NAVAL STRENGTH

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 29, 3 August 1925, Page 9

NAVAL STRENGTH

DUTY OF DOMINIONS

LESSON OF CRUISER DISPUTE

The lesson of the recent cruiserbuilding dispuite in Great Britain, as emphasised by leading New Zealand papers, is that the Dominions if they wish to maintain the standard of protection they have enjoyed". hitherto, must do more to meet the cost;- ..■ ' One reason why opinion- outside of Britain should be advanced with diffi-. dence on any question of naval expenditure is because the distribution of the burden of Empire defence is demonstrably so unequal (states the "New Zealand Herald"). No example is ' more pertinent than that of cruiser strength. The past ocean-going cruiser, mobile and adaaptable, is the most useful unit for the protection of- eeaborne commerce. The truth cf that was proved again and again during the. war. It is vital to the Empire that the whole navy should be maintained at a strength assuring safety in any emergency. To the outlying Dominions the need for vessels able to keep the seaways open and safe for this merchant ship is the greatest need. That being so, the course followed by this Bi'itish controversy over the cruiser programme isa direct challenge to the Dominions. Eliminating the appeal to the Washington Treaty, which has been shown to have no real force, tho main arguments used against the proposals have been financial. To put. it bluntly, the opponents of the Admi- , ralty say Britain cannot afford these cruisers. They have been beaten for the moment, but their voicos will be heard again when Parlament is asked to vote the money for the ships. It has already been suggested that Britain should not have to do so much toward providing what is needed by the whole Empire. The chorus affirming that may swell, and what answer can the Dominions make? They have no effective reply. Their contributions are -inadequate to the needs of the case and no amount of argument can controvert the . fact. There have been signs that the old position could not last much longer, but few have been so significant' as the one now apparent. The Mother Country (.writes the "Otago Daily Times") is feeling severely, for reasons that are no rnyatery, the burden of the upkeep of the great, navy upon which the security of the Empire depends. Out of regard for their self-respect and. their own welfare the Dominions cannot do less than realise that it is incumbent on them to do their utmost to lighten that burden by assuming a greater share of what has become an Imperial responsibility. The very best they can do is surely the least that is due from them in view* of their vast indebtedness to the people of the Mother Country for their unfailing provision of a ■ first line of defence that is in keeping with the requirements of the Empire. There is no Imperial Navy as yet in the sense of a navy maintained by the whole Empire for its own protection. But a fores, so maintained would be but a logical development. A British Navy serving an Imperial purpose by safeguarding the whole Empire almost entirely at tha cost of the British taxpayer becomes more an anomaly as time goes on. Among the Dominions Australia and New Zealand are most concerned to face the realities of the situation, a* well they may be by virtue of their geographical position and all that they have at stake. And it must be their policy, whatever the other Dominions of the Empire may do, to act in accordance with their recognition of their absolute dependence on the existence of an_ adequate navy and of their appreciation of their individual obligations in respect of the maintenance of such a lorce.