EMPIRE'S VITAL NEED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19104, 27 August 1936, Page 13

EMPIRE'S VITAL NEED

STRONG NAVAL FLEET

BRITISH BLOCKADE PERIL

HOST VULNERABLE

CENTRE

LONDON, July 14. Britain's need for a Fleet •strong enough W. carry Qui its duties in any condition?" was stressed by Sir Samuel Hoare, First Lord of the Admiralty, in a speech at Southampton on Saturday. "It is upon the sea, that this country and this Empire depend for then- existence," he declared. If our sea communications are cut, we have a supply of raw materials that will only last our industries for three months. That supply would be more than we should need, for within six weeks we should be dead of starvation. We had delayed so long in rebuilding our fleet, he added, that we were uow faced with the problem of building virtually a new navy. "That this new fleet'should be built upon the right lines is a matter of life and death to us. Every possible effort will be made to avail ourselves of the teachings of practical experience, of the discoveries and inventions of science, and of the lessons of actual experiment to ensure the best designs and the soundest methods of construction. "As our life depends upon free pas-1 sage through the seven seas of the world, the fleet must be strong enough to go anywhere. It is our determination I to have such a fleet build it with:; the least possible delay." HELP FOR SPECIAL AREAS

The rebuilding of the navy, he pointed put, would confor great benefits upon the depressed areas. Out of the £23,000.GCQ to be spent on the new construction programme, no less than £20,000,000 had gone in orders to the specially hit areas. Sir Samuel went on to speak of the menace from the air. For seven years—from 1922 to 1924 and from 1924-23 lie had been Air Minister, and he realised fully, therefore, the changes wrought by development of air power. He continued: "To me and to my naval advisers there can be no question of air power and naval power being rivals or of the one being sacrificed to the other- The British Navv wants as much air power as we cart develop, just as British air power needs for its full development a navy that can go anywhere and keep open the seven seas over which its food and raw,materials must b'e transported.

"Air power has made what was once the most secure island in the world the most vulnerable society in Europe. Here, within a few minutes' flight Of the Continent, is gathered together a vast population living in the conditions of the richest and most complicated civilisation the-world has even known. For the first time in our history, the heart of the Empire has Become vulnerable. "It is our bounden duty to make such preparations as will remove the danger. It is on this account that we are proceeding with our great programme of air reinforcement."

J In a criticism of the pacifism of the leaders oif "the .Soeinlist- Party, Sir Samuel said:

"It is these men' who pose as the leaders of Socialism when the one great Socialist Government in office, the Socialist .Government -in--France, applauds cur programme and prays ■ that-we-shall carry it out swiftly, and their particular friends the Bolsheviks in Russia have embarked upon aft armament programme in comparison with which ours appears as a mere bagatelle. TRIBUTE TO PREMIER.

"It is the fashion in certain quarters to disparage Mr. Baldwin's leadership and to belittle the record of the National 'Government that he did so much to bring into being. Let us compare the England of to-day with the England that was left by the Socialists who opposed the formation of the National Government in 1931.

"More than any man in this country the Prime Minister stands for a contented England. There is no man who has a greater feeling for the underdog nor a finer contact with the traditions that unite us into a single nation. He stands for a united Empire. "Far better than the pacifists, he represented as no other man represents the forces Of peace, in the country. Through all these difficult mouths, as I know better than anyone, he has been betermined to prevent the conflagration of a European war. There were many moments when a less steady determination to pursue the path of peace might have plunged Europe into one of the great catastrophes in the worlds histoiy," ...