DEFENCE OF THE COLONIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8930, 20 December 1887, Page 5

DEFENCE OF THE COLONIES.

INTERVIEW WITH ADMIRAL

FAIRFAX.

THE NELSON TROUBLE.

WHEN THE RUSSIANS COME.

OUR FLEET'S HEADQUARTERS.

"PLEASED WITH AUCKLAND."

Immediately upon the arrival of Admiral Fairfax last Saturday, a note was sent by the proprietors of the Herald to his secretary, asking that an hour might be appointed for an " interview " on matters of general interest. The secretary at once sent the following reply: — "Government House, Auckland, December 17th, 1887. Sir,l am desired by Admiral Fairfax to say that he will be happy to give the reporter of the New Zealand Herald an interview at about ten a.m. on Monday next.— am, yours sincerely, Seymour E. Erskine, Flag-Lieutenant." By some unfortunate accident this reply was not received at the Herald office until late yesterday morning, although it was posted at two o'olock on Saturday. As it was feared that the note requesting an interview might have miscarried, and as it was understood that the Admiral was seriously annoyed at what had appeared in the Herald about his flagship the Nelson, a reporter was sent up yesterday at eleven o'clock to see Admiral Fairfax. THE ADMIRAL'S QUARTERS.

On ringing the bell at the front door of Government House, Admiral Fairfax himself appeared,, and, when the reporter had explained bin mission, courteously showed him into hie study. This is a pleasant little room with French windows opening out on to the verandah, and commanding a view of the fresh Englishlooking tenni- lawn, with its oak trees, and glimpses of the waters of the Waitemata in the distance. A side door leads into a cool conservatory full of ferns. The room itself is furnished with cane chairs, matting, and other appliances for making a dwelling pleasant in a semi-tropical climate like that of Auckland. A round table in the contro of the room was littered with papers, official documents, and books. THE ADMIRAL'S APPEARANCE.

So far as the features are concerned, the portraits of Admiral Fairfax which have appeared in the newspapers are faithful likenesses, but the expression is entirely different. The portraits give the impression that he is a man of a somewhat stern aspect. He is exactly the reverse. He is most courteous. His countenance is singularly mild and pleasant. His complexion is fair, and his eyes are as blue as the sea he sails on. They oonvey the impression, however, that when the moment came for action, they would 'flash with a very stern light indeed. This impression is heightened by his broad shoulders and powerful build, which show that he has in bis veins the

blood of the Danish rovers, who swept the sea* in the olden time. He could probably wield a battleaxe as deftly as his berserker forefathers or the horoes of Rider Haggard's bloodthirsty romances. As an instance of the kindly nature of the Admiral it may be mentioned that he waited for more than an

hour after the time he had appointed for an interview in expectation of the arrival of tho reporter, and this although he was wishing to go out in the forenoon. Some former Admirals would not have displayed such good humour under the circumstances. Admiral Fairfax does not speak with a " strong Scotch accent," but like any other educated man—Scotch, Irish, or English ; nor is his manner "nervous." He speaks in a low clear voice, his language is well chosen, and he displays Gladstonian ability in replying to questions which he does not think it advisable to give a complete answer to. THE NELSON TROUBLE.

Conversation wa« opened by a reference to the paragraph which appearod in the Herald that morning about the conduct of the sailors on board the Nelson. Admiral Fairfax expressed himself as much annoyed at it, and said :

" The Nelson has gone out of harbour this morning because every quarter she is obliged to exeroise her men by firing a certain number of rounds from the Whitehead torpedoes. She will be coming in again this afternoon, and will remain here until I leave, about the sth of January, for Sydney by way of Wellington. It was qnite incorrect that the ship's company were discontented ; they are an extremely well-behaved company. To show the oomfort Of the ship, there have not been more than 15 desertions from her during tho whole commission. Some blaokguard undoubtedly did throw the "sights" of two guns overboard, because he had been punished. He could easily do so without being detected. The ship's company is extremely well-behaved, and they think so much of the credit of the ship that they are much annoyed about it. If it got into the English papers that there was such a feeling on board it would be very injurious to the officers and men."

" Then they are as much annoyed about it as you are?" " I should think they are much more so. All the ships are mine; the Nelson is specially theirs." COLONIAL DEFENCE. " What do you think of the scheme of defence for the colonies proposed by Lord George Hamilton ?'' "Well it was not exactly Lord George Hamilton's scheme, but arose from the aotion of the colonies themselves. In ISBI, when they had the Australian conference—l think New Zealand was rspresented thereit was then that the ports were all undefended and at the mercy of any cruiser whieh might come in, and draw a large ransom from any of these great centres of wealth. It was then the opinion became general that they should have some defence for the ports stronger than that provided by Her Majesty's Government. I fancy they recognised that the Imperial Government in time of peace could not be expected to do more than they had already done. Even since then, however, the squadron had been increased." WHAT THE RUSSIANS COULD DO.

" Are the Russians strong enough to attack the colonies ?"

*' Oh, quite strong enough ; a vessel could lie five miles off from Auokland and shell it with impunity." " Bat during the last war scare, about two years ago, were the Russian warships not very carefully shepherded by the British vessels ?"

"They wore very well looked after," Admiral Fairfax replied with a smile, " but still they had some very fast vessels that might have got out of our dutches and done a great deal of damage." WHAT OUR SQUADRON WOULD DO. " Suppose war broke out, aud the cables wore cut before the Australian squadron were aware of the faot, what would be done ?"

" We would have orders prepared in time of peace. These matters are all thought out already. We are prepared for that sort of thing," said Admiral Fairfax decisively. " What is the position of .New Zealand in the scheme of defence ?"

'•I suppose she would come in for the same protection as Australia. In fact, the whole Australian squadron would be down here. That is the opinion of Mr. Gillies, of Viotoria. The squadron would be here if there was a descent on New Zealand."

"Then you regard New Zealand as the ' shield of Australia !'"

"No; what I mean is, if it was ascertained that a hostile cruiser intended to

make a descent on New Zealand, 1 think all the Australian colonies would wish to see the squadron here, and not on the ooaat of Australia."

" When in Wellington you will be consulting with Sir William Jervois, will von not?"

" Well, yes," was the amused reply, "I'll see him and hear his opinions. He is a great authority, and an able engineer."

THE .squadron's HEADQUARTERS. *'■ Will Auckland be made headquarters for the squadron?" Admiral Fairfax seemed diverted by the painful directness of this and some other questions. "I can't say anything about that," he replied. " There will be two vessels kept in these waters according to the arrangements, 1 believe, but they should be moved about. I should not like a vessel to remain too long at on* place."

"SHARK AND SHARE ALIKE." "That is to say, each of our ports will in turn ba graced by the presence of our fleet?" "Yes; certainly. .New Zealand would have seen more of the navy of late years, but the Squadron is very small and a great deal has been required of it. This massacring in the Islands has given much trouble, and the officers and men have suffered very much in health owing to the tropical climate. It is a very unpopular service, but it has to be done. -The officers, I know, would much prefer to be in New Zealand."

WE ARE SATE, " Will this fleet be sufficient to protect the colonies

, "Oh, I think it will afford very adequate I defence to the colonies. It is not likely that I a large fleet would come down here. Three ,or four vessels might come. We could deal with that number, I think, if we got hold of them."

"Have the Russians much power in the Pacific ?"

" Yes, at Vladivostok they have now a large force and a considerable squadron. The harbour is only frozen part of the year, and I believe they can generally get out. Queensland's action. " What do you think of the action of Queensland in throwing out the Naval Defence Bill ?"

"It was owing to a change of Government, and it was thought better to defer the question until it could be laid before the new Parliament. There will be very little doubt about it ultimately being passed." TORPEDOES. " Are yon an advocate of torpedo defence for the colonies ?" "Oh yes, certainly; it is an inexpensive mode of defence, and some of these harbours are very well adapted for it." "Auckland?"

" Yes, I should think Auckland was very well adapted for it." "But cannot warships now break through a line of torpedo defence ?" " Yes, where it is the sole defence. You would need guns to protect the mine field, for by creeping and countermining we could easily clear a passage if there were no guns to interfere."

" How about the American dynamite guns ?" "Oh ! " was the laughing reply, " I don't know anything about them ; 1 should like to know a little more about their work before adopting them. I have no doubt they will be perfected, and they will be a very formidable arm in the course of time."

MORE LAND DEFENOHS WANTED. " Will these vessels be a sufficient prot6C» tion for New Zealand without more harbour defences ?" "Oh, no. I think money laid out in harbour defences is well spent. If there was another war scare you would squander money as you did before. The most economical way is to perfeot the defences in time of peace ; then you will not be alarmed in war time and run into useless expenditure. That's my opinion. Most of the colonics have seen the necessity for it. Victoria is wonderfully well fortified. I don't know anything about the defoncos here yet; I have only seen the plans, and would not like to express an opinion on the defences. As I have only been in New Zealand a day, it would not be a very valuable opinion you know." OPENING THE DOCK. "It is undorstood you will not be able to open the new dock till February." " Yes. I believe it is a splendid dock, and I should be very glad to open it, but from what I could gather from the gentlemen with whom I spoke on Saturday it would be more convenient to open it in February." " They say it will be ready to be opened in a week." " I saw it 80 stated in the paper this morning. Of course, I would like to suit their convenience, and would be very glad to make any arrangements that would not clash with those already made." The reporter then rose to go, and wished Admiral Fairfax a pleasant stay in Auckland. The Admiral also rose and, looking out of the window on the agreeable prospect before him, replied that so far they had been very much pleased with Auckland and with the arrangements made for them.

We accept without question the statement of Admiral Fairfax as to the condition of things on board of the Nelson. We may point out that we never made any allegation that the crew of the Nelson generally were inclined to be discontented, or had shown any signs of refractoriness. We mentioned as a fact that the sights of two of the guns had been thrown overboard during the voyage from Sydney, and the Admiral admits that the statement is correct. We also stated that some of the men complained of the severe work put upon them in the matter of drill. We understand that the culprits in the loss of the sights have not yet been discovered, Amongst the 650 men on board the Nelson, it is only natural to expect that there would be some men difficult to deal with, and we have no doubt that only amongst that class has any spirit of insubordination been shown.

Yesterday morning the Nelson proceeded outside the harbour and steamed as far as some 4 or 5 miles beyond Tiritiri, where she engaged in torpedo and gun practice. At about two p.m. she rounded tho North Head again, anchoring about half an hour later in her old position opposite the wharf.