Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1919. NAVAL DEFENCE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1655, 22 October 1919, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1919. NAVAL DEFENCE.

TnKitE arc those who hold—and, wo think, rightly—in connection with the defence of this country, that the naval arm of the service is more important than the military, and that, without some sort of naval protection, New Zealand could not successfully resist the possible encroachments of an enemy power. In the late war "Britain's Sure Shield," as a present-day writer has termed the British Navy, proved to be the first arm of defence. Mightier forces were certainly marshalled on land, and the armies that were flung into the field, to the number of over six millions, from all parts of the British Empire, did much, by their prowess and gallantry, to win the war. But, without the Navy, they would have been powerless. No overseas force of any magnitude could possibly have readied the scene of action but for the protection afforded by the Grand Fleet, and very few soldiers could have crossed the English Channel to Franco, or have got further afield to Salonika, Gallipoli, Egypt and Mesopotamia. The conditions under which war is now carried on are so radically changed, and the wars of the future are likely to be waged on such a very different footing, that armies may prove of little real service, and may indeed, bo reduced to a condition of utter impotence by the aerial and naval developments of the next few years. All tho'great commanders in the war—Foch, Haig, Pershing, Beatty, Jellicoe, and even Ludendorfr—are agreed that the next war may be decided almost wholly by aerial bombardments. We have had an example of this on a small scale in the recent trouble with Afghanistan, the punitive forces that most quickly brought the Ameer to reason being the aviators, who bombarded the hill forts, which were so situated that the Afghans regarded them as impregnable to assault or to bombardment by field guns in tho usual way. But, with the war planes hovering around and dropping their deadly missiles, the forts soon collapsed in ruins, and tho Ameer was taught a much needed lesson. We may take it for granted thenthat naval and aerial defence are alike important, and, situated as New Zealand is, a three or four days' journey from any other country of consequence, both forms of defence must be accepted as part of the general scheme for preserving the country against aggression. At the present moment, however, such interest as is being taken in defence matters centres around Viscount Jellicoo's report, which was tabled in the House on Thursday. The proposals, as submitted, involve an expenditure during the next six years, starting in 1920-21, at £350,000, and reaching the maximum in 1925-26, of £1,166,000, and aggregating within that period £4,858,950—a heavy amount in comparison with what we have been paying, and one which requires explanation and consideration. On the basis of population and trade, Lord Jellicoe calculates that the naval expenditure of tho Empire should be allocated on tho following basis:—United Kingdom, 74.12 per cent.; Commonwealth of Australia, 7.74 per cent.; Dominion of New Zealand, 2.02 per cent.; Dominion of Cauada, 12.30 per cent.j ami Union of

South Africa, 3.82 per cent. The proportion allotted to this Dominion is actually the- lowest, and, in view of our past professions on this subject of naval defence, and the growing recognition of the responsibilities attaching to our membership in the Empire, we cannot, with any sense of justice, escape doing our share in maintaining a New Zealand Division of the ltoyal Naval Reserve, and the Far Eastern Fleet, which Lord Jellicoe's plans for Empire defence in the Pacific. For the maintenance of this fleet, Lord Jellicoe suggests the allocation of the expenditure as follows:—7s per cent, to Great Britain, 20 per cent, to Australia, and 5 per cent, to New Zealand. The annual cost of the Far Eastern Fleet is set down at £19,704,700, and of the-New Zealand Division at £924,600, so that New Zealand's share, according to this estimate, would I>6 4.8 per cet. At the Imperial Conference of 1911, when Sir Joseph "NVard made his proposal for the maintenance of the fleet on the population basis at 10s per head, there were those who doubted the possibility or practicability of allocating the expenditure on such lines. On a population of 1,250,000 that would have meant a contribution of £625,000 per annum by this Dominion, but evidently Sir Joseph Ward did not consider it beyond our means. The Jellicoe estimate would bring the contribution up to 15s per head, and the question the Government and the people will have to decide is whether the proposals Lord Jellicoe makes are necessary and advisable. If they are, we must face the expenditure in order to safeguard our position in the Pacific.