was prepared to abnegate the power of selfgovernment; and admit that it was unfit to enjoy, the privileges now proposed. From a political:and constitutional standpoint, he. was opposed to money contributions to the Navy.' That-could not endure ;it would.be.a source of friction, a bone of, partisan contention,: and would conduce to. severing the present'.connection between Canada and,the Empire. "• Coming to the.terms of the Navy Bill, Mr. Borden said,. "The proposals of the Government seem to me to be inadequate; they are'either too much or too little. They.are too much for carrying x>n experiments in the' organisation of a Canadian naval service; they are too little for immediate and effective aid. It seems to me that the policy of the Government will be attended with,a.very great waste' of money, with no immediate effective; result;" ;

1 Mr.. Borden agreed with Sir Wilfrid iAiat the, British Navy was supreme today. No one ..disputed that. ."Bat," ' said Mr. Borden,, ''the .question-was. not of do-day,'but of to-morrow! The question was of next year and the year after that. ■ Britain, through the mouths of her wisest, 1 sanest, and ablest sons, has told us within a few months that-her hour of peril is fast approaching. Take the facts,- and nothing but. the facts, as they-are known-to-day, and no one can dispute that the naval supremacy of Great Britain which, as we declared in March last, is absolutely, essential, to' the integrity of the Empire,•- is openly and avowedly challenged . for. more than a century." And. then Mr. Borden. proceeded to talk of the German peril, taking the'view largely , as that enunciated by Britain's statesmen. in the Forefront of Nations. In conclusion he said:. "So, if Canada be true to herself, she will not fail'in the day of Empire, but stand proud, powerful, and 'resolute in the very forefront of the, sister.,nations. But she must not stand unprepared. I say to my. rie;ht hon. friend, the Prime Minister, so- far as. my words have any > weight with him: Go 'on with your naval service. Prpceed cautiously and surely. Lay your- -propoals .before the people, and.give,them, if necessary, opportunity to be heard, but do not forget that we are confronted with an emergency which may rend this Empire asunder before the proposed service - is. worthy of the name. .In the face of such a. situation, immediate, vigorous, earnest' action . is necessary. "We : have no Dreadnought ready; we have no fleet unit at hand. But we have the resources, and I trust the patriotism to provide a fleet unit, or'.'at least'. a Dreadnought without. one moment's unnecessary delay.; Or, and in my opinion this would be the better course, we can place the equivalent, in cash at the disposal of the Admiralty to'be. used for naval defence under such conditions as wp may prescribe. ..In taking'.thiscourse we will fulfil not only, in the letter, but in the spirit as. well, the/resolution of March last.and; what is infinitely more important, we will discharge a great patriotic duty to our country and to the whole Empire." , Mr. Monk, ,representing the. Quebec Conservatives, dissented from these views...