THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDA Y, JUNE 24, 1902. STRENGTHENING THE NAVY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12000, 24 June 1902, Page 4

THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDA Y, JUNE 24, 1902. STRENGTHENING THE NAVY.

The incessant agitation for the strengthening of the Imperial Navy has drawn from Mr. Arnold-Forster, Secretary to the Admiralty, a statement which the London Times regards as of the greatest importance. The great English journal says of his speech during the recent naval debate in the House of Commons that "it was probably tlie most important declaration of the higher policy of Defence since the Duke of Devonshire's announcement that the Government and Admiralty had accepted sea supremacy as the basis of Imperial defence." By the persistent force of public opinion, the Empire is being made ready for the great international struggle which looms nearer every year and of which Lord Salisbury repeatedly warns us. The Imperial authorities have now adopted the contention that the organisation of the Navy should be such as to enable it to bear any strain which could reasonably be anticipated as likely to be placed upon it. This step, towards " business management" is another remove from the almost forgotten policy of the '70's, when the reduction of the Navy to the lowest possible footing and the gradual withdrawal from Imperial responsibilities by Little England was the ambition of short-sighted British statesmen. But Mr. Arnold-Forster went even further, albeit in a cautious and tentative manner. In admitting the desirability of departmental reorganisation he gave such encouragement to the movement on behalf of administrative reform that the complete breaking-down of the antiquated methods which imperil the effectiveness of both Navy and Army must now be regarded as only a matter of comparatively short time. When British Governments make such an admission, reform is in the, air and cannot long be delayed. Lord Charles Beresford, who knows by experience the difficulties of a Sea Lord, brusquely declared the Admiralty system of administration to be " rotten," and demanded the establishment of some responsible department whose duty shall be the supervision of details and whose strength shall lie in its power of appeal to Parliament. The Government, speaking through Mr. Arnold-Forster, opposed the idea of Parliamentary Committees of General Control, but recognised the need of "some reinforcement in the intellectual equipment." The Times, which in this unquestionably voices the cautiously-arrived-at conclusions of the nation, is emphatically upon the side of departmental reorganisation. It puts forward a proposal which embodies the essence of Lord Beresford's contention while avoiding the objection to Parliamentary Committees raised by Mr. ArnoldForster. This is, practically, that a superior joint department should be set up, embracing in its control both the Admiralty and the War Office, and covering, as a supreme body, the entire ground of Imperial Defence. Some such solution of the difficulty must be arrived at, for the nation has become imbued with a keen sense of the bitter enmity felt towards us by countries which have long been regarded as friendly and is in no mood to risk disaster because of the inefficiency of the existing system of administration. Doubtless, any system may become petrified and no organisation can work satisfactorily if its machinery becomes clogged with red-tape. In another generation it might be necessary to reform the most perfect system which could now be devised. But the Imperial authorities have to consider the present, and at the present it is clear that the Admiralty neither represents the ablest intellect of the nation nor is so organised that the ablest men who could be placed in control would be able to get their plans systematically carried out. Administrative reforms are therefore necessary to make possible the designs of able adminis-

irators whom the ■' , ot . m : na tion to have the determma effective navy in th?Bt most ing to the front, Hd » bring The reliance of thfe . n its naval strength is slP"" s t l J mt any. exposure of I g c i ency finds a sympathetic he£ among all who appreciate the V &nd prosperity which is thus f fcQ us. It follows that we hat ,

greater confidence in a Go , men or which meets criticism by a, tin to naval weaknesses and assei\ ' itg determination to rectify thei^ at ne< we should have in one whit t _ wi! tempted to persuade the 1? e cm that everything is as it ought t. As a matter of fact, the naval de s rj has greatly assisted the Salisf, it Administration, whose faults \ re most decidedly not to be found Su any unpatriotic direction. !N\gg merely the Admiralty, not mere^ the United Kingdom, but every math in the British Empire, continually needs such reminders that to have the strongest fleet in the world is not enough. That the British Navy is able to cope with any single antagonist would be little comfort to us if Europe united against us as it did a hundred years ago and as it may do again. That it could. hold the Channel against all-comers would hardly console us if it could not hold its own in every ocean.

That it was strong enough to. awe Europe from intervening in'J&outh —convincing our enemies that it could keep open the sea-way by which the British lands are bound together— be of doubtful value if it is not made strong enough to keep the seas open in any future Imperial war. This we all know, but it is well to be restrained from lapsing into false security and to be incited to be content only with, impossible perfection. The Admiralty is not only not perfection, but is so far from being so that it seems to have no better champion than Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. Whose championship, by the way, will not please the First Lord of the Admiralty any more than Sir John Colomb's Catonic interpellation that the colonies should be reminded of their obligations will displease any colonist who is loyal to the Empire and realises that it is for our good as much as for Britain's that the Imperial Flag should be supreme on the seas.