NATIONAL DEFENCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22434, 2 June 1936, Page 13

NATIONAL DEFENCE

Sir. —It will be agreed that the wealth of New Zealand entirely depends on our produce being safely conveyed overseas, and our comfort mainly depends on the imports that the ships of the merchant service bring from all over the world to this very far off Dominion. To ensure continuance of this trade it is absolutely necessary that the ships and the men who man them should be protected on the high seas against piracy in peace time, and the enemy in time of war; this can only be done by a sea force. With the growing increase in our overseas trade and promised prosperity in the near future our first duty, and a very prudent one, should be to pay our full share toward the protection of our merchant service by a greater contribution to our national insurance, the Royal Navy. We are certainly not paying a fair or full share at the present time, but are leaning, as we have always done, on the British taxpayer, who, per capita, pays more than three times what we do for national defence We have for too long boasted of our importance, our independence, and that we are the most loyal and British of the Dominions. Our importance is very questionable, as there is no doubt the Umpire could get 'on just as well without us; our independence is only guaranteed by the strength of the Mother Country; and our loyalty is no more than that of the other Dominions, who are closer and in bettor touch with world affairs. At present our Navy, far below its strength in 1914, is entirely inadequate to protect our merchant service in all the seas, and what would be more natural if the British authorities decided in the evpnt of war that it was impossible to protect shipping in tin- Pacific Ocean, and to conserve the naval forces to protect food and other supplies from nearer countries, such as Canada, the United States and the Argentine, considerably less than half the distance of New Zealand. In such an event our prosperity would quickly vanish, chaos would result, wo would be defenceless against an attacking forco, even if we had a thousand aircraft, as there would soon be no petrol, no lubricating oil, no ammunition. Certainly we require a strong air forco, and a'strong citizen army, and to obtain the personnel in a democratic country the only fair thing is universal training for defence and payment while the training is taking placo. Neither the Air Force nor the Army can, however, operate without the Navy; therefore there must be co-ordination. The serious point that should concern an island people is the protection of its shipping, also a greater interest in the merchant service and the Royal Navy, but because seamen rarely advertise, and the majority of New Zealanders to-day have never been overseas, nor know anything of the necessity for sea power, we aro rapidly losing our sea sense. Australians now show deeper interest in naval defence and at present pay nearly double per capita what we do. It is necessary at once for New Zealand to make proper provision for national insurance, or else all that our fathers have laboured and fought for and all the benefits of our advanced legislation for the good of the country will probably be enjoyed by people of another and more virile race, who have no false ideas as to the necessity of national defence, when there is something worth while to defend and hold. 0. H. T. Palmeb. Auckland Navy League.