Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 1896.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7664, 26 June 1896, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 1896.

" We've got the ships," but, says Lord Charles Bcresford, "not tho meu." In a speech made in England last mouth Lord Charles contended that the British navy is seriously undermanned. He had nothing but praise for our first line of defence, saying men and officers were never so efficient, nor so willing to servo their country. "But," he added, " we have not enough of them." There are plenty of ships, but- for these 20,000 more meu are required than are on the Navy List, We are laying down 40 steamers to be finished thisyear,and, although they will tuke 11,200 men, not a single man is being added to the uavy. Continuing, he said what we wanted was a force muiutuiuHd level with the shipbuilding programme. The whole point wus a big reserve that could be called upon in emergency. (Hear, hear.) He maintained that our reserve was a paper reserve. It time of war it would be very difficult to train our men, and, therefore, a trained reserve was necessary. In the engine-room department alone we were 5000 men short. Lord Charles Beresford speaks with weight of knowledge and experience on his side,' aud so strongly does he feel on the subject, his allegations having been denied by the Lords of the Admiralty, that he has announced his intention of accepting one of the seats which have been olfured him to contest, so that when he gets into Parliament he may demand that the true state of tho navy shall be disclosed. On the other side of the question it should be stated that in a speech made at a dinner of the Royal Navy Reserve last month, Mr Goschen, First Lord of the Admiralty, insisted that the Royal Navy Reserve, which now numbers between 23,000 and 24,000 men, is no mero paper force. It, has never been the practice, says the Times, to maintain the force of tho navy in meu on a complete war footing in times of peace, and, though such v policy seems to find favor with Lord Charles Beresford, it is, in our judgment, disallowed not only by fiuanciul considerations, but also by the consideration thut, as we could not iv time of peace keep a sufficient number of ships at sea to employ the number of men enrolled, their training aud eOiciuucy would rupidly deteriorate The true line of policy appears to lie in maintaining the regular forces of the fleet on a level commensurate with our enlarged shipbuilding programme, and in developing the reserve to the point at which the actual deficiencies of the fleet and the contingent losses of war will be adequately provided for. Evehy Australian mail briugs further instances of the suicidal nature of the coal strike at Newcastle. In a Sydney Daily Telegraph which came to hand yesterday it is computed that the strike has during the seven weeks of its existence caused au actual loss of wages to the miners of over £70,000. Againsc this they have received 12s per man as strike pay iv that period. How a great number of men who have families, many of them large families, eke out a living upon such a wretched pittance is a mystery. Some terrible cases of destitution are known to exist in parts of the district, and yet the majority of the men are found supporting a line of action which means a prolongation of this struggle. It is not alone the miners and their families who suffer from the paralysis of the staple industry of the district. 'Ihe railway employees have been reduced in number and havo had their hours curtailed. The shopkeepers have been compelled to discharge a number of their assistants, whilst meu aud women of other avocations have lost their work and are consequently destitute. No attempt is possible to estimate the loss to the coal companies, to the shipping iv port, and the Raihvuy Department, but the demonstration of the destructive consequences of the Btrike to the working classes of Newcastle district is clear. The collapse of the Australian cricketers during tho last fortnight, iv contradistinction to their brilliant successes in the first eight matches, has caused no little consternation on tho other side. When the news arrived " Australians all out for IS " in the match u^ainst the Murylebone Club, it waa met with a storm of aDgry unbelief. Sydney contemporaries give amusing accounts of the incredulousness with which the Sydney public received the intelligence. Aa the news spread through tli6 city, the teller was usually treated with supreme contempt. He was an enemy of the commonwealth. The incredulous greeted him with scornful laughs. Round the newspaper offices the crowds surged and studied tho grave announcement, hung up at the windows, "Australians all out for IS." At first they simply would not behove. "It must be a mistake," and excited and anxious conjectures wore ventured aB to how the mistake arose. The hoax over tho reputed drowning of Stanbnry was remembered with a sigh of relief. Bub when confirmatory news camo to hand an expression of gloom settled upon the faces of the crowd, us though some great misfortune had overtaken the land. Then there were excited discussions aa to how it had happened, and the cause could only be ascribed to that very serious practical possibility in cricket known as "rob." Batsmen nervous and bowlers irresistibly confident, tho chances run ngaiDßO tho batting side, and from one cause and another the innings becomes a procession of players to and from the wickets. The continued weakness of form shown by tho Australians iv the last three matches, retrieved only to some extent by the brilliant batting of Trott and Gregory in the second inningsof the All England mutch, will cause still further dismay in the hearts of their colonial friends. It may be accounted for to a large extent by the manner in which the team is being rushed about from one. part of England to the other, with little breathing time between the different matches. It may be interesting to note, with regard to the abovementioned score of 18, that 18 years ago, when the first Australian eleven visited Jingland, they began their campaign by boating a team from this Mary.'cbone club, whom thoy disposed of in one innings for 19 runs. Since then 19 has been the record minimum score for a first-olass side.