THE BRITISH NAVY

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 March 1910, Page 4

THE BRITISH NAVY

BUILDING VERY ACTIVE. THE TWO-POWER STANDARD ESSENTIAL. [BY TELEGRAPH—FES PBESB ASSOCIATION.] Received this day at 8.5 a.m. ! LONDON, March 17. The vote of £7,309,400 for wages for teh navy was agreed to. Mr Lee, in answering Mr Murray McDonald (member for Falkirk) said that the two-Power standard was impossible if the friendly nations were excluded from the computations because others would expect to be excluded. , Sir Charles Dilke discussed the treatment meted out to Mr Mulliner and declined to inform Mr McKeuna whether he believed the allegation true or not.

Mr McKeima, after a sharp passage with Sir Charles, declared that the accusations against the Admiralty were baseless.

Replying to some liberal?, regarding Britain adhering to the right to capture the enemies' goods at sea, Mr McKenna stated that if we deprive ourselves of the power of offensive, we would still be compelled to maintain a supreme navy to protect ourselves against invasion. But if assured that in the event of our abandoning that right others would reduce their navies upon the understanding that, ours would remain supreme, the Government was willing to consider such proposals. With two Indoniitables for Australia and New Zealand the Clyde shipbuilders have under construction a record weight in naval work, including two British Dreadnoughts, three cruisers, and a small fleet of destroyers. John Brown and Coy and (lie Clyde bank-Fairiield Company (Govan) have each contracted for the Australasian battleships. " Sir George Ixeid, and Hon Win Hall-Jones have had an interview with the Admiralty at which they formally agreed to the contracts for lhe consi ruction of warships on behalf of the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. The vessels will include a number of improvements upon the Indomitable, the nature of which is confidential at present. They will be of 23 knot, speed, of 18,000 tons and 570 feet long. The trials will be completed by July 1912. The smaller cruisers, which accompany them to Australia. will not be tvadv before the end if 1912.

Roar Admiral Bacon, speaking at the Institution 'of Naval Architects, said that the problem uf torpedo proof battleships had so far proved unsoluble. The battle unit of the future would probably consist of simile battleships with a complement of torpedo boats of high sea-going speed as offensive and defensive satellites. Fighting would be in the shape of aggregation duels between these battle units.