THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1924. THE SINGAPORE DECISION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18662, 19 March 1924, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1924. THE SINGAPORE DECISION.

The Labour Cabinet's decision on the Singapore base will be announced in the Commons on Tuesday. That it will provoke a battle royal in Parliament may be taken for granted, in view of the diverse opinions already expressed. No official statement is yet available as to the terms of the decision nor is the text of any of the Dominions' representations yet made public; but, according to the news cabled, the nature of the decision and of the Dominions' views may be anticipated with practical certainty. Stated briefly, the decision involves the abandonment of the scheme to make the base suitable for capital ships, the navy estimates providing only for a comparatively small expenditure devoted to maintaining present facilities and increasing oil storage. The statements received from the Dominions reveal Australia and New Zealand as wholeheartedly in favour of developing the base to accommodate capital ships, while Canada is lukewarm and South Africa opposed. So the battle is set. The issue will be awaited with tremendous interest, for upon it much, both in British politics and Imperial affairs, will depend. When the House had before it, on May 1 last, the scheme whose practically complete abandonment is now the policy of the Labour Government, an amendment to reduce the vote, moved as a protest against the scheme, was negatived by a majority of 159, and the vote was approved by a majority of 223. In that instance, the amendment was moved by a Liberal member and supported by Mr. Asquith. Among critics of the scheme were several Labour members, and the only classified Communist in the House was one of the tellers against the vote. However, the numerical opposition was feeble. In the new House there is certain to be a solid Labour vote for the eviscerated scheme, an equally emphatic Conservative vote againstit, with the Liberal vote inclining to Labour. A narrow majority will decide either way. The vote may well provide a crucial test of Labour's tenure of office.

The scheme as advanced in May last involved originally the expenditure of £11,000,000 in developing the base. The amount was reduced, however, to £9,500,000 before its submission to the judgment of the House. The intention was to spread it over a period of about ten years. To have at Singapore a thoroughly effective repair and docking base was the object. A graving dock capable of holding the largest modern capital ships, probably a floating dock as well, a complete equipment of workshops, stores of reserve ammunition, and all the other necessary equipment of a goodsized base on which the Fleet could work if emergency should arise these were the items of the scheme. The necessity for oil-fuel tanks was dealt with in conjunction with oilstorage requirements at other bases, and was not treated particularly as part of the developmental scheme at Singapore. It was emphasised by the First Lord of the Admiralty that there was already a base there,. Its

defence went back to recommendations made in 1882. In 1885 provision was made for strengthening the base, and before the war it was decided to make the scale of its defence adequate to resist attack by armoured cruisers, involving 9.Sin. guns. But for the concentration of the Fleet in the North Sea during the war, this programme would have been carried out. After the German menace had been met, a new disposition of the navy occupied the attention of the naval staff. It had to take into account the requirements of changed conditions, and particularly the development of Imperial resources and communications. So Earl Bcatty and the Sea Lords devised new measures. To the Committee of Imperial Defence there were recommended the building of oil stations and the development of Singapore. The recommendations were endorsed by the committee and approved by Cabinet some four years ago. The Imperial Conference of 1921 gave them its approval. In the Conference held last year the whole field of Imperial defence was surveyed, and, beside affirming the necessity "to provide for the adequate defence of the territories and trade of the several countries comprising the British Empire," that Conference placed among its " guiding principles of defence the provision, of naval bases and facilities for repair and fuel so as to ensure the mobility of the navy. In particular, there was noted " the deep interest of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, and India, in the provision of a naval base at Singapore, as essential for ensuring the mobility necessary to provide for the security of the territories and trade of the Empire in eastern waters."

The development of the Singapore base has been made a necessity, then, by the urgency of naval mobility under conditions recently arising. The North Sea has ceased to be a focus of operations, and the keeping open of Imperial communications, especially along the eastern route and to the Pacific, has acquired a vital importance. Canada and South Africa feel far less concern about that route than do the territories more directly served by it. To oppose the scheme as one flouting the Washington agreement and challenging other nations is to misread the facts. The terms of that agreement expressly allow this development. Even Mr. Asquith, however moved to criticism, stated in the Commons last May that he did not think it was a breach of the treaty, which " defined geographically the limits within which the selfdenying ordinance as to the establishment of new naval bases was to be carried out." Moreover, the leisurely way in which the programme was to be put into effect gave evidence that it was not designed for offensive purposes. Lord Balfour emphasised this fact when speaking in the House of Lords last week, and voiced the view of Australia and New Zealand when he urged that, without the British fleet in the background, they would be insecure. If Singapore is to be merely a base for light cruisers and an air force, it will not serve as any measure of insurance for the eastern territories of the Empire ; and a British Government that fails to consider their needs can have little hope of winning their confidence.