SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1908. NEW ZEALAND'S DEFENCE. What is the Government Policy?

Free Lance, Volume VIII, Issue 399, 22 February 1908, Page 6

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1908. NEW ZEALAND'S DEFENCE. What is the Government Policy?

PAEEOA has been shaken to its very core, and when Paeroa shakes, of course, the whole Dominion trembles Several people in New Zealand, probably, have never heard of Paeroa, but that doesn't matter. Paeroa has been shaken, and that, too, by the Prime Minister. Sir Joseph Ward selected Paeroa as the place in which to speak on our defences, and all the little local troubles — the silting up of the Ohinemuri Eiver, a shaie in the district gold duty, &c, were so overshadowed by the menacing, problem of a Chinese invasion that the people of Paeroa simply forgot that their river was silting up. The time of Sir Joseph's visit was occupied in applauding the Prime Minister's utterances on our need of defence. And why not ? If a yellow horde swept down upon our Dominion would not Paeioa sutfev? Not a town or hamlet in New Zealand but would suffer with the whole body of the country. So why should not Paeroa forget its little troubles in the consideration of our national danger ? Sir Joseph Waul has, m a measure, launched out on the same tide as Mi. Alfred Deakin, the Austialian Prime Minister. "In a measure," we sa"\ , because the Australian Piime Minister has made a bold bid for stienuous action in the mattei, and lias indicated the course to be adopted for creating an adequate sj stem of defence. * * * But what did Sn Joseph Weird say at Paeroa on the defence quuestion ? He reminded his heaiers that within a few day's sail of New Zealand there were millions of Chinese and millions of Japanese. We had the shadow of the Yellow Peril over New Zealand. Suppose the time should come in future years when educated Chinese were able to shoulder a gun and take their position in the field on equal terms with other nations, could we expect a handful of people in New Zealand to effectively defend our shores against them ? This was, Sir Joseph said, one of the dangers on the horizon that we must recognize ;

it was our bounden dufc> to ensure against it should such a time of danger come — and theie were e\idences that it might come * * * And the people of Paeioa listened with open-mouthed expectancy foi the Government policy on the queslon. Then the} shut their mouths again, for the policy didn't come on. It wasn't on the programme. Sir Joseph got to the very heart of his subject when he declared that as people would insure their houses the Government, as a common-sense one, must insure against am foreign Power coming in and taking our personal property. But it was a pity to have got so close to the all-impor-tant matter of our defence without clinching it by an outline of the means to be adopted to ensure the safety of the Dominion. It is a big task, and because of that it demands the more eaily settlement, for it grows in its impoitance with eveiy month of delay. We are situated close to the theatre of modern maritime affairs. The East promises most of the excitement of the future as legaids mercantile expansion, and, in a great measure, as regards naval interests also. But our equipment for contingencies is too inconsideiable for notice. Yet it is an unquestionable fact that every man in the Dominion would strengthen the hands of the Government in every earnest endea\ - our to meet the growing needs of New Zealand in this its greatest concern The realisation of our peril counts for a mere snap of the fingers — or less— if that realisation does not stimulate us as a people into an immediate and zealous endeavour to set up an adequate system of defence. One plate of a submarine, or one new rifle added to our Armament, will convey a greater impression of our patriotism and desire for our national prestige, both to friends and foes, that all the eloquence ever let loose in the Dominion. Meanwhile we wait to be told what the Government intention is upon this vital question.