NEW ZEALAND'S NAVAL POLICY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14983, 9 August 1919, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND'S NAVAL POLICY

NO CHANGE INTENDED

(Special to the Herald.)

WELLINGTON, this day

Mr. Massey was questioned by your correspondent regarding the acceptance on behalf of Now Zealand of the cruiser Canterbury, and a suggestion was made that the country was thus committed to a change of its policy of contribution to:wards.:lmpcrial defence. ; i

""There has been no change of .policy," he replied. "This is the policy under which wfe maintained H.M.S. Philomel out of New Zealand's £100,000 per annum subsidy. We shall do the same with this ship, which will be more suitable for the futuro needs of our Dominion. Our island interests are greatly extended, and we shall have plenty of work for the new cruiser. We have long felt the want of a fast vessel which can go out m a hurry to ships m distress off ihe coast.. Not only have we the Cook, j Niue. and Samoan groups, but our connection with Gilbert and El lice groups is] becoming closer, while Nauru is geogra-j phically within our sphere, and we have a part "interest m its phosphate deposits,) the value of which to the farming community has hardly yet been realised to the full. We have depended on basic slag, but we cannot get it from England, nor from Germany, m future. Phosphate, must replace it, and having gone exhaustively into the matter, I feel our interest iv Nauru one of the best things we hays obtained."