NAVAL DEFENCE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 27, 1 February 1924, Page 8

NAVAL DEFENCE

BASE BRITISH ADMIRALS1 VIEWS

ADI3EESS BY THE PRIME

1 Sp^akinigj at the New Zealand ' Club lrmchfeon. kj-day, the Prime Minister deyoteS theifirst, portion of his:'address to the fjcestioh of the naval defence of the Empn^^-jand dealt with' the burning qnesiio^o| ;the establishment of a naval base: St "Singapore.. 'T ain{gbing to talk to you this afterncoa^otaiiev r minutes," said Mr. Mas**y> jv*^&i matters • which are prominently; jfeeiore the public at present. ReferBnceiliais''Jßsen made to the new Govern-■ men£*atvMome. It is not for me to

criticJßy'wfaat has taken place in Great Brit4feE..and I do not intend to do so. I hope; Jthe:jj Government that has taken • office fwiltjlpok after the interests of- thef Empirei; Vand ri saying this I may add of the .Empire are insejlitgfb.ly.' connected with) Great Britain.; Jit the British Isles'are prosperous, so ijigijr^he better for the different overse^sjijpminions; but if Britain is not prosp«ufoTW-Jwe cannot, expect "prosperity to coniijiiie with us for very long." 'Sli|^ibEE BASE AGREED TO. ' MiS^isey then alluded to the existm^jafepression in England. He said thathS^nbnced that a good deal had ap- , peared-Sspur own newspapers and in | otherTSewspapers' as to what the new J Government in Great Britain was doing,; and: was likely to do. There had not fciean very definite so far. He -Jsfa thinking at the moment of,matters j^hichjtame before the Imperial Confeirenee, and which were dealt with there? Heihad noticed that a good deal had Ibeen'said, with regard to the proposals forjjthe. establishment' of a naval base* ;kt Singapore. So far as that mat^ ter was concerned, there was no difference^ Jbf opinion in regard to it at the Imperial Conference. The recommendation,' Seas Agreed to. In due course the recommendation would come before the new; in England, and no donb't before the British Parliament: He would* express no opinion upon that HeT wanted, however, to express an Vopinion upon what,-had been done at the on this matter—and it "was this own opinion—with regard to the ' .necessity of fortifying Singapore." He ' had Uake4, a great deal of:'interest in this fpatter; for a considerable time past —especially since he had been taking- . parts-Sin., the Imperial Conferences; but . it -w^-ipnly recently that the matter had 'come» to jfc;head. Tile Prime Minister remarked that it was -J quite: '.useless for, him to say that his opinionl on the question of the naval base%at~Singapoi;e r was. v pf very much valued because it was only the opinion of a lajfmin;; and a layman's opinion on the matter ;of the fortification of Singapore^ jjwas-Jjot of much consequence. , T^&B-^as, unfortunately, a noisy minority ''in.the House of Commons; and of 'pebpljpconnected with public affairs geneyaJTyyrvwho were opposed to the i'ortiffi^tiqn\':of Singapore. That fact; must^rno^bevfprgottCn.,; 1? 'Whether .the ■recerifi^ectiqns-'-na'd'.'added-. to their num- . bers, 'oT> ;^ot;: Jfe;^4i^.ijbli.;'iinow. .'; . k -.;' From feaa*-hls,'?iiasi>»seira^and read-So'f..' the debates in the House of Commons' on! the subject of fortifying Singapore, he had. noticed that some experienced ■ British naval .officers—officers, who took ' part in the Great War —were in favour of going; on.v.with the . works which was contemplated. ' There were others who did not think it ri^ht to go pn. THE BEST 'NAVAL AUTHORITIES. IHe ctoiev : back to this :■ If' we- were ■ going to'arrive, at a satisfactory conclusion, as far as'Hve were concerned/ we hhd to. look- ■.to the .best naval authorities ; and he. thought those present would agree .with .him'that the best authority oh naval matters, so far 'as our Empire was concerned, was our own Gover-nbr-Geheral,.Lord Jellicoe; and the next best authority was Admiral Lord Beatty. Both of these, great naval men had expressed "in no uncertain terms their ■opinion with regard to the Singapore Base. He would not speak of. anything Lord Jellicoe had said since he became Governor-General of New Zealand; but before"he-became Governor-General he went round the world as a Commissioner to •^imjuire'"into and recommend what slKHild-be-done with regard to the naval defence of the Empire, and he fixed upon Smgapoi-e'as phe'..of the places that otfght to be^orCifted. Kong was - also mentioned,"but, under the Washin<*-v t-Sn Agreement^ Hong Kong could -notf now be fortified. : - - :> :beATTY'S OPINICJN;" ' . ,;Mr. Masse'y said he would .not bring the Governor-General into the contro- . yarsy, by. Quoting what he had-said years* ago—althjough" he had that'opinion before, him» aTkl Jie did not think Lord • Jcplicoe ,-woiild mind his opinion being quoted,/butj'ljp iwould quote what Lord 2&i«5ri;said;'gt;.a;.great .meeting at'the • Mansion ■■■•House,-':. London. Lord Beatty said:t-v .•",■,;•'' ''J. . . . ■■'■ ..-.;,■■■■., ■f 'For many;'years it has been a bas.e: recognised; by. the: :more astute as being we best'strategical position in the Far East. Thet,Western Pacific has long b^n a station for ;strohg British forces, and the needyior strength is surely no legs to-day-than in' the past. . Our dosseisions are rio less, their value is ever increasing. Tire, great Dominions of Australia anoV New Zealand have grown in? population'! and prosperity." Triey re-1: quire protection as much as or more, thin in the past. -The same may be' said of India'-and the \ Crown colonies. Ifi; those responsible' for our destinies . wgre to sa-jrfthat we'\can afford to rely' for existence upon the goodwill of . i othergp^then7'- Singapore" "would" "p n6t- be ■ reqnired^^but.jjfi, insurance is ..wise,, .if. , our' interests are to be properly safe-1 guarded-, then Singapore. , must be broughti up to date. A -modern fiee't carjnot operate without a properly-equip- .' pe| baser -■-- The 'nearest existing base' which possesses the necessary facilities is Malta, 6000 miles away. "JThere are: critics who'say, 'Yes, we admit the necessity for an adequate : base in the Pacific, but we do not agree with the selection of Singapore as the ide£l situation ■ for ; it. •'■ Let them look at khe map. They will find no base in such a good 'strategical- position for covering those portions of the Empire which * lie*'in the Pacific and .Indian < Oceans, and "protecting the trade routes between them and the rest of the world." Jf, would be seen, remarked the Prime Minister, that Admiral Beatty spoke ■wifh no uncertain sound. He was quite definite as;to..the 'value' of Singapore as' a gayal base. , When naval officers like Lord Jellicoe and Lord Beatty expresseaSsuch sentiments, it was for us to agree with .tie opinions they put forward, and ,to *see that their recommendations j\weTe carried to a conclusion is scxjh as; possible. -•.-■- -••' ■■'■' ■jthe Prime Minister mentioned that N4V Ze^lan^ at the last session of Parlaflnent voted £100,000 towards a naval baso at Singapore. Qf course, £100,000 •wonlcf go "nowhere in carrying'out such a ■work, but that vote was an indication that we were willing as far as ourmeaas

allowed to contribute towards.that great work.I', ;•.■■.<'' ■'-..■ ■ .'■„■■ ...';■.,,. :':.. ■': '

Admiral Beatty, continued Mr. Mas' ; sey, had referred to the countries, which would be benefited by additional protection, and had mentioned Australia and New Zealand, Fiji and the Crown colo,nies. There .was only one thing for „us to'do. Let'us express'our opinion^-'as we had done already, and as he had done on behalf •of New Zealand at the Imperial- Conference^—and then leave the responsibility on those in power for the time being. Mr. Massey then dealt in more" general terms with the recommendationg of ,'the Imperial Conference in regard to Empire defence, and alluded to the modifications resulting from the Peace Treaty and the Washington Conference. '