WORLD'S OUTLOOK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21782, 23 April 1934, Page 11

WORLD'S OUTLOOK

"CRITICAL TIMES"

NEED FOR PREPAREDNESS REAR-ADMIRAL'S OPINIONS NATIONS AND THEIR TREND ■The conviction that the world was hastening toward another international struggle in which Great Britain would be obliged to play a leading part was expressed by the Commander of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy,-Rear-Aflmiral"F. Burges Watson, in an address to pupils of the Nelson Colleges last week.

"Young people," the speaker said, "by the time you are my age you will have lived through critical times, and I will try to mako you realise what is before you." He criticised the Treaty of Versailles, which, he said, had been responsible foi the establishment of new republics and assisted individuality among nations. The ideal would be reached when all the nations of the world were joined as one. The Versailles Treaty, was a retrograde step. It had created national hates and mistrusts, and he was sure there woijd be another struggle, and that it would be up to Britain to put it right. Other countries had not followed Britain in disarmament./

The Case oi Japan In the East, said Rear-Admiral Burges Watson, were the rapidly-in-creasing Japanese, a clean-living, patriotic, and ambitious nation, and a warlike one which had fought in three wars in the past 30 years. The Japanese had watched the Western world impoverish itself by fighting—whites against whites —and with its population increasing Japan was in a bad way and looking for a place in which it could expand. If it was not given to them they were willing to fight for it.

England went out and got what it wanted before others thought about it, but it -was unlikely, with nations having ambition and a desire to live, and requiring more room, that Britain could keep its possessions without fighting to retain them. The Anglo-Saxon people had the best part of the -world, and would be up against the" people who wished to have a share in it.

The speaker dealt with the decline in British naval strength. In 191-4 Britain had 147 battleships, and no-c----had only 50 of that class, a numbex of them obsolete. In 1914 the strength of the Navy was 146,000 officers and men; to-day it was as low as 90,300. "That is an eye-opener, is it not?" he remarked, adding that the present naval strength was the lowest since 1896. The naval 'tonnage had been greatly reduced since the war, and the Naval Estimates had been decreased and decreased. The personnel of the United States of America's Navy was at present 115,000, and Japan, who was supposed to be on the 5, 5, -3 ratio with America and Britain, had 87,000.The figures spoke for themselves. Question of Armaments

'/The thing which annoys me," RearAdmlftil Burges Watson said, "is the talk of the intolerable burden of armaments. It is an infernal hypocrisy." If people were not willing to pay for the protection of what they had, he said, they did not deserve to have it. If Britain- wished to stand armed ready to protect itself it would not be a burden to do it. The Government which left it only half-armed took a terrible risk when other nations were wishing to expand. It looked as if the white peoples would have to be on their mettle, as there were nations rising which wished to expand, and it might result in another change in the centre of civilisation. "But don't let us go down without a struggle," the speaker said. "I have tremendous faith in the EnglishEpeaking peoples of the world, land to retain their riches and belongings they'll have to fight. It may come soon or late, but I am certain' you young people will some day be engaged in that tremendous struggle."

Rear-Admiral Burges Watson pointed out the advantages of the Singapore Naval Base as a place of security for the British fleet in case of trouble in the Pacific flta. —V THE SINGAPORE BASE NECESSITY FOR THE WORK t : Mr. B. Lowick, a leading accountant of Singapore,' who, with his wife, is visiting New Zealand, told a Sun reporter in Christchurch last week that the general opinion in Singapore was that the naval base was very necessary and th'at the work on it should be expedited. Mr. Lowick said that for some time not much had been seen or heard of the base, which was situated at Seletar, but lately a great deal more land had been acquired for defence purposes and the work was now making good progress. There was certainly in Singapore a feeling of fear and distrust toward Japan. In other ways, too, the building of the base meant a good deal to the residents of Singapore, since it provided plenty of work and brought money into the country. The base was rather in the shape of a fireplace, with a hill at the back. On the top of this hill there had for a lone time stood a native tomb. When it became necessary to cut away the hill on which the tomb stood, the Asiatics refused to it. and prophesied that any white men who did so would bring a curse upon themselves. White men, however, did destroy the tomb; and curiously enough, not long afterward, four of them met their deaths in tragic circumstances./