DEFENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14156, 7 March 1908, Page 13

DEFENCE.

IHE PRIME MINISTER'S REGENT STATEMENTS.

15V Li.vk-Ahkad.

Speaking at I'aeroa recently, the Prime Minister, naviug referred to the awakening of China and the activity in German naval-circles, is reported to have said: "As tins people would insure their houses, tire Government, as a common-rain! one, must insure against any foreign Power coining in and hiking our personal property. Tho British Navy was our first line of defence, and British pluck, courage, ar.d tradition would come in there. If the last, defence was swept awaf the men in the Dominion, even in the event of the beating of the British fleet in the Mediterranean or in the East, would light on to their last man to preserve tlieir country." If this be a faithful report, I would like' to draw attention to the statements—(a) "Tho British Navy was our first line of defence" and (b) "If the last defence was swept away". . From'this' and kindred previous statements I am forced to the conclusion that liero in New Zealand, up-to-date as we lire supposed to bs, we have as -President of the Council of Defence an advocate of the "Blue Water" policy. Here we bave it plainly stated that our "first" defence and our "last" is the British Navy. Just as a last resource, " the men in the Dominion .... would fight on to their last man to preserve tneir country." The patriotic audience duly .applauded. Here I am reminded of' a shrewd remark by Brent, of the Confederate- Army: "Horace has said that it is pleasant and becoming to die for one's country, but I maintain that it is better to rejoice in its nobly-won victories than to die in its vain defence." This mini was .not a politician, but it soldier.

Tho point td be: considered is, "Can the- navy secure New Zealand from attack?" That the great naval' buttlea of tho future will not be fought in NewZealand waters we readily admit. ''The naval problem is for tlie Empire as a ■whole to deal with, and no one with the interest of the Empire at heart will grudge an increase in • our contribution. Tho navy, however, is only the first line of defence; and it is possible for this first line of defence to break down. That the navy alone can be lelied oh as a defence attack and conquest is based on Hie assumption that our navy is invincible. Let us look to history for instances to prove that there is nothing eo unstable as sea-power. Spain was once tho proud "Mistress of the Seas." The "Invincible Armada" is a good object-lesson for us. The Dutch then gained the ascendancy, being more than a match for the fleets of Great Britain and France. From the Dutch tho supremacy passed to the French, and from the French to the .British. Coming more directly to oirr own'history, ■we find that we are not altogether invincible. By, the Dutch we were defeated in the four days' battle of the Straits of Dover, and by the" French at Beachy Head. We stared defeat in the face at the drawn battles of Toulon, Ushant, and Fin-sterre. The Dutch held the mouth of the Thames for a fortnight; the French had command of, the English Channel after Beachy Head, and Great Britain escaped because the: French army was not ready to invade. During the war of American Independence tho French had -command of tlie Channel three times, but again no army was ready to' follow up their successes. At the famous battles of Vincent and Trafalgar victory was. ours mainly because/of the tactical inefficiency of our enemies.

SURPRISE ATTACKS. Now, the combined ileets of Germany and li'raiicß aro to-day equal to the tleex of Great-.Britain. An al.muce is possib.e, though; pel-haps, not probable; lrom tho experience; of -former wars it is possible that such a combination could win another battle such as 15eucn,y Head or ijoutiiwpld Bay. It is immaterial whether'this battle be in the North Sea, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, or the Pacific. It is only accessary to admit, as we must, its possibility. . .... We have another phase of the question, illustrated by the late RussoJapanese war. There wo saw that by the use of submarine mines and torpedo attacks the Japanese materially weakened the Russian fleet without even risking a pitched battle. "It is just the destruction of a few battleships," as Captain Mohan remarks, " which gives the tactical victory and everything which results therefrom."

Then wo have to consider the possibility of surprise. Some good people imagine that war is played by such hard and fast rules that surprise is out of the question nowadays. Let us hear what an authority Lis to say on the subject of international law and surprise attacks: — "Let us put aside as childish all talk of international law as any protection. There is no such thing as international law, for tilw thing so miscalled is simply international custom, and a new custom can be added at any time by any nation powerful enough. To break through so-called international law is no more than for nn individual to break through the conventionalities of social intercourse. International law is nothing but a collection of the. conventionalities of international intercourse, and how far any nation chooses to conform thereto is merely a matter of power and expediency. We ourselves have been the greatest offenders of all in breaking international conventionalities. We have frequently made usa of our naval power to attack other nations by surprise."

In international intercourse nothing more unconventional has ever been done than our surprise and seizure of the Danish' fleet in 1807. In the words of the Dutch declaration: "Ths Danish Government eaw the English ships uf war upon the coast without" even a conjecture that they were to be employed against Denmark. The island of Zealand was surrounded and captured, the capital threatened, and the Danish territory violated and injured before the Court of London had made uso of a single word to express the hostility of its feelings." Grpat Britain considered this move expedient; she had 'the power to carry it out; and she did eo. And, with the foregoing in our history books, Lord_ Twcedmouth (the First Lord of the Admiralty) assured Lord Roberts in the Eouso of Lords that no nation would bo bo impolite as to attack the British Empire without due warning! We surprised Holland- in 1664, 1664, and 1672: Spain in 1718 mid 1739; France in 1744 and 1755; and Denmark in 1807. Assuredly we have been the greatest exponents of "surprise" tactics, and for us to prate international law in. the matter of a formal declaration of war signifies one of two failings,' hypocrisy or ignorance.

A SECOND LINE OF DEFENCE. Sufficient has been written to show that the British Navy (or any. other) "is not imiucible—-that its squadrons may be eluded or taken by surprise. Such being the case, is it wise or politic for Now Zealand to depend solely on this force (or protection? No thinking man win answer the question in the affirmative. Yet there are still people both here and at Home who, having read only of the victories and nothing of the defeats of our navy, contend that money spent on land defence is thrown away. This is generally the opinion of "the man in the street." On the other hand, the Royal Commission on the Defences of the United Kingdom of 1860 and the Royal Commission on the Auxiliary Force? of 1904 found, after due consideration, that "an invasion is possible despite the navy" ; and that "instead-of basing our policy on a con'taworsial opinion, we should rest it upon a oertninty-r-ths certainty of a stromj navy and a strong army." This deliberate opinion is of "as much value tc New Zealand as it is to Great Britain—and here, as in Gieat Britain, a woefully deficient font! is nursed and kept alive. ' That this is not the fault, of our Volunteers it is perhaps as well to point out. They have freely given time ™d money and hard work in the country's service. Making Ike most of their limited opportunities, they have worked on regardless of popular disfavour. -flipy n ro themselves most alivo to their'own shortcomings, and ask only for better opportunities ,than are.3t,,p ; resent_afforded.it,lieni 1

Eight years ago the lats Lord Salisbury said: "The deteme of the country is not tl»! business of the War Officii or the Govcrtimnnt, but the business of the people themeclvcs"; and until the people of New Zealand realise this and censo carping at the men wlio are doing their best so long will the Volunteer Force languish. Out of the most attractive aspects of the universal military training proposal is that, as. the youth of every family will have to undergo ivonie military training, the heads of families will naturally take somo interest in the defence of the country. As long ■; ;>s public sympathy willi Volunteering remains passive, so will the unthinking vouth of this land look askance at voluntary soldiering.

The policy of i'ne Defence Council was set out in the 1007 report as fellows: — "Taking all circumstances into consideration, it was decided I hat the policy of defence should, for the present-, continue purely voluntary. . . . Should the

Volunteer Force not be maintained or brought up to an efficient state, Volunteering has had its last chance. If the general public is in earnest as to defence, it must itself assist and insure that ■•tinder the Vcluntcer system sufficient enlistment is made, and that once men are enlisted they attend regularly. The alternative is a system of universal or compulsory training, whereby th; burden of service in the Defence Forces will be more evenly distributed." Volante-jring is not dead in New Zealand yet. But there is something radically wrong. Recruits of a good stamp are continually coming forward; ■• they serve a short lime, and then, disheartened with an inactive .sympathy on the. one hand and with open contempt on the other, they drift out of the ranks and stand with the scoffers on the footpaths. _ From time U) time wo hear of persecution of men by officers. Most of this talk is talk—and nothing more. People imagine that the old English army -method of "swearing and bullying" is the fashion in our Defence Force, to-day. With a little thought it will be perceived that this system could not obtain in a Volunteer Forco anywhere, much less with independent young New Zoalandcrs. The easiest and quickest way to deplenish the ranks of a company is to indulge in a " little blackguarding." The Volunteer officers' are for the most part intelligent stndents of the defence of the country, and the permanent staffs are only too happy to go out of their way to assist both'officers and men. True, we hear sometimes of hardships inflicted on Volunteers by district staffs; but a little thought will again help us out of the difficulty. All regulations issued must be carried out to the letter. That this must be so is apparent. The Volunteer' is human, and sometimes— perhaps often—does not- iiuite understand tho intention of some order or regulation. Sins of omission are sharply dealt with according to a code known-to all in the force. This is absolutely nece s-.ry, because, if these orders are not carried out to the, full in peace, what guarantee is forthcoming that they will bo in war?

TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. If the Volunteer system is to continue in New Zealand it must be encouraged by an intelligent, popular sympathy. This may be accomplished in a variety of ways. Employers of labour might, all other things being equal, of course, give preference of employment to Volunteers; those who are endowed with a fair share of this world's goods might help along struggling battalions and corps with shooting, signalling, and other prizes; and those who don't feel inclined to do anything activo in the matter can at. least show their sympathy by combating the senseless talk that Hows from the lips of those who will not do anything' themselves, and whose sole mission in life seems to consist of criticising rhoso who are not afraid to spend their leisure time in titling themselves for the day when we New Zealanders will surely.have our backs to the wall. We have made our "White New Zealand" bed, and we will have to lie on it. One hundred pounds cash down and the reading of one hundred English words in any English book will not keep the Yellow Man out when lie is. determined to come in. -At tho present time he comes in twos and threes and outwits the Customs officials; let us hope that some day lie will not come in thousands and outwit our statesmen who glibly talk of " Imperial Defence" (which is all very fitting and proper), but Imperial defence, like charity, begins at home. And when each State is.self-protective, with tho Imperial Navy as our first line of defence, as an Empire we will be able to make some stand when the nations, at present our friends and allies, consider it opportune to disclose their hands. Then, and then only, will the people realise the value of the "soldiering mania" which now they affect to despisj,