PREPARING.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16550, 14 May 1914, Page 7

PREPARING.

NEW ZEALAND'S DEFENCE.

DANGERS OF THE FUTURE.

THE PACIFIC AND RACIAL PROBLEMS.

SPEECH BY SIR lAN HAMILTON. [Per Press Association.] AUCKLAND, May 13. One of the most, important and interesting speeches made by Sir lan Hamilton during the course of his Aus-

tralasian tour was that which he de-

livered at a civic reception at tho Town Hall, Auckland, to-day, when referring to the imperative need for adequate defence measures in New Zealand.

Sir lan Hamilton commenced by saying that in New Zealand's biggest city he i might make answer to the query which had directly and indirectly been eubmitted to lam throughout his tour from south to north. That question had been '' Why, when wa are expecting the millennium, do we find practical and prosperous countries like Australia and Zealand earnestly engaged in furbishing up their armour of defence?" He would like to try and answer that question, not in the obvious way, but rather in the abstract. It might even be that those whom he was addressing would regard his statement as original. The first reason he would give then was. Because of the shrinkage of distance, and the advent of electricity, steamships, aeroplanes and high explosives. So high were these explosives that a shot from a 14-inch gun could kill a man twenty miles away. Next there was the obvious reason that in the Pacific great nations had either risen during the last one hundred years, or else old nations were showing marvellous energy. Lven as volcanoes long quiescent broke again into activity, so it was with some of the old nations of the Pacific. The third obvious reason was that the Paoifio, despite its charming name, was if anything more stormy than some less distinguished parts of the globe, and while they would all deplore such a contingency it was conceivable that ill the future, apart from the etonns of nature, there would be greater and mov f t^ nble convulsions than in the past. That was to say, the Pacific was the meeting ground, not of nations, but of continents, and here it might be decided whether Asiatics or Europeans were going to guide the destinies of tins planet. These were more or less obvious reasons, said the General, but there were others which lie believed to be real and true although they were more or less under the surface. In the Malay States, for instance, they would see fine people going under before the influx of low-class coolies brought into work for low wages China, a country over which travelled two years ago in the course of his inspection, showed signs of breaking up. The old moral restraints had gone. "While there he-; saw a

modernised Chinaman scratching his name with a nail upon the wall'of the Temple of Heaven, a temple until recently so sacred that the Emperor alone might approach it, and that only once in a year. This was but an illustration to show the change out of which chaos and weltering confusion were evolving conditions such as existed at the time of the French Revolution from which Napoleon arose. Lastly there were signs of danger in the 'British Empire to the white race from the existence of this materialistic factor. In Ladysmith when he first knew that town the main street was a street of prosperous business places run by European shopkeepers. What a change had been wrought! When he went there two years ago ho had taken Sir George White's place as president of the Ladysmith organisation and had kept constantly and closely in touch with the place. Where the European shopkeeper had prospered the monopoly of business was now held by bunyahs and coolies, who existed on a couple of meals of rice a day. They had no constructive or progressive talent, but they could handle coins of the realm with extreme nicety. This, then, was ii><> point of his story. This was why instinctivdv in time of progress and prosperity Australia and New Zealand <iid not lose sight of the necessity lor preparing for defence. If peoplo with high ids-als and high standards were forced to livo cheek by jowl with iwoplo of low standards and low ideals they, niusi „;n,«r become slave driver* or ,mk ; L o

tli«» level of those by whom ikey wore « m-oundod, in *'h>™ ease they would be Sc".' Of course, added t] ie r'niieral N flW Zealand Wi,s a way 'ff but Australia was very close to !',,' -Jancer aonc and when he looked e ftp it corned to hip, that \w Zealand occupied the position of rl+u sister, small by comparison, but B n SL eager if danger threatened a° S. He had not the slightest h> L»t«r m* Anhpodes - ( Loud applause.)