The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 1914. NAVAL DEFENCE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 79, 24 March 1914, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 1914. NAVAL DEFENCE.

Mr Massey's reaffirmation of the expressed unwillingness of Australia and • .New Zealand to rely upon the'AngloJapanese alliance, in the course of his . speech at Greymouth the other day is important in that (the Wellington "Post" says) it is a firm intimation to'the Admiralty and a direct reply" to the speech of the First Lord. Naval concentration in the European: waters, says Mr Churchill, protects! from European fleets not only the outer Empire but also Japan, whose : dependence and friendship are thus; secured. The reply of Australia andj New Zealand is that the Alliance can-] . not he regarded as the permanent basis! of their defence; they cannot depend I .'for ever on Japan's present dependence on Britain. Therefore, Australia! has already built a unit, and the New t Zealand Government will ask Parlia- j meut to build a Bristol cruiser, hav-i

■ ing failed to get one from the Admir- | alty. The respective attitudes of the Mother Country and of Australasia, one taking short view and the other the long view, are quite compatible. Dominion navies will have time to grow up under the shelter of the present system, provided that they start I now ; and the Mother Country makes [no objection to the starting, and offers every assistance. Assuming that, the Admiralty's decision, not to give New Zealand anything better than the Pyramus and the Psyche, is final, then the £IOO,OOO subsidy is withdrawn, and in place of those two chuisers New Zealand acquires a much superior Bristol cruiser (upkeep £90,000) and maintains the training ship Philomel (upkeep £50,000) at a total annual cost of about £140,000. Concluding, the "Post" says: On these figures, given by Mr Massoy, tin's country expends more than the present £IOO,OOO subsidy, but less per annum (ban the amount (£150,000) vainly offered to the Admiralty last year on condition that two Bristols were sent out. Having exhausted the alternative, the Ooveinment'* forward policy is to-be commended, and has we believe, the country's support