WEIGHTED DOWN BY COST OF DEFENCE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 73, 27 March 1909, Page 5

WEIGHTED DOWN BY COST OF DEFENCE.

ENGLAND'S SONS MUST HELP, HER. NEW ZEALAND HAS NOBLY LED ! THE WAY. | (Received March 27, 9.40 a.m.) ! SYDNEY, This Day. The Lord Mayor's appeal for a Dreadnought fund says : — "The fact stands out that the Empire is already weighted down by the cost of defence maintenance, and must face a largelyv inc*eased expenditure to maintain her present impregnable position. Her sons must assist. New Zealand has nobly led the way." AUSTRALIA'S NAVAL SUBSIDY. PROPOSAL TO INCREASE IT TO HALF A MILLION. (Received March 27, 9.50 a.m.) SYDMEY, This Day. The State Premier, Mr. Wade, has telegraphed to the other State Premiers •that he considers the Dreadnought scheme inappropriate, and suggesting, instead, that the States should combine •and, increase the naval subsidy to half a million. HEATED CORRESPONDENCE. A MAYOR'S REFUSAL TO CALL A ! MEETING. i (Received March 27, 10.20 a.m.) BRISBANE, This Day. A heated correspondence has passed between the Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor over the latter's refusal to call a Dreadnought meeting. The Mayor declared that when the citizens as a body signified their wishes, he would act without coercion. MEETING AT PERTH. A WILX» SCENE. (Received March 27, 10.45 a.m.) PERTH, This Day. The .Mayor presided over a packed meeting in the Town Hall. Sir John Forrest moved a motion, asking flic Federal Government to inform the Home authorities that the people of Australia were prepared to make every necessary sacrifice to 'maintain the /supremacy of the sea. The moving of an amendment on behalf of the Australian Natives' Association, to the effect that any necessary sacrifice should take the shape of increased expenditure on local defence, led to great disorder. The Mayor, amid a wild scene of commotion, declared Sir John Forrest's motion carried. The movers of the amendment afterwards held an open-air meeting, and adopted a motion protesting against the Mayor's ruling, and claiming that the amendment had been carried by a majority of three to one. GERMANY'S SHIPBUILDING PROGRAMME. EXPLANATION BY MR. ASQUITH. LONDON, 26th March. In the House of Commops, the Primo Minister, the Right Hon. H^ H. Asquith, st-ated' in reply to Mr. John Gretton, Con/servativo member for Rutlandshire, that it was Germany's intention not to accelerate her shipbuilding programme. This, he said, was first intimated- to Britain verbally through ddplomatio channels on 10th March. The intimation then received; added that Germany would not have thirteen Dreadnoughts until the end of 1912. Comparing this with the Admiralty's information, the Government hadi concluded that the statement did not include cruisers. When speaking in the Reichstag on 16th March, continued Mr. Asquith, Admiral yon Tirpitz, the German Minister for War, showed, however, that it did, by stating that in th© autumn of 1912 Germany would have only thirteen Dreadnoughts and Invincibles, and that he did not know on what grounds Ml*. M'Kenna -had arrived at the larger figures (seventeen). Then on the 18th, said the Prime- Minister, they received information regarding two ships which were to be ordered under Germany's 1909-1910 programme, the contracts for which had been promised to certain firms beforehand, but Britain was given to understand that this would in no way qualify the statement already made regarding the rate of construction. [An article in the Deutsche Revue, which is exciting much criticism in Geimany just now (stated The Times on 30th January), is attriDuted to General yon Schlieften, a former Chief of the German General Staff, who painte the international position of Germany hi the darkest colours. This work represents her as "hemmed in" by enemies who are indeed restrained by prudential considerations from striking Jiort.hwith at her and her only ally, AustriaHungary, but who arc banded' together in a league for her destruction. . . 'mere is a well-known form of mental disease called the "mania of persecutions," in which the sufferer, though he may display exceptional intelligence, and even exceptional judgment, upon all other subjects, is convinced that he is tho victim of impossible conspiracies. 'Ihe Germans who honestly share such apprehensions- as those which weigh upon th© ex-Chief of the General Staff must be supposed to be affected by a somewhat similar malady. There is, we need hardly assure sane politicians of any nationality, no league against Germany, and no desire to lorm a league against her. . England no more meditates an invasion of Schleswig than Italy meditates a march across the Alps. England and, we firmly believe, all the other great Powers of Europe are perfectly willing to stand in tho be^t and friendliest relations with Germany as an equal amongst equals. But Germany, they complain, seems to exact from them something more. They fancy that in her attitude towards them they dliscern pretensions to be treated as the dominant Power of Europe and to treat others as "subordinate allies." The feeling there is' against her in other

countries has sprung, to a great extent, from her supposed! reluctance to accept, this position of an, equal amongst equals. There was a brief period during J which her pre-eminCTice was indisputable. But it is idle to pretend that her place is still whatsit was 'the day after the surrender of Paris. High, though it be, it is not the. same, audit could not in the nature of thingshave remained the same. That position was artificial, and' the very means which ' Bismarck took to perpetuate it prove, that ho knew it to be artificial. At no^ time has modern Europe long tolerated^ the pretensions of any people to supre-^ macy. . . Germany has but to aban-: don certain objectionable features in her' traditional system, and to accept frankly her places as a member of the OSuropean Commonwealth, neither more nor less privileged than her neighbours, in; order to win their confidence as well as their esteem. They will very gladly. Svelcome her as one of themselves. But they resent and, will oppose pretensions to hegemony or to predominance, from whatever quarter these may come, for upon that opposition dependl the' liber-4 ties of Europe.] t '* KING DEEPLY GRATIFIED. MESSAGE TO SIR JOSEPH WARD.. *' PRIME MINISTER'S REPLY.-, The Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) received yesterday, through His Excellency the Governor, the following cable.grani from the Earl of Crewe, Secretary of State for the Colonies :—: — "lam commanded by His Majesty the> King to inform you that His Majesty isi deeply gratified by the patriotic feelings displayed by New Zealand towards the Mother Country in the splendid offer,, and to convey his gratitude and bight appreciation for the fine patriotism and, generosity shown in the magnificent off eij> made so promptly and spontaneously.' 1 . Sir Joseph Ward has telegraphed as, follows to His Excellency the Governor';' "The Prime Minister will be glad if His Excellency will convey, through the Secretary of State, to His Majesty the King, the New Zealand Government's deep sense of gratitude for the gracious ; message, and for His Majesty's generous recognition of New Zealand's offer for a warship to the Mother Country. The>> people of New Zealand are pleased to* evince, in a tangible way, their loyalty to the King, and to help in maintaining, the strength of the Empire. "- •"WAR INEVITABLE." Mr. J. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P the secretary of the Labour party, speaking at West Hartlepobl last month, declared that increase in armaments and battleships by the great Powers was going to end in war. He described the competition in armaments as a game of ' beggar my neighbour," and said it was simply a question which country was going first into bankruptcy, and no country was going into the bankruptcy court without a fight. Every British army and naval 'officer, and especially every naval cmcer," felt war was inevitable, and wanted it to come row because we were best prepared for it, and every naval officer Germany had got also felt war wits inevitable, and was hurrying on preparations-