THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 1922. NEW ZEALAND AND THE NAVY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18174, 21 August 1922, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 1922. NEW ZEALAND AND THE NAVY.

■ A clear and detailed statement of | the policy which, in the official view, ! New Zealand could best pursue in ! naval defence is contained in the ! Admiralty memorandum presented to , Parliament by the Prime Minister : on Friday night. The recommendai tions contain little that is new. In the main they follow the lines laid down by the present GovernorGeneral of the Dominion in his report on naval defence in the Pacific. New Zealand is not being asked \io ' I establish a local navy, or even a local fleet. The Dominion, it is suggested, 1 shall maintain a squadron of the type best suited to the needs of these waters in the event of war, and make certain other contributions in money and kind toward safeguarding the ocean routes which must be kept open if tile Empire is to endure. The scheme must be accepted on its face value, as lihe considered opinion of the authorities best able to judge. When Lord Jellicoe reported he emphasised the changes in naval strategy resultant from the destruction of German sea power. He emphasised also the lessons of the war. "Without recapitulating his observations on these two heads, the Admiralty has endorsed his views by making substantially the same recommendations. New Zealand as a unit of the Empire bears part of the responsibility for its defence. There <jan be S,' no question of the moral obligation. The form which her effort shall take is the only point open for discussion. It must be assumed that the Admiralty means what it says. The i. opinion is given with a full knowledge of the facts, and with the full opportunity of judging what are the immediate and future needs of the situation. ( The whole wide sea is the arena of battle when the nations now go i to war. So much Germany taught i the world before she disappeared from the list of maritime Powers. Wherever commerce goes it may be harried by the enemy, and must be protected by the owner. With the number of capital ships limited by the Washington Treaty, and with freedom left to multiply light cruisers and submarines, the nation 80 desiring c&n develop to the utmost just that type of vessel best adapted for use as a commerceI raider. The exploits of the Emden and the Seeadler have shown how elusive and destructive can be the - light fast ship armed heavily enough to capture and destroy merchantmen, swift enough to range over wide spaces of sea. New Zealand, it is suggested, shall maintain a squadron of ships to meet the menace and to help police the avenues of trade and communication. The provision of docks, depots and reserves of fuel in the Dominion, as suggested, is only a corollary to such a policing service. Such ships must have a base, which could also * serve other vessels were a concen- , tration needed in these waters. The Empire naval bases which it is suggested New Zealand should help to equip wouldj be needed for* ships ranging far, and clearing the seas, a very different matter from defending a given coast. The Pacific alone is wide enough for numbers to be needed. It is not stated that these bases would be in, or necessarily near, New Zealand- The probability is that they would not. As their establishment would increase the mobility of the Empire's sea forces their existence is vital to all portions of it, and the Dominion's duty to contribute is perfectly plain. Ia suggesting the storage of guns for merchant ships and escorts, and pro- | viding trained personnel, the Admiralty has introduced something ; beyond what Lord Jellicoe recom- ■; mended. It is evidence that still l another lesson of the war is to be ; j remembered in future naval strategy, j and that there is to be a perpetua- [ | tion of what proved the most effec- | tive method of guarding merchant - j shipping. The whole communication :t j assumes that the Dominion recog- ! niseß its duty and waits only to be Vj told how best it may be done. j The Prime Minister, commenting )° ; on . the memorandum, very rightly ■ that New Zealand could not ~ ®* pe< l fc to lean u P<>n the United l Kingdom for defence. Yet that, in effect, is what the Dominion is doing at the present time. The estimated expenditure for the current year on the maintenance of the and the training ship is *,256,656, which is £46,000 less than actually spent last year. In addition to tbi s the interest and sinking fund on the cost of the battleship New gg l Zealand amounts to, romrhlv £100,000 a year. It was suggested m the Budget that next year the expenditure-on naval-defence should

inju be. ■ made up ,to ■ £500,000, - the additional sum voted, roughly £100,000, being presumably meant as a first, instalment toward lightening > the burden of the British taxpayer in respect to the defence of tho Empire. It has been estimated recently that the per capita taxation in Britain for the maintenance of the Navy is 30s a year. With even the half-million pounds sterling mentioned, New Zealand would be pay- ' ing less than 9s per head of the European population. The safety of sea routes means at least as much to • New Zealand as to Britain; the integrity of the Empire is just as precious. Yet the people of New Zealand are asked merely to conB template a ipossible .and very inadequate instalment of a debt which in honour they owe. Under the progressive scheme Lord Jellicoe outlined the expenditure next year 1 would be over £970,000 in addition to the £100,000 for the New Zealand. The present time is not one for illconsidered expenditure on nonessentials. The safety of the seas is, ! however, something vital to every portion of the Empire. If times are bad and money is scarce in New I Zealand, what can be said of Britain, ' with her sad army of unemployed, the depression in trade, the slow reaction after the war ? In no way can it be shown that New Zealand is less able to bear her due share of the cost of something which exists for the common good. Britain has ' been infinitely patient in this matter of naval defence. For that reason, j above and beyond the reasons of self-protection and self-interest, New ' Zealand should face the obligation 1 which rests upon her. The Ad- ! miralty message merely points the • way. The duty existed before it • came, and remains independent of its . terms.