The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1911. EMPIRE DEFENCE.

Southland Times, Issue 16687, 16 March 1911, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1911. EMPIRE DEFENCE.

The debate in the House of Commons on the Navy Estimates serves as a reminder of the fact that Empire defence is now being regarded by the most prominent men of all parties as the one pressing Imperial problem, and it is satisfactory to note that the present Government has definitely declared its intention of maintaining the two-power standard. British newspapers have seized upon the latest uterances of Sir Joseph Ward, and are now pointing out that the Empire’s defence is a burden which Britain is no longer able to carry alone. And it is quite evident that the self-governing States have already realised this, for New Zealand in proportion to its population has done a good deal in that direction, and Aus-

tralia and Canada have definitely decided to have navies of their own. And if the British Dominions beyond the seas shoulder the task of contributing their just quota towards naval defence, then the proposal for an Imperial Defence Parliament is one which is worthy of the consideration of the Imperial authorities. If the colonies are expected to contribute towards Imperial defence, then, too, they are entitled to have a voice in the carrying-out of an Imperial policy. Mr McKenna (First Lord), -during the debate, is reported to have said that it was impossible to avoid reference to the growth of the German Navy, and it is evident that the British Government is now thoroughly alive to the fact that the almost feverish haste of the Germans to build a fleet capable of dealing with allcomers will have to be met by a similar policy on the part of Great Britain. Within the last half-century

Germany has made war three times for the conquest of neighbouring States. Now the German naval authorities are hastily building huge warships at an enormous sacrifice, with bunkers suited only to North Sea navigation, and they have removed their naval base from the Baltic to the North Sea. Not so long ago official German papers emphatically denied the French Foreign Minister’s statement that the Kaiser had at King Edward’s funeral expressed his desire for a pacific league of the European States, and recently the Berlin “Tageblatt” demanded that the completion of ships for active service should t»e hurried forward, while Admiral von Koester, head of the German Navy League, declared that “the enthusiasm of the adherents of the purely idealistic 'peace movement is cooling, and the impossibility of the limitation ol armaments is being more and more realised.” To hold the Empire Britain must be a first-class Power, and to be a first-class Power an efficient army and navy is needed. And in addition to an army and navy national efficiency and national unity on all Imperial questions is required. The British people to-day are split into two hostile parties: On the one side is Imperialism; on the other side

Democracy; in the one camp is a spirit of patriotism; in the other camp a spirit of reform. The task now confronting Imperial statesmen is to make our reformers into patriots, and our patriots into reformers. Signs and portents are not absent that the time has come when the people must rally to the defence of the Empire, and unless they are prepared to unite and to make sacrifices they may later have no laws to reform and no government to improve. The man who directs attention to these things is liable to be called a scaremonger and a jingo by one-half of the community, and a demagogue and a brigand by the other; but the ococcasion. demands that attention should be directed to them, and being called names should not deter one from doing what he considers his duty. A powerful British Navy makes for peace. An inadequate British Navy may at any time cause a European war. A pressing need of the present time is the need for internal Imperial unity, and if the Empire falls it will be because the people are divided and incapable of a comprehensive and unselfish policy. In saying that, it must be admitted that besides an effective navy there are other factors that will have to be considered, but the guiding star to the future welfare of the Empire is Imperial unity. The individual is the mirror of the nation. Nations, like men, may be true to themselves, yet be neither arrogant, covetous, nor hostile to others. The really healthy and strong man is never a bully; neither is the truly strong and healthy nation. It will use its health and strength to defend its own rightful interests, and protect the weak among other nations against greed and oppression. For its love will follow the-course set down for the individual by St. Augustine:— Friend, parent, neighbour, first it will embrace, His country next, and next the human race.