EMPIRE DEFENCE

Otago Witness, Issue 2928, 27 April 1910, Page 15

EMPIRE DEFENCE

THE MENACE AND THE MEANS. INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL EDWARDS. £From Our Own Cobbespondent.) LONDON, January 7. Lieutenant-general Sir J. Bevan Edwards, C. 8., K.C.M.G., is an officer who might, if he chose, lay some claim to the honour of initiating the universal training movement in Australasia. Beginning his service in the Royal Engineers he served in the Crimea, the Indian Mutiny, China, and Suakim, and he relinquished command of the School of Military Engineering in 1888 to take up that of the troops in China. Just then, fresh from the anxieties of the 'RussianscaTe, the colonies of Australia, and New Zealand requested the Imperial Government to send a general officer to report upon their defences. Lord Wolseley was suggested and also Lord Roberts, but neither could be' spared for a duty which would keep them so long away. General Edwards was to be stationed in Hongkong, and it was decided by the War Office that during the Chinese summer he should go down to Australasia and report on the forces. We know now how far that report was responsible for the inauguration of the federation movement in Australia. » AUSTRALASIA'S MENACE. . Was Australia actuated then By any particular foreign menace? ' " No, thv.Tj was no menace at that time from any foreign country, because the British fleet was then supreme. The Japanese were not a sea Power, and there was no Germany navy. Now the German menace ties the British fleet to the coasts of England, which, of course, makes the defences of the outlying parts of the Empire more difficult." Sir Bevan is genuinely pleased with the step that Australia and New Zealand have taken towards an efficient military and naval defence. He considers the Defence Conference of last autumn, _ at which the colonies discussed' the subject with the Imperial authorities and decided that whatever they did they would act in uniformity with the Mother Country, was a very practical start. It is essential that they should have uniform forces throughout the Empire. The action of Australia and New Zealand in adopting universal service will also, he has no doubt, accelerate the movement here in England. But he considers there is no time for further delay. The question is, indeed, whether the right time for taking action has not gone by. THE LOCAL NAVIES. The naval agreement, too, he considers an excellent one. "Then," I asked, "you are one of those who are confident that the locai navies will develop on lines of co-opera : tion and not of disruption?" The answer showed that Sir Bevan had never entertained any doubt or suspicion on the subject. "I do not call it a local navy," he said. " The movement is all for the Empire. If Australia and New Zealand are willing to defend on the sea certain sections of the Empire and certain trade routes they are helping the navy just, as much as if the ships were in the North Sea. The great thing to remember is that for a long time to come, until the defence policies of the outlying dominions are developed, the defence of the Empire must rest primarily upon the British navy and the British army, , but the arrangements made last summer will enable the overseas dominions to give great assistance both by land and by sea." Though Sir Bevan appreciates the obvious reasons why the dominions should not desire to keep standing armies, he is strongly of opinion that there must be a permanent nucleus in each dominion or commonwealth from which armies could be formed—armies complete in every detail—on the outbreak of war. Without an organised system trained men alone would be little better than a rabble. "They must have the skeleton of an army with thoroughly trained officers and non-commissioned officers. Without this, a system of universal training will be of no use." WANTED : AN ARMY. There is almost general agreement amongst military experts as to the urgent necessity for the adoption of universal training in England. The view is now held that the development of European relations imposes on England the necessity of the immediate provision of an army able to co-operate with other Continental armies to preserve the balance of power in Europe. " England or the Empire must be prepared," General Edwards remarked., "to put an army of 750.000 or a million men in Europe to defend our interests. To do that universal service is necessary. I am not only a believer in universal training : I think it is absolutely necessary if England is not to go under. The defence of a country like England is not to be achieved by sitting still and waiting to be attacked, but only by putting ourselves in a position to oe able to attack others. This is absolutely necessary. We have not only ourselves to think of. All the smaller States in Europe are practically dependent on us for their existence."

A STATE OF WAR.

"I am not accusing Germany of anyhostile attitude towards England, but Germany's ambition is to Ibecome the sea power of the world. Of course, before she can accomplish this she must destroy the English navy. She is building a fleet for all she knows to overcome us. We are obliged to increase our fleet for all we know to protect ourselves. What is that but war ? Imagine the state of affairs in two or three years' time when Germany has a powerful fleet. Our ships will be kept in the North Sea watching day and night to prevent surprise. Such conditions could not last long. They could only end in war."