PROPOSED NAVAL LOAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13866, 28 September 1908, Page 7

PROPOSED NAVAL LOAN.

CABINET AND TWO-PO . STANDARD. / [from our OWN correspondent,] , London, August 21. A "well-informed correspondent" writes to the" 1 Daily Telegraph: "It is understood that the Government have under consideration 1 a proposal to' raise a largo loan in view of the renewed competition in naval armaments abroad.. Proposals to this end have been put forward-by financiers of the, highest standing, who, it is stated, have undertaken to find £100,000,000, on nominal terms, so as to meet the necessities of the fleet in the next few years .without disorganising the annual Budgets or casting a heavy,.'burden on tho present generation. "There is no idea of a Naval Defence Act on the lines of that introduced by Lord George Hamilton in the spring of 1889. This measure was '.forward to overtake arrears of shipbuilding which' had accumulated during a period ol unprecedented activity abroad. It specified the sum which was to be spent in a limited number of years and the manner in which it should be used. The proposal now under consideration is a simple one;-' It would be a declaration, translated into terms of cash, of the country's intention to maintain the two-Power standard at all costs.'" There fa no leeway to make up. 1 but there is a future to be safeguarded. .. By setting £100,000,000 aside, for the fleet they, would advertise their policy in every newspaper in the world, and in all the deliberative assemblies, until it became world-notorious. v "•■»/" "Snob a loan would not bo hypothecated in advance, as. in the case of the Naval Defence Act. It would form a fund which would bo. drawn upon as required by the Government of tho day. There is no idea of fixing the expenditure year, by year for a long period in advance. : . Navy Estimates would be introduced each'spring as usual, making provision for only one year's shipbuilding programme. < But an outlay above the normal sum, which might .bo required would be. taken from the loan fund. Since the two-Power standard' is an automatic barometer, registering/the activity of rival Powers, if they accepted the. warning and refrained from exaggerated .programmes of shipbuilding, the British naval fund would remain intact. The scheme is put ' forward in no spirit of financial despair, but in thehope that it would check, by its sheer financial boldness, the renewed competition in naval power. It would banish all possibility of misunderstanding as to the intentions of the British people. It may be added that this proposal has already received, the sup-, port of an influential section of the Cabinet,. who are determined to omit no steps to check the increasing expenditure on the fleet! which is being forced on this .country, by! foreign rivalry.'' ' ; " ; ', ' This (statement may have n-a more foundation ■ that that the money has been offered to the Government 'if they desire it, but it has naturally excited comment in political and financial circles. • "