THE SINGAPORE BASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18457, 21 July 1923, Page 8

THE SINGAPORE BASE.

The question of the Singapore

base, as discussed in the House of Commons, wa'j put in focus by the speech of Admiral Gaunt. " You must keep in touch with the extremities of your Empire," he said ; "if you -want to run an Empire you must have a base somewhere, and there is no place better than Singapore." To regard the proposal as a contravention of the Washington pact, and particularly as a threat; of war against Japan, is to misinterpret it entirely. As a matter of fact, so far from violating the spirit of the Washington understanding, the choice of Singapore in preference to Hongkong indicates a non-aggressive i attitude toward Japan. It is in keeping with the idea of establishing zones of neutrality in the Pacific. Singapore -is more than, six days' , steaming from Japan. Hongkong might conceivably be used as an effective base of attack upon Japan, and to have equipped it as a rendezvous for capital ships would have been open to objection. Singapore's use will simply make for the protection of British shipping in the Far East and the South Pacific, and in the event of war will be of high defensive value for Australia and New Zealand. Its equipment is an inevitable item in an Imperial policy that proceeds on the vital necessity |of keeping open the Empire's communications. They are its life-

blood. It is essentially maritime. A navy is required for the safeguarding of its ocean highways, and that navy cannot function under 'modern conditions without bases strategically located and adequately . equipped. Viewed in the light of ' the Empire's need, the Singapore . base is as much and as little a, I menace to the world's peace as is i c the British Navy itself. That navy has been a notable preserver of the peace. .It has been a bulwark rather than a. weapon. And so it 'will continue, providing it be not denied opportunity to keep efficient for defensive.-ends. The acceptance of the one-power standard, in place of the old two-power, has manifested Britain's sincerity in seeking peace; but to become careless about naval efficiency altogether would be to endanger peace. The world has not reached a stage of development in which deliberately to increase vulnerability is a nation's surest way to obviate wounds. The . suggestion that nothing should bo done until the Imperial Conference has considered the proposal assumes a possible decision by the Empire's leading statesmen against the Singapore project. But the view of the Conference is a foregone conclusion: its overwhelming vote, whatever criticism may be offered, will approve that project as merely an additional premium to be paid on (the Empire's insurance policy.