OUR COLONIAL EMPIRE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5949, 20 March 1880, Page 3

OUR COLONIAL EMPIRE.

On Jan. 21 Mr T. Brassey, M.P , delivered an address before the Bradford Chamber of Commerce on the subject of “Our Colonial Empire.” In the course of his address, Mr Brassey said:—Trade, as we know, tends to follow the flag, and during the period of commercial depression through which we have lately passed, and from which we are now very gradually emerging, it has been in the British possessions alone that the export trade had displayed any growth and elasticity. British India now takes a larger quantity of our produce than any other country. In 1869 it only occupied the third place. In a paper by Dr Forbes Watson, read at the Colonial Institute in February, 1878, a comparison is made of our export trade in 1876 and 1869. I propose to bring the figures down to 1878, the last year included in the statistical abstract. The figures disclose a. significant change in the direction of our external trade. While the exports to foreign countries had risen from £141,900,000 in 1869 to £195,700,000 in 1872, and had fallen again in 1878 to £126,611,000, our colonial trade had steadily grown in the same interval from £48,000,000 to £66,237,000, or from 25.3 per cent to 84‘4 per cent of our total commerce. When we pass from the aggregate figures to examine our Colonial trade in detail we discover additional evidences of its great importance to the industrial prosperity of our country. The populations of the British Empire in the ports beyond the seas are, in proportion to their numbers, by far the most extensive consumers of our manufactures. It appears from a table prepared by Mr Fredk. Young that the annual consumption of our merchandise per head is represented by the following figures:—United States, 7s; Germany, 9s 2d 5 France, 7s 8d; Worth American Colonies, £2 2s 9d; Australia, £Blos Bd. A more elaborate analysis by Dr Forbes Watson brings out the striking result, that Australia actually consumes in proportion to its population alarger quantity of English manufactures than we require ourselves. Having shown the importance Of our Colonial trade, Mr Brassey turned to the growth of the Colonies themselves, and Continued :—We have just reason to be proud of our wide and growing Empire beyond the seas. It may not always be possible to preserve a common centre for such an Empire, although we have simplified our task to the utmost by yielding' to the Colonies an absolute independence in their internal affairs; but in this we shall all agree, that our noble confederation shall not be broken up for the sake of a paltry reduo- ■ tion in the Wavy or the Army Estimates. We have lately expended large sums for objects of very inferior importance to that of providing for the defence of our Colonies. Captain i Colomb reminds Us that we have erected | costly barracks in the very centre of England in pursuance of a somewhat theoretical i plan of military reorganisation, while all our : coals for our war and merchant ships are left unprotected throughout the world. In his “ Beoolleotions and Suggestions,” that great statesman lately departed, Earl Bussell, says :• — “ It may be a matter of doubt whether or not to build up a Colonial Empire; but it is evident' that if Great. Britain gives up her supremacy from a niggardly spirit of parsimony, or from a craven feeling of helplessness, other Powers will soon look on the , Empire, not with the regard due to an equal | as she once was, but with jealousy of the height i she once held, and without .the fear she once inspired. To build up an Empire extending over every sea, swaying many diverse races, and combining many forms of religion, requires courage and capacity. To allow such an Empire to fall to pieces is a task which may be performed by the poor in intellect and the pusillanimous in conduct.” The cost to the British Exchequer of the most valuable Colonies has been brought down to a nominal charge. There is no reluctance on the part of the wealthier Colonies to bear the cost of local defence. Sydney already possesses a turret-ship, the Cerberus. Melbourne has a small navy. At Adelaide an ironclad has been talked of. At Sydney a force of 300 regular artillerymen, a torpedo-corps, and a naval brigade of 100 men have been organised. New Zealand possesses an efficient mihtiaas a protection against the Maories. Tasmania has a corps of 800 Volunteers; described to me by Lieutenant Bower, of the Wolverene, from whose correspondence these details have been derived, as badly organised, but full of zeal. Both Sydney and Melbourne have been partially fortified. It has lately been determined by each of the Governments of Victoria and New South Woles to expend £850,000, besides on additional annual outlay of £78,000, in providing a force of ships, guns, and torpedoes. The resources of our Colonies are indeed ample for every purposeof seltdefenoe. The fisheries of the nonunion of Canada, according to a statement of Mr. Frederick Young, give emplomontto 1000 ships, 17,000 smacks manned by 7000 sailors and 28,000 fishermen. I am, however, informed by Sir Bryan Bobinson, for 20 yews Judge of the Supreme Court of Newfound-1 land, that these figures are inadequate. Speak-; ing of the Colony with which no has been I himself , connected, he says that the male population in 1874 numbered 62,693. Deducting one-half for old men, young

children, and » : few persons who do not follow ,a seafaring, life, there would remain 41,347 railofs familiar with square-rigged vessels. The Dominion stand* fifth in the maritime tonnage of nations, ranking af er Great Britain, Ihe United Slates, Norway, and Italy, but before Germany and France. Turning, from Canada to* the Antipodes, their, naval resources may be appreciated when we consider the immense seaboard of New Zealand and the distance of a thousand miles which separates it from the Australian continent, and which must inevitaoly lead to a great, development of maritime enterprise and power. In a paper published in 1872 in the “ Annual of the School of Naval Architecture,” Mr Barnaby rightly urged that the British Empire, if effectively organised as a maritime confederacy, would be enabled not only to maintain itself in security from attack, but that it would bo a guarantee of maritime peace to all the wayfarers on the' seas. Organisation, however, was then wanting, as it "Still is, and it is work which essentially belongs to a time of peace. The initiative must come from the mother country from our experienced statesmen and our numerous body of highly-trained officers, wbo have leisure for the consideration of these things. The task before ns is difficult, because it has been too long neglected. In a speech at the. Crystal Palace in 1872, Lord Beaconsfield expressed his regret that the means and responsibilities by which the Colonies should be defended, and by which, if necessary, this country should call for aid from the Colonies themselves, had not been considered and defined at a time when self-government was conceded. The question still demands solution. ' Sitting in the chair at a meeting of the Eoyal United Service Institution during a discussion of Captain Oolomb’s paper “ On the Naval and Maritime Resources of the Colonies,” I remember to have heard Mr Strangways, late Premier of South Australia, declare that the first and. most important subject for consideration was that of Imperial unity. Ho asked whether, if they called upon the Colonies to join with England in a general advance of the whole empire, they were' prepared to give to those Colonies a voice ■in the question of peace or war., - That was the very essence of the question. If England became involved in a great <war, it would hare one of two effects in connection with her relation to, the Colonies. Itwouli either bind England and her. Colonies into one, vast 1 empire such as the world has never seen,‘or it would entirely separate her from those Colonies. Which was the end that they should seek after P Was it not that of uniting together into one vast whole the enormous resources of the whole English Empire ? Mr Strangways recommended a Federal Council, which should be consulted on questions‘of external policy. Sir Julius Vogel, another ex-Colonial Minister, expresses the opinion that there is nothing impracticable in this proposal, because there is a complete identity of thought in the British people. The Colonies are sensible of the weakness of isolated action. They know that each Colony is too jealous of the rest to admit of a formidable combination under any other supremacy than that of the mother country. They know, to use the words of the leading Sydney journal, quoted by Mr Baden Powell, - that it would cost the Colonies no more to bare their naval defence under Imperial than under local cont.’ol, while they would get much more for their money in the shape of security. The proposal of Mr Barnaby that each member of the British Confederation should contribute towards the national fleet in proportion to the volume of their exports, may be made the basis of an equitable arrangement. It may be that some more independent plan in the nature of a perpetual and friendly alliance may be adopted. Whatever may be the final settlement, the indefinite adjournment ot this question, simply because it does not happen to be pressed forward by agitation out of doors, is most earnestly to be deprecated. Bitter, indeed, .will be the reproaches heaped upon the statesmen or the party which should be held for having, from mere neglect, brought about the disintegration of' the Empire. The apportionment of responsibility, as between England and her wealthiest and most populous Colonies, is the only difficulty with which we have to grapple. With regard to the points to be defended and the methods of defence, there are no differences of opinion. Few words can be necessary in order to establish the importance of providing for the defence of our coaling stations or the lines of communication with our Australian Colonies and with India and China. Since the introduction of propulsion by steam, of iron ships and iron armour, foreign naval stations are more than ever requisite for supplies of coal and for repairs, which can only be effected in port. A steam navy, and more especially an ironclad navy, if deprived of its coaling stations, is practically helpless. The Alexandra, our flagship in the Mediterranean, at her maximum speed, does not carry coal enough for three days; at the slower speed of 13 knots, she burns 200 tons a day. The limit of her range at full speed does not exceed the distance from Plymouth to Lisbon or, perhaps, Gibraltar. The recent detention of transports at St Vincent at a time when the early arrival of reinforcements at the Cape was a matter of the- most momentous importance, is another illustration of the necessity that exists for a sufficient number of well supplied and properly defended coaling stations. The importance of securing the British coaling stations against attack’« more urgent because all our coaling stations in America, Brazil, in the North Atlantic, Cape Verd, Madeira, and Lisbon, and those in the Pacific and Japan would no longer be accessible. Coal is contraband of war, and, as our cruisers would be unable to obtain supplies at the ports to which they usually resort in time of peace, the replenishment of coal would be one of the great difficulties with which the Navy would have to contend. If we have been remiss in not providing for the defence of our Colonies and coaling stations we have been equally supine on the scarcely less important question of dock accommodation. In the last session of Parliament the First Lord of the Admiralty was perseyeringly. question by Colonel Arhuthnot, who succeeded in eliciting the admission that none of the Colonies have availed themselves of the Colonial Docks Loan Act of 1865, and that, in point of fact, except at Malta and Hong Kong, and perhaps Australia, we have no dock accommodation for large ironclads away from England. Returning to the unprotected condition of our foreign naval stations, it may be asked, By what means is the defence to be secured? Not by the seagoing fleet. The mftin object of our naval policy, says Captain Golomb, should be to maintain our communications by sea by means of seagoing ships, which should be employed, not in the defence of the coaling stations which are their base of operations, but in cruising on the great sea routes to and from the heart of the Empire, and in blockading the enemy in his own seaports. Fortifications, as it has been said by Major Parnell, are merely a form of economy. They secure our ports and allow our ships to be used more advantageously in offensive fighting. They are as a fence round a [field. The farmer could keep off intruders by employing watchmen. A fence is the cheaper method. Fortifications need not be costly. Booms, torpedo boats, earthworks, a few guns judiciously placed, will protect a port from isolated cruisers. In America, where, in the long straggle with the Southern States, naval operations for the attack and defence of harbours were carried out on a scale of unprecedented magnitude, it is considered that large ironolads are unnecessary, and that heavy guns, rams, and torpedoes are sufficient to make a good defence against a modem fleet. Where a military force is required to man works the ’ Colonial Governments will doubtless be pre- ' pared to raise a local militia or to organise volunteers. Where a naval force is required to man a flotilla of rams or torpedo boats, it , should be organised upon the model of the Royal Navy Artillery Volunteers, a corps . which has been so successfully developed both in London and Liverpool, and lately in Bris- ' tol. A force like bur Naval Reserve would also be required to man the crews of seagoing vessels. Passing from harbour defence to the protection of onr commerce on the high teasj 1. cannot express > the opinion too strongly that it should be the policy of the British Government to make that bommeree as far as possible self-defending. The rapid steamers owned by private ship-

owners, as both Mr Bums and Mr Donald Currie, and other equally Ivgh authorities have pointed out, would supply an enormous additional power of offence as well as of defence. The Admiralty have issued circulars inviting the owners of ships satisfying certain conditions as to bulkheads to register their vessels on a list of reserve cruisers of the Navy, bub no further action has been taken. In order to carry out this policy it would be necessary to offer inducements to shipowners who contemplate the construction of ships of a suitable character in point of speed and other qualities, to communicate with the Admiralty at the time when tbe designs are being prepared. It would then be easy for the Constructor** Department to point out what special modifications were necessary in order to adapt such vessels for war service, and the expense of those special modifications should be defrajed by tbo The terms upon which the vessels would be taken up by the Admiralty, when required in time of war, could not be determined beforehand, bub would form the subject of an equitable arrangement when the emergency arose. This suggestion is one which, I fear, will never be adopted, unless it be forced upon the Admiralty by public opinion. Naval officers naturally dedre to spend allthemoney voted for the naval service upon ships built specially for war. I regret that I have occupied so large a share of your time with topics which may appear irrevelant in addressing a Chamber of Commerce. I plead the importance of the subjects I have brought before you, and the necessity of arousing the Government to action. The annual value of the foreign commerce of this country, as shown by the Board of Trade returns, exceeds 600 millions sterling. To this should- be added for the shipping a sura which would bring the total amount at stake, in tbe event of war, to more than 650 millions sterling. Now, if it could be shown that, with an expenditure of less than a million, our coaling stations could he made secure, could any Government stand excused before the country which would hesitate to apply to Parliament for the funds required for such a purpose ?