EMPIRE DEFENCE

Southland Times, Issue 22131, 27 September 1933, Page 5

EMPIRE DEFENCE

AUSTRALIA’S LEAD HOPES THAT BRITAIN WILL FOLLOW GREATER COMMITMENTS (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 9.25 p.m.) London, September 28. Lord Lloyd, interviewed by the Sun, said: “It is most encouraging to learn that the great defence campaign in Australia has given the Imperial Parliament a badly needed lead which I hope will be followed. It is one thing to give the world an example in disarmament and another to persist in a policy of unilateral disarmament which actually encourages other nations to seize the chance of augmenting their naval power at the expense of England. The Empire could not watch events in the Far East and the rising hegemony of Japan in those waters without concern. The fact that America is the author of the Kellogg Pact does not blind us to her huge expansion of naval expenditure and personnel. FrancoItalian rivalry for mastery in the Mediterranean is not a matter of mere academic interest to the Power whose vital communications run through that sea. “The naval requirements of other countries are in nowise comparable to Britain’s. The Empire’s sea communications are vital, and England and the dominions must again be free to build what is necessary to their own safety. It is not a question of rivalry. Let other nations build for their needs, but we must be free to do the same. We knoW from the considered pronouncements of Earl Beatty and Earl Jellicoe that seventy cruisers are the bare minimum needed to defend 85,000 miles of sea routes. We had 120 cruisers before the war. Our present world commitments are far larger, yet we have only 36 now obsolete cruisers to discharge the vast responsibilities of policing and protection.”

CONCERN AT CANBERRA SITUATION IN EUROPE. (United Press Assn—Telegraph Copyright.) Sydney, September 26. The Sydney Morning Herald in a leading article on the defence policy says: “That there has been real concern at Canberra is clear enough and we know the British authorities have been in constant touch with our own Defence Department. The situation in Europe as it developed from day to day caused increasing alarm, and also the position in the Pacific, with the American and Japanese navies’ demonstration of their strength, caused thoughtful citizens to make demands for information as to the Federal Government’s intentions. Broadly, the truth is that nothing we can do will serve to protect us from an invasion in the immediate future. Sir George Pearce does not offer the Government plan with that in view, but we must believe his proposals are the result of earnest thinking and sound wisdom which have been made complete by a full agreement with the Mother Country as to the best course to pursue.’

AMERICA IMPRESSED APPROVAL OF PROPOSALS. (United Press Assn. —Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 7.0 p.m.) Washington. Sept. 25. The announcement by Sir _ George Pearce, the Australian Minister _of Defence, caused a profound impression on official Washington which finds itself in complete harmony with Australia’s defence proposals. No phase of Australia’s activities is more closely watched here than the Commonwealth s naval defence policy. Sir George Pearce’s pronouncement synchronizes with the United States’ considered judgment that the time is opportune, perhaps overdue, for a strengthening of the American naval policy, especially in the Pacific, where the whole of the American Fleet has been retained for the past year.

Australia’s action may cause a proper recognition among American people of the vital need for practical steps to assure peace in the Pacific.