THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1919. LORD JELLICOE'S REPORT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17293, 17 October 1919, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1919. LORD JELLICOE'S REPORT.

The report furnished by Lord Jellicoe removes all cause of quarrel between those who advocate a naval subsidy and those who desire a local navy. He recommends neither, and he favours both. Under his plan, New Zealand will have a local navy, but it will b e as completely a unit of the Royal Navy as Sir Andrew Russell's division was of General Haig's army. There will be payment to the navy in money, but there will also be contribution in kind. Lord Jellicoe, in fact, destroys a controversy that depended largely on the interpretation of terms by combining the best features of both conceptions. He wisely concedes that the Dominion should have something to show for its expenditure on naval defence. It requires much enthusiasm to pay for a navy which is always beyond the horizon. A destroyer in Auckland harbour makes a mightier appeal to the popular imagination than a Dreadnought in the North Sea, and Lord Jellicoe shrewdly suggests that the whole of New Zealand's contribution should be devoted to the Far Eastern Fleet, on which our safety will primarily depend; that the, White Ensign should be shown on our coasts ; and that the Dominion should provide men as well as money for the navy. A New Zealand division manned even in part by New Zealanders will make naval defence far more intimate and personal than it has yet been to us, and this is to be secured without any sacrifice of efficiency. The New Zealand division is to be an integral part of the Empire Navy, trained with it, organised on the same principles, and ready at a moment's notice to obey a single command, and to carry out the role which the war plan assigns to it Lord Jellicoe makes a broad distinction • between harbour defence craft and the sea-going division which he recommends should be maintained by New Zealand and bear her name. I n the .first category he places eight old destroyers, 18 mine-sweepers, and four boom defence vessels. To the second he allots three units, consisting each of one light cruiser, two destroyers, and two submarines, the New Zealand division consisting eventually of three light cruisers, six submarines, six destroyers, and one submarine parent ship. A small air force completes the establishment for which it is suggested the Dominion should assume financial responsibility. The division is to be gradually built up during the next seven years, commencing with the acquisition of a light cruiser. The ships are to be a gift from Britain in the first instance, but the estimates of expenditure submitted by Lord Jellicoe include a depreciation fund out of which they are to be replaced as they become obsolete. The maintenance of such a force necessarily involves a heavy financial responsibility. Lord Jellicoe attempts to place the naval expenditure of the whole Empire on a uniform basis by calculating the contribution of each portion on the mean of its population and the value of its overseas trade. The method of fixing the quota, as well as the quota itself, is necessarily subject to the approval of each of the countries concerned. Lord Jellicoe's calculation appears to involve New Zealand in a somewhat higher expenditure than would be apportioned on a basis of population alone. Thus in the Empire proportions he enumerates, Canada escapes with a liability slightly more, than six times that of New Zealand, although her population is nearly eight times as great, and Australia with a liability of less than four times as much, although her population is nearly five times as great. The allocation of financial responsibility is a matter that may well be reserved for full investigation and consideration without in any way weakening New Zealand's resolve to assume a fair share of the naval defence of the Empire. Making allowance for the fact that the naval interests of New Zealand and Australia are confined to the Pacific, Lord Jellicoe concludes that New Zealand's contribution to the Far Eastern Fleet should be £981,885. Actually, this liability is not. to be assumed till 192324, but is to be exceeded in the two following years, anil is to reach £1,166,100 iii 1925-26. The present naval subsidy is £100,000, and the interest and sinking-fund on the battleship New Zealand amount to £140.000, making the Dominion's contribution to naval defence slightly under a, quarter of a million. The increase proposed is therefore very substantial, and one which, under present j

financial circumstances, will cause some heart-searching. The duty of the nation is, however, too clear to permit of its shirking ; the issue. The whole bearing of' Lord Jellicoe's report depends on the strength at which the British Navy is in future to be maintained, and, as h_e himself remarks, the recommendations may be affected by the League of Nations. It should be observed, however, that the calculations presume an expenditure throughout the Empire of £l per bead on naval defence. This is approximately what the United Kingdom was spending before the war, and, considering the increase in maintenance charges, the provision suggested by Lord Jellicoe does not appear extravagant. An authoritative statement of British naval policy is now required to permit the Dominions to discuss their obligations with full knowledge. When it is available, New Zealand will assuredly be prepared to consider Lord Jellicoe's valuable report sympathetically, and with a deep consciousness of her debt to the navy of today and her duty to the navy of to-morrow.