SINGAPORE BASE

Grey River Argus, 23 October 1930, Page 5

SINGAPORE BASE

t 1 DOMINION ADVOCATES At Trafalgar Dinner JAPAN’S OBJECTION RIDICULED. (Axis, and N.Z. Cable Assn.) LONDON, October 22. The importance of the Singapore 1 Base, especially in view of the recent indication of a uesumption of work thereon, was emphasised ami re-em- ; phasised at a Navy League dinner, at which the Lord Mayor of London presided. Prince George was among those present at a notable assemblage, which included the Australian and New Zealand High Commissioners, Sir Granville Ryrie and Sir T. Wilford. with their wives. The Prince proposed the toast of “Lord Nelson,’’ which was drunk in silence, it being the anniversary of his death. Prince George sketched the Navy’s important peace time duties, including that of the suppression of piracy. This, he said, was the oldest and most exciting of auqnatic sports. Lord Lloyd proposed the toast of i “The Dominions.” He said that if, the rumours that the Singapore dock . was being proceeded with were cori rect, this decision would give the ’ greatest satisfaction in Australia. ' New Zealand and M<-.laya. He continued: “We have been bitterly discouraged because there have been no I Navy, Army or Air Force representa- [ fives attending the Imperial Conference to represent our defensive needs. The Imperial Conference is developing trade, and trade is utterly dependent on the navy for security. ‘ We I have now pledged to foreign powers, ' for the first time since Nelson won us | the mastery of the seas, our liberty (to build the ships necessary to our > safety. We must have the power to insist that there must be peace.” Sir Granville Ryrie (Australian High Commissioner): “We Australians feel so strongly about Singapone ? that I am justified in saying, emphat- , ' ically and deliberately, that if the j base thorp is not proceeded with, we will be placed in a most awkward ' position. If trouble occurred in the Pacific, or if the Suez Canal was blocked, it would take six weeks for | the Navy to come to protect Austin- ; lia, which delay might be vital.” Sir Granville Ryrie then paid a warm tribute to the Australian Prime Ministers, Hon. J. 11. Scullin’s utterances in his initial speech, which, he remarked, was far the best one of any Dominion representative, in which Mr Scullin made it clear what Australia wanted and should get. Why, Le asked, could not the Right Hon. J. H. Thomas (Secretary for the Dominions) and others speak out ? He continued: “All of this wobbling, quibbling, an'd talking in an uncertain voice round and round the subject is no good at all! Why not say: ‘We will give you this.’ or ‘we will not give you that’ ? ” Sir Granville Ryrie also supported Mr Scullin's declaration that Australia would not repudiate her debts, and he advised investment in Australian stocks while they remained low-priced. He also said that Britannia, t through . people like Wing Commander Kingsford Smith and Miss Amy Johnston, would rule the air as hitherto she had i ruled the waves. Sir Thomas M. Wilford (New Zealand High Commissioner)) said: “If the Government does not proceed with I i Singapore this year, we of New ZeaI land will consider that we have been j . abandoned. It is a throttle valve and lan insurance.” He said that Wakat- 1 | suki (the Japanese representative) ' had said at the Disarmament Confer- ' ence that the erection of a naval base i at Singapore' was a menace to Japan. I Sir T. Wilford continued: “That is fudge.” (Applause.) He added: “It 1 I is the Alpha and Omega of our <lei fence. Japan wants Singapore, if Britain does not. 1 found, when 1 was | . visiting there, that Japanese ownens | —l do not say the Japanese Govern-j i menf—possessed ten thousand acres! ■round our wireless station. Japanese' ! capitalists were holding ten thousand 1 acres on a plateau overlooking our j I base. Japanese own only the iron! field in Malaya. To say. as Wakat-j suki said, that the building of a base: at Singapore, which is three thousand miles from Japan, is building at Japan’s gates, is tantamount to saying that a. naval base at Plymouth J would threaten Boston, which, is three i thousand miles away.” Lord Bridgeman, in propsing “The Fonees of the Crown.” welcomed Sir R. Ryrie’s and Sir T. M. Wilford’s remarks on Singapore. Sir Frederick Field, in responding, : urged that the Navy should not be forgotten in these days of economy. i Sir Philip Chetwode and Sir Oliver Swann supported Sir F. Field.