THE The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1881.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6051, 9 April 1881, Page 4

THE The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1881.

The arrival in this port of two German vessels of war suggests the question whether something should not be done to place, the colony in an efficient state of defence. They come in friendly guise, but if to-morrow their commanders received a cablegram that war had been declared between England and Germany, we would be in a very sorry position. Although it is true that war would be preceded by premonitions, we take the' worst aspect of the case, to enforce not only to the defencelessness of the place, but how it is a justification of the British squadron in these seas being strengthened. . It may be admitted that war between England and Germany , is a remote contingency; but a colony which is at the mercy of such a contingency, may realise the adverse consequences of the remote of yesterday being the actuality of to-day. No colony in these seas is in the defenceless position of New Zealand. Melbourne has a very good defence, in course of being made very formidable ; * Sydney is reasonably secure, and is being made more so \ works have been constructed for the protection of Adelaide, and yet this colony is ■ more open to naval attack than any of its .neighbours, because'its ports are numerous and connected with seats of considerable population; whilst in Australia, • besides the port of the capital, there is not much else, if we exclude Newcastle in New. South Wales. Some time since this question received tho attention of Parliament, and warlike material was procured from England. But besides its being inadequate, nothing has been done with it, not a work lias been constructed. It would be interesting indeed to know the nature and extent of this material, and whether there is any provision for the construction of torpedoes. That there is no torpedo corps is certain, and yet the torpedo is accepted as one of the best and most effective means of protecting the sea-coa,st. Notwithstanding that she has in the turret-ship Cerberus a vessel capable of giving a good account of any ■wooden vessels to which she may be opposed, Victoria is constructing formidable forts for the defence of the port of Melbourne, and has her. torpedo defences completely developed. In a short time an attack would have little prospect of success. In the present state of the revenue our Government cannot allocate such a sum for defence purposes as would be adequate, but it can do so ma thing; it could in some measure utilise the material it possesses, if it be not already obsolete. It can certainly provide a torpedo defence at very small cost. It does not ensue that because all cannot be accomplished which is necessary, therefore nothing can be done. It is useless to say that the British squadron would be available, because if the vessels comprising it are to bo employed in coastal defence, then the vessels of an enemy would have all intercolonial commerce at their mercy. They could not protect the land and the sea at the same time, not having the quality of Sir Boyle Roche's j bird, of being, in two places at the same time. A certain portion of the squadron would have to be retained in the vicinity of Australia, and the balance could not protect all the ports of this colony. The commerce of the colonies cannot be protected unless they make their ports secure, and so free the squadron to protect the seas. As a matter of fact, therefore, this colonv, by its apathy, is doing injustice to all its neighbours, as well as to itself encountering a danger which may ultimately come home to it. We do not pretend that a war is imminent, although the state of Europe is such, and is likely to be such for some years, as lo render it probable. We are acting on the principle that it is of no use to shut the door after the steed is stolen. It is right, whether war be imminent or remote, that the ports of the colony should be placed in a reasonable state of defence, and we hold that the Government should take a step in that direction.

The two German war-vessels which are now in our port do not appear very formidable, yet are more so than they seem ; numerically they do not increase German naval strength in these seas, yet, as a matter of fact, they increase its strength, and in a material degree. The now vessels do but replace others which will be removed, although we are not quite &uro that even numerically there will not be an increase. But they are in every respect more powerful vessels, whether as regards armament or that important constituent of power, speed. "With the exception of the Miranda, which lias recently joined the British Australian squadron, they could show their heels to any of the British vessels in these seas, and it is by no means certain that even she would form an exception. And, as the speed of a fleet is no greater than that of its slowest vessel, so, for cruising purposes, the German squadron is more formidable than that of the British. It comes to this, that the British vessels, even if they sighted the Germans, could not catch them; for the naval skill, which was of so great value ill bygone days, will not enable a commander to get an additional lialf-mile out of his vessel. No doubt, as a war progressed, the Germans having no port in which to clean their vessels, their speed would decrease, whilst that of the British would be maintained : but, in the meantime, they would have had the commancl of the sea, and the ohjcct of the* British squadron is mainly to protect

the maritime interests of England and these colonies. The Conference which lately sat in Sydney "was, therefore, justified in applying to the Imperial Government to strengthen the squadron, not only in the number of the vessels, but in speed. "We have our duty to do in so fortifying our ports as to leave the squadron free to patrol tins ocean, and the British Government; has a no less duty to take care that each of its vessels is capable of overhauling any foreign cruiser, -which it could not now do. But there is another effective and cheap defence, the value of which has been admitted, and for the utilisation of which some provision has bden made in England. There are at least two vessels of the fleet of the Union Company able to cope in speed ■with any cruisers in these seas, and why should not the British Government be requested to come to an understanding ■with the company for their being rendered fit as far as possible for war purposes, and to forward for them the armament and munitions of "war that would be required. It has been done at home, and can be done here. It would be easy, immediately on a declaration of war, to fit these vessels for sea, and render them formidable antagonists, say for the two German vessels now in port. At present, we are doing nothing but trusting to good fortune, but, should evil fortune come, it -will be of no use crying to Jupiter. Self-help is the best help.