Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1936. EMPIRE DEFENCE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19028, 30 May 1936, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1936. EMPIRE DEFENCE

The failure of the collective security system effectively to restrain Italy from its invasion of Abyssinia has evidently given British statesmen food for thought regarding the position ,of the Empire, and some recent statements have been of an alarming nature. Certainly it is vitally necessary, in the present unsettled state of international affairs, that there should be a careful stocktaking and that each unit of the Empire should make a detailed examination ol its position. The ideal of collective security through the League of Nations has not yet. been abandoned;

it may yot bo revived in a more concrete and more effective form, but it is necessary to remember that even f the ideal is attained individual nations will not be entirely relieved of their responsibility to provide for their own defence. The League method of applying sanctions, whether they be economic or military, is necessarily slow, and it is doubtful whether satisfactory means can be devised for ensuring that, they

will operate with sufficient promptitude to protect a defenceless nation. On the other hand, several recent, experiences have gone to show that when a nation is determined to piny the part of an aggressor it will act without warning and thus secure the advantage that always attaches to the element of surprise. Had Abyssinia been hotter prepared and better equipped to resist an invader it is probable that the Italian forces could have been held in check sufficiently long to enable the undoubted force of even limited sanctions to have been effective. As it was, before the League machinery had got properly into its stride the war was over. What- happened to Abyssinia might just as

easily be the fate of any other country which, if it is attacked, is unable to hold out until assistance is forthcoming, and this is precisely the position confronting every part of the British Empire' to-day. It is not: necessary to search very far to discover nations which already nourish o-riev-ances against either the Empire as a whole or against certain parts of it, and it is important to remember that feeling is most bitter in countries which are not members of the League of Nations and, therefore, not, bound by its covenant. What would be the position if one of the Dominions or Colonies were confronted with a problem similar to that which Abyssinia was called upon to face? Hitherto there has been an almost complete reliance on the strength of the British navy, but it is abundantly clear that blind faith of this description ,is no longer justified. The naval correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph, than whom no one is l generally better informed, asserts that owing to the steady expansion of European navies, Britain would not now be in a position to maintain, strong naval forces both in Europe and the Far East. “The Australian and New Zealand Governments,” he adds, “therefore, must henceforth depend more and more on their own powers of defence.” This statement brings the question home with a vengeance and the force of it cannot b c denied. Supposing that, perhaps bv some arrangement between nonLeague Powers, the British fleet is involved in some issue either, in home waters or the Mediterranean, and, simultaneously, either ' Australia or New' Zealand, or both, is confronted with an attack from another source, what possible hope .would they have of defending themselves until assist. : jvnee arrived, either in the form of some units of the navy or by the delayed action of tho League machinery? This is the position that has to be faced, and it has to bc faced regardless of whether the collective security system can be made to succeed. For some years, the Dominions have been prone to talk of their independence, but at the first sign of any trouble there is not one of. them that would not immediately call on Ibe Mother Country for much-needed assistance, and the time has now arrived when Great Britain might not be in a position to come to their aid. What then is to be done to remedy the obvious weaknesses in the Empire defence system? Britain has already .taken the necessary steps, but comparatively little has been done by the other parts of the commonwealth to carry their share of the common burden. The Armaments Year Book for last year shows that Great Britain’s estimated defence expenditure for 1935-36 was £107,000,000, Canada’s £3,000,000, Australia’s £8,791,000, South .Africa’s £1,500,000, andi New Zealand’s £9(53,000. On a per capita basis, Britain allowed for the expenditure of approximately £2 Ss, Canada 7s, Australia £1 7s, South Africa 8s 0d and New Zealand 10s Gd. These figures show' clearly the extent to which the rest of the- Empire is allowing the Mother Country to boar the major part of the expense, and it is not surprising that there is a growing demand for a better distribution of” the cost and for a greater coordination of the Empire defence forces. It is significant that the main item on the agenda for next year’s Imperial Conference will be that of defence, and it is to bo hoped that the discussions that will then take place will result in adequate steps being taken to ensure that the Empire’s defences as a whole are placed on a firm foundation.