THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1909. NEW ZEALAND AND THE FLEET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14016, 23 March 1909, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1909. NEW ZEALAND AND THE FLEET.

The prompt and spontaneous action

of the Cabinet in offering to the

Imperial Government a first-class v battleship—with another to follow if required—deserves and will receive the unanimous approval and unqualified endorsement of the Dominion] Under ordinary circumstances it would have been the constitutional duty of Sir Joseph Ward, after submitting the matter to his colleagues, to have asked the necessary authority from Parliament. % But under the K \ extraordinary circumstances the people of New Zealand will appreciate the confidence reposed in them by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, and will duly justify, through their Parliamentary representatives, 1 this Bwift and ; effective expression of the national -feeling. Every man and woman" in New Zealand must to-day -feel relieved at the knowledge that our kinsmen at ! Home are informed that \ they will not be left to bear alone the stupendous burden of our common Naval Defence, but- that> as ■ far ■as we .are concerned, we recognise our interests and our obligations, and are ready to do all that lies in our power,: for the maintenance of the navalV superiority upon which the peace, the prosperity, and the independence of the British Empire primarily depend. Nor do we stand alone, as loyal colonists, though we cannot but \ be proud to '•■ know that New Zealand is the first of the Oversea Dominions to swing into line. The British Empire, with ,; all its faults and all its imperfections, is based ' upon ! great political > truths. What it does for its self-governing colonies we can see with our own eyes and feel with our own hearts. It gives peace, freedom, security; it protects our laws and ensures our independence, thereby enabling us to make such progress as we are fitted; for and to grow to national strength in happy ignorance of the evils of war. As the Empire is in

New. Zealand so it is in Australia, in South Africa, in North America, and we may confidently anticipate

that our sister-Dominions will send to the Mother Country the same message of practical loyalty. ;> A new and unexpected Dreadnought, steaming up from below the horizon to range itself in the battle-line of

Britain cannot but cheer and encourage our kinsmen at this admitted crisis in naval affairs. When others come hastening behind it, as others will surely come, . our kinsmen must realise, what is the fact,

that a new epoch is opening in the

world's history. Two or three Dreadnoughts, half-a-dozen Dreadnoughts, more to follow if required, mean that the States nursed by the Empire in their weakness are not forgetful in their growing strength. These are enough to turn, the scale of naval superiority, to weigh for good the doubtful future of the Empire, of civilisation, ; and of humanity. This, not merely by their weight of metal or range of guns, but by that great moral impression which is the most potent influence known among, nations as among men! •/' "' "• ', '- ■ r • •■ • ■•;-. :; .

The action of our Government could be justified :w y sentiment

alone, but we need not appeal to

sentiment in order to persuade one another that the step we instinctively approve is a. step which ought to have been taken. The situation is ; so grave that, without being alarmist, it may be fairly termed critical, All responsible statesmen in the Imperial Parliament agree upon this, irrespective -party affiliations, ; and ; the . utmost that "Little Englander" organs can do in mitigation is to ascribe German navy-yard activity—an activity that is working day and night—to philanthropic consideration for the unemployed. We may. therefore reasonably assume that the situation is even more-serious than appears on the surface, . although . the •■ , visible facts are grave enough The United Kingdom, has not been shirking in any way the Imperial duty of Naval -Defence. On the other hand,' she has been steadily and persistently increasing her 'expenditure" and is now spending : £35,000,000 annually upon the Navy, which keeps New Zealand

safe as "surely, as it does the Mother Country, itself. To - this enormous sum, £40,000 hitherto contributed yearly by .'this Dominion,' even the £100,000 to be henceforward contributed, is ■ a mere-drop in the ocean. ' She • has been driven to this seeming extravagance by the ambition of Germany, whose : Dreadnought .programme has : been unmistakably and • clearly ;' devised in order that ■. within a few years the superiority *of the United Kingdom may ,be challenged. On paper the United Kingdom > would have for years a decided superiority in the great battleships which must decide naval battles, but it has been found that Germany has been secretly hurrying on her battleship building and . that the Imperial Government must make extraordinary efforts to maintain in t Dreadnoughts even a One-Power Standard, not to speak of the Two-Power Standard so long regarded as the irreducible minimum of safety.' It is the -most practical step and most profitable investment open to us- to do our part in '. so strengthening the British battleship fleet that it cannot be overpowered by : any probable' combination. For us to give a Dreadnought at- a cost of about £1,500,000 is' for us to pay an additional £60,000 yearly for peace and insurance;, for us to give two Dreadnoughts is for us to pay an additional £120,000 it* would pay us to ; give half-a-dozen Dreadnoughts at a cost of £360,000 annually rather than see a German-led combination overpower the British navy and strike the. Empire at its heart. If anything .will-" check German ambition, if anything will persuade \ the greatest military Power in Europe that "the sea is English and English, must remain, it is the unsolicited rallying of the British colonies I round their * Mother •Country. For even Germany must realise that an Imperial "Government to whose aid flock battleships from distant seas at the first suggestion of danger is not to be : overwhelmed -like France or: partitioned like Denmark. As for .the cost of our timely action, it is not & " gift" •so much.as. a cooperating ,;; contribution to a ; Navy which riß? Ours as much »as it is any man's in the British Isles. As this it must be regarded, -as must a second battleship if a second battleship is required. • . ~ •