DEFENCE OF PACIFIC QUESTION IN THE COMMONS CONFERENCE WITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 71, 25 March 1914, Page 7

DEFENCE OF PACIFIC QUESTION IN THE COMMONS CONFERENCE WITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

(By Telegraph.— Press AssoclaUon.—Copyright.) ¦ * (Received March 25, 9.20 a.m.) . ; LONDON^ 24th March. ', h - Mr, Aequith, in answer to a question,' ) ,f, f |, in the House of Commons, said the Govi '. eriuneirt was considering the question of ,' " holding a Dcfenco Conference with Aus- •> tralia and New Zealand, and was now , . communicating with thcee countries' ' Governments. ..)* MR. v CHURCHILL HAS NOTHING"" TO ADD. (Received March 25, It a.m.) ' ' LONDON. 24th March. Jf, Mr. Winston Churchill, in reply to , a question in the House of Commons .". aa to _ whether proposals regarding the, . ' disposition of the fleet would be made " after consulting the dominions, remarked' that his 'statement when introducing the, Estimates was self explanatory, and lie" 1 ' had nothing to add. Mr, Churchill, ndded that he had seen,' ' the newspaper reports -ot Senator Mil' '•¦ len's (Commonwealth Minister of Dc« fence) remarks. RELIEF GREW "FOR, H.M.S. ' PSYCHE. (Received March 25, 11 a.m.) LONDON, 24th March. «• The relief crew for H.M.S. Psyche. will sail at the end of April. ' The Australian submarines have le£b Suez. Mr. Churchill, in his speech on tTiftNavy Estimates, contended that the 1 Government had given full effect to tho 1909 agreement. Although not doing ib, in the same unit, they were keeping the; battleships in Home waters whore alone' they would meet their equals. They! sent the battleships Swiftsure aud* Triumph to the China and Indian sta» tions, which would bo sufficient. Any. addition would be merely a duplication of the Australian unit. There was no reason to suppose that Japan would need; England's friendship less after the ex-, piry of the alliance in 1921, The boni between Japan and Britain would mean the effective protection of AustralasiaThe bond depended entirely on the maintenance of British naval supremacy.* There was no means whereby, in the „ next dozen years, Australasia could maintain itself single-handed if Britain's power were shattered. The only coursethen open to whites in the Pacific would be to- seek the protection of the UnitedStates. From this viewpoint the profound wisdom of the policy hitherto adopted can be appreciated, tt provided, in the most effective way, England's own and the common security.' The Admiralty were bound to uphold the broad principles of unity in ordeu to command concentration in a decisive theatre. The Admiralty regarded the effort of the Commonwealth as heroic, and the Admiralty would leave nothing undone to assist the Commonwealth. Mr. Churchill said that sound arrangements had been made as regards tho disposal of the Commonwealth's fleet in war time. The Government realised the importance of creating naval sentiment in the dominions, and therefore advo-, cated the creation of an Imperial squadron and urged the importance of having stations anß dock repair plants in Can* adian and South African waters defended by local destroyers and submarines. This would help to arouse) local naval interest. The Federal Minister for Defence (Senator Millen), in a speech in December last, said he had noticed with com* sidorablo gratification that the New i Zealand Minister for , Defence had dc- ; clarcd himself dissatisfied with the de«, parture from the 1009 agreement, "To those who take a serious view of the Pacific question," said Mr. Millen, ""it* must be pleasing that New Zealand is, apparently anxious that its effort in tha direction of naval defence should lake place a little nearer its own shores."-