GATE OF THE EAST

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 10 December 1924, Page 7

GATE OF THE EAST

COST OF SINGAPORE BASE

STATEMENT BY PREMIER

COMMENT BY LONDON PAPER,

BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COP YKIGHT. (Received Dec. 10, 9.25 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 9. In the House of Commons Mr Stanley Baldwin stated that the- Government had not yet decided the length of time over which the Singapore works would be spread. He was communicating with the Dominions in re-, gard to the question of contributions. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

. . . . : LONDON, Dec. 9. The Daily Telegraph, commenting on the Government’s decision to proceed with the naval base at Singapore, says doubtless the question of finance as between the Mother Country and the Dominions will be reconsidered. Britain is not in the position of the rich uncle in the fairy story; it is really very poor and overtaxed. Expenditure on Singapore, however necessary on the broadest Imperial grounds, is unwelcome.

NAVAL CONFERENCE

SINGAPORE IN FEBRUARY

COMBINED FLEET MANOEUVRES

In view of the general situation in the Pacific, and the expectation that the British Government will proceed with the construction of the Singapore base, great importance attache* to the Naval Conference and concentration of fleet units which is to take place at Singapore next February for the purpose of discussing strategical problems. Important as the conference will he, however, the Minister of Defence (the Hon. Sir It. Heaton Rhodes) informed a Wellington Post representative that non© of the decisions reached will he binding on New Zealand until they are first of all ratified by Parliament. In this respect the Naval Conference decisions would be similar to those of Imperial Conferences. The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy will be represented at the conference by the Naval Adviser to the Government, Commodore Alistair Beal, and during his absence Commander Stopford will take command of H.M.S. Dunedin, flagship of the New Zealand Division. The conference is to he one of senior officers, and the Admiralty particularly asked that the Senior Naval Officer on the New Zealand Station should attend to participate in the discussions.

Unfortunately the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy will not be represented by a fleet unit. H.M;S. Dunedin only recently . returned from Australian waters, where she’ carried out exercises with the Royal Australian Navy, and she will be due towards the middle of next year to go on the usual South Sea Islands patrol and cruise. As there is a natural desire on the part of the people at seaport towns to see the Dunedin from time to time, and, in view of her recent Australian cruise, both the members of the Government and the Naval Staff agreed that it was inadvisable that the ship should' be absent from New Zealand waters for any further lengthy period. It is expected that New Zealand’s second cruiser of similar type to H.M.S. Dunedinwill he on this station some time next year. Sir Heaton Rhodes admitted that had the Dominion such a second cruiser at the present juncture the question of the New Zealand Naval Division’s representation at Singapore in February would have been solved. The possibility of the Singapore Conference agreeing to recommend the holding of occasional combined manoeuvres by the British warships on the China, East Indies, Australian and New Zealand stations was mentioned to Sir Heaton Rhodes/

The Minister remarked that the Commodore would mot. he in a position to commit himself- to any such arrangement owing to the decision of the conference being subject to Parliamentary ratification, and, moreover, the movements of the New Zealand ship in peace time were controlled by the Government, hut he readilv admitted the supreme value which'would attach' to combined exercises. That had been attested by the success which had attended the participation of H.M.S. Chatham and H.M.S. Dunedin with the Australian Navy in squadron work, ihe spirit of competition as between ship and shin was aroused, and the lesult this had in increasing efficiencv was obvious.

Sir Heaton Rhodes concluded hv suggesting that, the time might come when vessels of the British China oquadron would visit these waters occasionally, and then, no douht, opportunity would he taken to carry out combined exercises with the* ships of the New Zealand Division.