NAVAL POLICY

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 66, 26 March 1913, Page 4

NAVAL POLICY

Writing in the Mr Archibald Hurd points out that a subcommittee of the Comm uee- ol Defenco in London !us compiled a v; r both setting forth the duties of every department of the 1-taie m time of war, and urging that me Dominion should do the same witu the .eject of preparing a war lank of r he Em-

pire. Mr Hurd indicates his own view of naval policy, wlun lie cays.- • “Dreadnoughts are i’.e slops of Great Powers, with great re.ojrces ol money, men, and scientific hnowh-dge. and if they could only realise it the lesser Powers oi the world—Argentina, Chili, Holland, Greece, and ilurkey and shall it Ire added Australia —might almost as well pour their money into the seas as invest it - n these vast and complied'■-■•! boxes of war machinery from which they can never hope with their small, and, therefore, imperfectly organised services, to obtain results in war which will compensate them for the heavy sacrifices which they avi making in peace. Moreover, a single ship of the

Dreadnought type in isolation —sue a as Australia has built and Sir Wilfred Laurier proposes Canada shall build, one each for the Atlantic and Pacific respectively will serve merely as effective targets for the welldrilled and numerous squadron of ar enemy.’ Mr Hurd contends tha f “the case of Australia is a good illustration of the folly which underlies the policy which leads small States to invest in great warships.’ In the course of his article, he o!s' remarks: “The Dominions have scant populations and few men who heai

tko call of the sea, as recent colonial recruiting efforts have demonstrated. It took Sir Wilfred Laurier’s Government two years to recruit 300 seamen, and many of these have since deserted. In the Commonwealth the experience has been much the same, though the rates of pay are 1000 pci cent, higher than in the British service.’ The Commonwealth naval authorities, however, officially deny the alleged difficulty in obtaining Australian recruits for their own warships.