NAVAL POLICY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11292, 18 August 1922, Page 7

NAVAL POLICY

A VARIETY OF VIEWS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL DISCUSSES NEW ZEALAND'S POSITION. SUBMARINE'S AND AIRCRAFT? THE BILL PASSED. On the motion to commit the NaVol Det'enco Amendment Bill a cji.-cussion nro?o in the Legislative Connell yesterday on the subject of naval policy. The Hon. G. .1. Smith saul lie thought, it gratifying to alt interested in the welfare of the Domimon to find the Government fully alive to the necessity of maintaining a strong defence. lie boiled that before long, the Government would see its way to increase the vote for tho land forces. As far as naval defence -went, he recog-nisccl it _ v*as a matter for the experts to advis© tho Government on, but hodouhtecl if tho present poliev was the right one. hirst ot nil, ho asked, wore the Chatham, and Philomel boats of the right type? It might bo better to pay a largo contribution to the Imperial Navy and leave the question of. the type of boat to the Home authorities. He would prefer to see a heavier contribution made to the Navy, and the matter left to the experts in England. What we wanted to do was take steps to make tho country securo •‘ECONOmCAI.LY ■‘UNROUND." The Hon. O. Samhel considered tho whole of the principle of the Act was economically unsound. He old not think it prudent for New seeing the small quantity of the article to .be manufactured, to start manufacturing. In saying that he referred io the sailors for men-of-war. Too few would lie needed to justify our going in for training them. The most ships we -would have woul d be two. He did not think we could train officers, even if we conld train men. Let us contemplate an illustration of recklessness—that of the man who contemplated erecting a flourmill because he had 100 acres of wheat! That, he thought, was the position of New Zealand in respect of the Navy. 1 GREAT DIVERSITY OF OPINION AT HOME. It was proposed that numbers of our voung men were to ho taken away from the work of settlement, and they’ would be unfitted for ordinary avocations. It would unfit them as men to make homos and rear families, and that was not desirable in a young country. While we were proposing this we were also talking of bringing immigrants here because t the country needed population. It would be better to import oust manufactured sailors than to attempt to train them here. And in attempting to train them we might be exhibiting too FT*®* ? degree of confidence; wo might nol make a success of the work, and he did not know that the ships here were adapted to training purposes. He .recognised that New Zealand should con; tribute it 9 full share to the Navy, am he hoped that in the future we woulc be guided) by the decisions of the Imperial Government rather than by oui own notions on the subject. There was great diversity of opinion at Home as fr> what was necessary to protect Gran! Britain and her commerce. It mrgh! be that the instruments of tbe. futun Would be submarines and airships, S( we should not make the mistake o‘ heavy expenditure on cruisers. "PERNICIOUS DOCTRINE." The Hon. J. B. Gow thought Mr Sam uel’s arguments struck at the root o all that New Zealand held dear. Hi argument against training men here wai very lame and halting.' New Zealam had produced men who had been able ti hold up their end in all walks of life To argue that because we were able t lean on the Motherland we should no give of our men for the defence of _th Empire was to put forward a perniciou doctrine. The Council might well en dorse the principle that it was up to u not only to give of onr treasure li money, hut of cur treasure in manhood It would he an ill day for an islam country like ours if we were to discom age the production of seamen. It wouh be well also to encourage kindred indu< tries such as fishing, so that we migh bring up a race of seamen. He ha not intended speaking and would no have done so had he not thought i would be a slur on New Zealand if M SamueVs speech were allowed to go m challenged. HELP THE .MOTHERLAND. The Hon. W. Hamshaw said he ha: been amazed by the two first speeches Had the members forgotten the Samoi incident soon after the beginning of thi war? As to tho suitability of the Chat ham, it was the vessel Hint was recom mended by the Home authorities. Nev Zealand should do all it could to hell to provide the Motherland with themei she needed for her ships. Great as wa the difficulty of England in getting suf ficient troops for the war, there was i greater difficulty in getting men for thi ships. It would be a great thing, i ever war occurred again, for New Zea land to bo able to say to England): "Wi have 5000 trained men we can offer yon.’ INVEST IN SUBMARINES AND AIR CRAFT. . The Hon. Sir Thomas Mackenzie suit there -had ( been four speeches—two oi patriotic lines, two on practical linos Messrs Samuel and Smith considered wi should make our contribution, but ha.v< the money spent under the direction o: those best qualified to say what should be done with it. Enormous development had taken place recently, and it wai gravely doubted if the two vessels in ou: waters would be useful in the event o 1 the outbreak of war. His view was ttial we should put our money into submarine and aircraft. Trials that had taker place recently showed the comparative defencelessness of ships against aircraft There were no more patriotic men in the Counoil than Messrs Samuel and Smith but they counselled the expeneliture oi the money in the best possible way. The conduct of our men in battle had. beer the admiration of the world, but wc: this a time, when such changes were occurring, to spend our money as suggested? Mr Barnshaw: Yes. Sir Thos. Mackenzie: The hon. gentle man says "yes," hut he says so without thinking. We need thinking men like the Hon. Colonel Smith and ihe Hon. Mr Samuel. Mr Gow: And tho Hon. Sir Thomai Mackenzie STRAYING FROM THE SUBJECT. The Hon. W. J. Geddis said he had listened to the admirable epeoches which had been delivered, but it seemed to -him the bill did not deal with the questions the speakers had referred to. The hill had reference to the personnel of oui own warships, so it seemed to him that the debate was far from the subject at Issue. Tho point the Council had le settle was receiving no attention whatever—tho question of whether we should train our own men in the country, a point on which he thought the members of the Council were all pretty well agreed. COMMUNITIES WIRED OUT BY WIRELESS. The Hon. G. M. Thomson expressed tho opinion that in view of what hac occurred In recent years wo should ve a Use that unthought-of methods of war faro might arise in the near future. \V< might have whole communities wiped oui by wireless. New Zealand was so fai fi-oin any other land that he did nol think it practicable vet to attack New Zealand by air. The attack, it seemed to him, would come by sea, and lie thought it would be well to hnvo nmn hers of' trained young men wlio could be called on by the Navy in time of emer Bencv. He believed we should encouiaf?;

the fishing industry, for front the ranks of the fishermen many highly useful men would be obtainable. The Hon. J. Barr said tllm bill only asked for an opportunity to establish the Naval Reserve. Air force or no air force, it was necessary to -train young men to the sea. It was absolutely essential for this Britain of tho (South to give every encouragement to o ipr men who hnd an inclination to go to sea. The Hon. Sir William Ifraser, Leader of the Council, said tho Tiill was not a policy measure. He had been rather surprised by the speech off Mr Samuel, for the hilj. merely afforded an opportunity of learning sea Hfls and naval life. It would be a sorry day for us if we discouraged from goin'jr to sea our young men who had a likinig for it. The Government realised that the present was not a time for heavy e -xpenditure in certain directions. The motion to commit the bill was agreed to. No amend men t. - was made in committee, and the bill w:as read a third time and passed.