NEW ZEALAND TO THE FORE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10104, 23 March 1909, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND TO THE FORE.

To the Editor. Sir, —According to the Wellington news in last night's issue of your paper, Sir Joseph Ward! las taken the lead in making an offer to the Imperial Government of at least one Dreadnought, or two if neces- I sary. This, no doubt, is a very great undertaking for a small population such as that of New Zealand, for I understand that one battleship of _ tins class costs about one and a-half million pounds or more.._ Sir Joseph has received congratulatory telegrams from many parts of the Dominion, and will no doubt continue to do so, but as yet no one seems to have suggested a means of helping this project to attain a reality. Now, Sir, 1 think that, every person within the shores of this Dominion, with a drop of British blood in their veins, must assuredly feel proud of our worthy Prime Minister's offer, and, further, I -should say, are prepared to assist him by every means in their power. Wo could all do something if our leading citizens throughout New Zealand took up the question and made some move to collect the money. This could be done by, say, having a Dreadnought Saturday or several days if necessary; all co-operative bodies, friendly societies, harbor boards, etc., could combine to help, and I feel sure that, with the enthusiastic spirit of the average New Zealander, we could put together a good quota towards a- battleship. My contention is that we had better to-dav spend some of our surplus cash in building battleships than, in the near future, our life's blood in defending our nation. Trusting some abler pen than mine will take this subject up. I am, etc., CASH SYMPATII IS KR-.