LOCAL NAVIES. SIR JOSEPH WARD'S OPINION.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 57, 4 September 1909, Page 5

LOCAL NAVIES. SIR JOSEPH WARD'S OPINION.

WILL ULTIMATELY BE AMALGAMATED. ! By Telegraph.— Press Association. —Copyright. OTTAWA, 3rd September. Sir Joseph Ward, interviewed at Montreal, said he believed all the Dominions would ultimately agree on the establishment of one Navy, under one control, since local navies must prove impracticable. THE HON. 6. FOWLDS AND MR. MASSEY MINISTERIAL REPLY. A reply to Mr. Massey's criticism on the arrangement come to by the Imperial Conference was made to a Post representative this morning by the Hon. G. Fowlds, Acting-Minister for Defence, previous to his departure for Auckland by the Mam Trunk express this morning. "Mr. Massey's opinion about the harm done to the Imperial cause by the closing of Parliament to enable the Prime Minister ot New Zealand to attend the Defence Conference, ' said the Minister, "I leave to the judgment of the country. I do not think he represents the ' opinion of the majority of the people of New Zealand. j "Regarding my telegram to Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman, 1 have no regrets Ito express. If Mr. Chamberlain had been retiring from his position on account of ill-health I would have had nothing to say, but as he was retiring from the Government purely for the purpose of his fiscal propaganda, which I believe to be inimical to the interests of the Empire, I felt called on to protest against the unseemly haste in which the resolution was rushed through our Parliament without notice. You will remember that it was brought on without notice at the first Monday sitting of the House, and as I, along with a good many others, had not expected the House to sit on that particular Monday night I was absent owing to a private engagement. Had 1 been present I would have joined with Mr. Massey in vigorously protesting against the resolution being passed in the House. "Regarding the unity of opinion amongst the Opposition leaders, I was glad to have the assurance of one of his lieutenants that Mr. Massey was not in favour of handing over to outsiders the control of the national training of the youths of New Zealand, because that is to me a fundamental proposition. What ever is done in New i Zealand relative to national training, the people of New Zealand mean to set- I tie the question themselves, and they do i not want either advice or dictation irom any outside authority. If that is Mr. i Massey's opinion, as stated by Mr. Allen, what then was the meaning of Mr. Massey's lament that the subject had not been dealt with by the Defence Conference? "The country will be relieved to "know, on the authority of Mr. Allen, that Mr. Massey's patriotism is not to be mentioned in the same breath with the patriotism of any one on the other' side of politics. This is not the first time that Opposition leaders have hint- | ed that they possess a monopoly of all the virtues —patriotism included. "Mr. Massey denies the correctness of my statement that he deplored the folly of New Zealand in not joining the Australian Federation, and asks me to give him my authority, or admit my ' error and apologise. I have much pleasure in reporting my authority—Hansard, Volume 119, 28th September, 1901, page 33. Speaking on the Federation question Mr. Massey said : — "The Colony had made up its mind that it was not going to federate, and had to abide by the result; and public opinion could not be changed until it was recognised how foolish the colony had been in refusing to join the great Commonwealth of Australia." "I leave your readers to judge whether that justifies my statement or not. "Regaring the wisdom of the arrangement made by the Defence Conference of New Zealand's battleship being made the flagship of the China unit. of the Imperial Navy, and some of the ships of that unit being located in New Zea« ! land waters, I look upon this as tho high-water mark of Imperial statesmanship, leaving as it does tho way open for the creation of a New Zealand unit of tho Navy as soon as ever the people of New Zealand feel competent to undertake such a responsibility." i