The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1911. THE NAVY.

Southland Times, Issue 16746, 27 May 1911, Page 4

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1911. THE NAVY.

We are Informed by telegram that the London Times, after closely examining the official returns relative to the comparative strength of the navies of the Great Powers, finds that Britain’s position is not wholly satisfactory. The ground of criticism against the Government’s building policy is found, as usual, not in the position which exists at the present moment but in the position which is likely to exist four years hence. At the present time Britain’s naval supremacy is unquestionable and unassailable. At the Coronation Review next month Britain will have in commission as many battleships of the Dreadnought class as the rest of the Powers together possess at the present

time. In the great fighting fleet which will be reviewed by King George next month there will be 10 Dreadnoughts and 4 Inviucibles; the rest of the Powers together have only 12 such ships completed. There can be no doubt, therefore, as to Britain's immediate security. But tbe present position is of minor importance. What we have to be assured of is that three or four years hence we shall not be less secure than we are to-day. In 1915 our alliance with Japan will come to an end, and it may not be renewed. In the same year the Panama Canal will be completed, and the effect may be to alter the face of the naval map, and to make the burden of defence more onerous by necessitating the maintenance of a considerable naval force in the Pacific. In the same year, also, the Kiel Canal will be widened for the passage of the largest ships, a work” which will have an important effect upon Germany’s strategical strength in the North Sea. Four years hence some of the Powers that have no Dreadnoughts at all at the present time will possess armoured ships of the latest type. Austria and Italy, for instance, will probably have two or three Dreadnoughts apiece in the Mediterranean, and their advent will certainly be a factor in determining Britain’s policy with respect to that great expanse of water. Britain has to provide, therefore, for future contingencies, and the relative strength of navies is liable to change very rapidly. For instance, while Britain will have 14 Dreadnoughts at the Coronation Review as against 12 owned by the rest of the Powers, even so soon as 31st March next the rest of the Powers will have 27 Dreadnoughts as against Britain’s 20. The investigations of the London Times seem to show that Britain is not building fast enough, and yet it is doubtful whether she can build faster without making the burden of naval expenditure insupportable. The only equitable plan for imperial action in such circumstances is that proposed by Sir Joseph Ward, who suggests that an Imperial Council of Defence, composed of representatives of Great Britain and the oversea dominions, should decide on the programme which is necessary for the safety of the Empire, and that the cost should be distributed over the several portions of the Empire in proportion to the benefits they receive from adequate naval .protection. There are great difficulties in the way of the scheme, of course—difficulties which will not be overcome easily—but the principle that the colonies should provide their fair share of naval expenditure is sound, and it will be interesting to learn, whether the Colonial Conference is successful in its search for a workable proposal based on this principle.