Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1924. BREAKING FAITH WITH THE DOMINIONS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 1037, 9 June 1924, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1924. BREAKING FAITH WITH THE DOMINIONS.

When Mr Ramsay MacDona'd made his "moral gesture" in regard to the Singapore base lie expressly stated that the Government was not abandoning, but merely deferring the project, until it saw the effect of its proposals for the further disarmament of the nations. The cablegram published on Thursday intimating that the London Times had reproduced an announcement appearing in the Straits Times, according to which "plant collected at Singapore, presumably for the construction of the naval base, is advertised for sale by the British Government," is only capable of one interpretation—that the Labour Government has definitely turned down the naval base scheme. Following closely as it does upon the refusal to accept the preferential agreement entered into between the British and the Dominions Governments it would almost seem that, despite the protestations of certain of its members to the contrary, the British Labour Government has no real desire to assist the Dominions either in the matter of defence or trade. It is probable that, in Britain itself, the great majority of the people are wholly in ignorance of the view taken by the Australian, New Zealand and South African Governments, and of other British Pacific States concerning naval defence. Lord Balfour, whose long experienea in political life and whose close acquaintance with foreign affairs make his opinion of especial value to the Empire, speaking recently in the House of Lords on the question of the Singapore base, pointed out that, by strengthening the defences of the Empire without at the same time threatening any rival Power, the Government would bo taking "a step which safeguarded peace, was in favour of the status quo, and did nothing whatever to arouse legitimate jealousies, to excite fears, or to produce the state of war which was too often the result of armaments designed for a different purpose and capable of being turned to a different use." Singapore, he reminded his hearers, "was not in the forbidden area," nor was it included in the restricted provisions of the Washington Treaty. Those provisions are based largely on the fact that "modern fleets of first-class ships cannot fight their equals with any hope of success if their equals are close to their own bases, while they have to travel thousands of miles before the shock of war could begin." No modern fleet can operate effectively too far from its base, and, since it is generally admitted that, as the result of the Great War, the balance of power has been transferred to the Pacific, it is of the utmost importance to British States in or bordering upon the Pacific that a suitable base should be provided from which the modern ships of the British navy could operate in the event of any rival Power attacking those countries. The belief that by "moral gestures" the world can be tamed into a frame of mind .which would make war impos--sible is one of those absurdities which emanate only from the pacifists and Labour parties generally. In the case of the Labour parties, it

has been pointed out that, while they profess to be against war, many of their leaders say that civil war would not be reckoned as a sin if the community resisted any Government which Labour might form, and winch might reasonably claim to be supported by a majority of the people, however small, or even if it nad no majority. Civil war, in the eyes of many Labour agitators, would be perfectly justifiable if, in introducing the Labour Party's objective (an objective which, by the way, appears to be common to all Labour parties)—"the socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange people who would be dispossessed or their lawful belongings attempted to resist the decrees of the Labour Government. It cannot, therefore, be denied that, on their own declarations, Labour leaders would regard civil war as a perfect Iv legitimate thing were tliev placed in the position of authority, and their authority was seriously disputed by any considerable section ot the community. The whole attitude of the British'Labour Party, however, seems to be directed against any strengthening of the defence forces ot the country, and shows no desire to help the Empire by adding to its security. Lord Balfour, on the occasion to which we have referred, pointed out that, while the essential base ot the British navy was within a few miles of Westminster,the activities of the fleet might be required in the Antipodes, and he asked the question, "How could a fleet, which was based in Great Britain alone in the first instance, be made available in case they were attacked? All the experts were agreed on the answer. If we were to have a secondary base, Singapore must be the place. Failure to make Singapore an adequate base for the British fleet , would render that fleet immobile when it set out to those remote latitudes for the defence of the Empire, at the very moment it came within the zone of possible danger." It can scarcely be seriously argued that the cost of the Singapore scheme is too great to permit of its being entered upon at the present time. The base itself would take something like ten years to construct, and the expenditure, estimated by Lord Balfour :at £1,000,000 per annum, is not a great sum for the British Government to expend in conjunction with such contributions as would be made for the purpose by the Dominions more particularly interested in the defence of the Pacific. The average expenditure upon the British Navy is something like £55,000,000 per annum; but, in the event of a war in the Pacific that large expenditure would be largely thrown away without the Singapore base, on account of the immobility of the fleet itself were it dispatched to Pacific waters. As an insurance scheme and a protection to the trade interests of the Empire, the Singapore base constitutes quite a reasonable proposition, and one which ought not to have been turned down by any broyernment having the real interests of the Empire at heart. We should like to believe that Mr Ramsay Mac-Donald and his colleagues are sincere in their professed desire to conserve the interests of the Empire, but their actions 'appear to indicate otherwise.