UNSATISFACTORY.

Feilding Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2318, 24 March 1914, Page 2

UNSATISFACTORY.

\ DEFENCE OF*ffiE PACIFIC. ! PEE PRESS ASSOCIATION. ) AVellington, March 23 5 Speaking at the banquet at Pongat i"oa on the naval question, the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher said that we Gad less fighting power in tlu Dominion 5 than we had in 1887. ' When we paid j £40,000 per year we had fighting I ships of a tonnage of. 41,000 tons; t . now for an expediture of a quarter of a million per year we Jiad 6300 tons of out-of-date defence in three ships, which were of no earthly use " at all. If tho British Government j coukl not carry out its agreement, ' New Zealand must assert its nation. 5 ality and liav c at least up-to-dato ' ships. There did not seem to be ' any good reason why England had ;" not supplied this country with an ~ J adequate protecting fleet. It was f now, he said, generally admitted that no crisis occurred in 1908 to ; make our contribution of a battle- - ship specially necessary. At the ' time some mention has been made 1 of despatches from the British Gov--5 eminent, but search had disclosed \ the fact that no such despatches were in existence. It should be our ■ policy to supply not only funds, but 1 men and shins for Imperial defence.