THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1888.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9015, 30 March 1888, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1888.

In the interview which a representative of this journal obtained with him before lie left, Admiral Fairfax said that he could not speak explicitly as to the establishment of a regular naval post or depot at Auckland, and it is evident, from the tenor of the conversation, reported in the Herald, that he is not aware that the Imperial authorities have any such intention at present. Indeed, as matter of fact, it is but recently that the Home Government have begun to practically consider the protection of their interests in Australasian waters in time of war. Only of late has the importance of the station been recognised by placing ijb in charge of an admiral instead of a commodore, and by recalling from the squadron vessels of the obsolete type, and replacing them with warships of the newest class. Moreover, it is only now that any new naval posts, in addition to the old one at Sydney, are being marked out in Australasian waters, and the two sites selected have been decided on as flanking what are at present the direct water approaches and commercial highways between England and these colonies. There are at present in constant use but two entrances to Australasian seas ; and the post at the south-west corner of the Continent, known as King George's Sound or Albany, flanks the course of vessels that use the Cape route, and of some of those that use the Suez one ; while Torres Strait, as the other passage on the Suez route, is to be guarded by a post at Thursday Island, The way of getting to the South Paciiic and adjacent coasts by Cape Horn or the Magellan Strait is so roundabout and otherwise difficult, and is therefore so little used, that in regard to it no improvement of existing arrangements is thought necessary.

The inference to be drawn from the intentions thus exhibited by the home authorities, is that when a fourth searoad between England and these colonies is opened by the completion of the Panama Canal, the claims of Auckland to be made a naval post and depot may receive practical attention. Looking at the matter exclusively from this point of view, and as they have been so dilatory about the protection of the existing .highways, Auckland cannot fairly complain of being overlooked. It is only now that arrangements are in hand tor Thursday Island, or that they are being really made for King George's Sound either, although for some time back nominally a naval depot. The inference is that when the channel at Panama is ready, Auckland, as the first port of call on the highway south, and from its position in the colonial van, may expect to receive the attention we speak of. But even without the Isthmus being pierced, is not a naval post and depot really required here, on the frontier of the colonies, and for the protection of British commerce —as necessary a precaution against the dangers of war as a post in Torres Strait, or at the look-out corner of south-west Australia 1 In time of hostilities, why should it be supposed that an enemy's cruisers would confine themselves to the

highways, and approach through the great gates ? Would they not 'be more likely " s to : enter the Pacific through the channels of the Indian Archipelago, and then turn south or north in the quest for British merchantmen 1 Again, all the chief maritime nations are now represented in this ocean. They are fixtures within its bounds, possessing territory here, and ships of war, even squadrons, always in its waters. Consequently if the peace were broken, the enemy might be already within the Pacific, and within it in force. To sentinel the few great entrances is not enough. It is indisputable that a naval post at Auckland is already necessary—to become doubly necessary when the Panama Canal is opened.

And will not that great work be successfully performed? Despite the interested reports to the contrary, we have always maintained that it is inevitable, and inevitably near at hand. This is an era of canal cutting. In England the great inland towns seem determined to become great seaports also. Manchester has refused to depend on Liverpool for the export of her manufactures and the import of her raw material, and so she is constructing a mighty waterway to connect her factories with the sea, and bring the argosies of modern commerce to her own doors. If Manchester is the cotton metropolis, Leeds is the woollen, and though further from the sea, believes that she, too, ought to have shipping accommodation. We observe that they now speak of getting ships of 2000 tons up the river Ouse to Goole, with a suitable dock at that point, and a ship canal through the intervening thirtysix miles of land between it and Leeds. Then the German Government are connecting the Baltic with the German Ocean by a canal across the base of Holstein —parallel to the Kiel canal, formed in the last century to accommodate the moderate-sized vessels of that period. The new one is to be 200 feet wide, and deep enough for the largest ships of to-day. In France they again talk of making that canal which would join the Atlantic with the Mediterranean, one of the many great projects of Bonaparte. The length and the expense will be great, but the advantages must amply compensate. These canals, in construction or projection, have each its special value and importance—but what is the importance or value of all together compared with the cosmopolitan work at Panama, which is to connect midway the two chief oceans of the globe ? It would be an insult to common sense, and to our boasted modern progress, to suppose that while the comparatively petty things are carried out, this one, of paramount consequence, could be left undone !