THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1913. NAVAL POLICY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15855, 29 August 1913, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1913. NAVAL POLICY.

Fon reasons that must be held to be good and sufficient, the Government was unable on Wednesday night to grant the full disclosure, for which it was pressed, of its policy ,in the matter of naval defence. Mr Allen explained that a despatch embodying tho 1 Admiralty's views in respect of certain very important details has not yet readied the Government and that, pending the receipt of this communication, it is impossible for him to offer a complete exposition of tho Ministerial policy. The discussion two nights ago yielded, how-' over, two or three declarations of interest on the part of the Government. Sir Joseph Ward had pointed out with great force tho objections to the adoption of any arrangement under which Australia and New Zealand might co-operato in the maintenance of a navy. Such an arrangement would probably be very acceptable to the Commonwealth, wnd the conferences which were held last year between Mr Allen, while he was 011 his way to London, and members bf the Federal Govern-

raemt seem to have left the' impression in Australia that the Government of the dominion was not wholly unsympathetic to this notion. 'Hie Prime Minister has now, however, stated in explicit and emphatic terms that the idea of a. partnership with Aust/alia in nival matters has never received any encouragement from any member of the Cabinet. This announcement will have been received with satisfaction by the great majority of the people who have given any serious thought to tho subject, 'for it must be apparent to them that the question of the control of a joinC fleet would be one of such great difficulty as probably to defy successful solution. Upon another point the Government was equally explicit. Mr Allen offered his assurance to the House that, at the time of his departure from Great Britain upon his return to New Zealand, he had mot committed the dominion to any expenditure beyond that which it has now to meet in the form of a direct contribution to t/he Admiralty and tho interest and sinking fund upon the cost of tho construction of. H.M.S. New Zealand. Mr G. W. Russell, who, speaking after Mr Allen, contrived to drag the discussion temporarily down to the level of a party debate 1 ) ventured to predict that whan the Government's proposals are brought down it will be found that an expenditure additional! to the payment of the annual contribution will bo proposed. It will not, indeed, be altogether surprising if this prove to ho the case, but it is at any rate cortain that there will be no wild proposals, such as some of the opponents of the Government would have us suppose there will be, for instituting a shipbuilding programme. According to the Prime Minister, nothing is further than this from the Government's intentions.

More indefinite in its terms and, therefore, less satisfactory was Mr Massey's declaration with reference to the nature of the squadron which should be maintained in the Pacific. After asserting that there should be one Imperial control of the Pacific fleet—as is really indispensable if the' fleet is to be an efficient instrument for the protection of the commerce of the Empire and for the defence of the shores of the dominions—Mt JLassey said; "As a British citizen and a New Zealand er, I will never be satisfied until there is in the Pacific a fleet—whether made up of Canadian. Australian, New Zealand, or Imperial ships, or all four combined, under one Imperial to hold its own against any combination or aiiy enemy, white or yellow, that might happen to come along." As a broad expression of feeling the passage we have quoted is admirable and unexceptionable. It does not, however, touch the question of how this fleet is to be composed, whether of Imperial ships, or of local units, or of a combination of the two. And after all the important point just now is that at which Mr Massey's declaration stopped short. The Government has been under seme suspicion of favouring the local navy proposal, which, it is fair to admit, is influentiaily supported at Home. Among its warmest advocates is Mr Richard Jebb, the well-known Imperialist, who discusses it in, a recentlypublished book entitled " The Britannic Question." On the opposite side in politics from that in which Mr Jebb stands it is espoused by Mr H. W. Massingham, editor of tho Nation, who contributes a foreword on its behalf to a pamphlet, to hand this week, written by the publicist that conceals his identity underthename " Otitis." MrMassingham describes the "conception of local colonial navies, organised for .colonial purposes, but subject to the call of the Motherland in time of need " as the policy of co-opera-tion as opposed to that of contribution. And of it he says: "It has the great advantage of stimulating the affectionate feeling of the younger British nations for the Motherland, while preserving their constitutional rights and responsibilities and uniting fayment aind control." This seems to us, however, in the present circumstances of the dominion, to be a counsel of perfection. Sir Joseph WaTd diagnosed the case very fairly the other night when he argued that New Zealand, with its limited population and its urgent need for tho expenditure of considerable sums upon works for development purposes, oould not afford to undertake the expanses of the maintenance of a local navy. Chiefly upon this ground that which may be the ideal policy cannot be regarded as practicable. Another reason why the project of a local navy cannot at the present time be viewed with favour is that the dominion does not posses the surplus population that would admit of the navy being manned by its own citizens. The withdrawal from the labour market of sufficient men to provide a fleet unit with crews would at the present time be fraught v.ith such injury to the iu dustnes cf tV; dominion that any notion of such a. thing should be speedily dismissed. There is, however, no substantial volume of sentiment in New Zealand in favo.iv of the local navy project. Mr Richard Jebb erroneously pictures the existence in New Zealand of a, mood for emulating the great effort of Australia, and Outis" is misinformed when lie declares that if the Imperial Conference in 1911 did not kill outright the devotion of New Zealand to the poiicy o! monetary contributions to tho Admiralty "it at least dealt that devotion a shrewd blow from which it lias not vet recovered."