THREATENS NOBODY

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 963, 5 May 1930, Page 9

THREATENS NOBODY

SINGAPORE NECESSARY TO MEND OLD SHIPS DOMINION SHARES £1,290,000 Reed. 9.10 a.m. LONDON, Sunday. The naval correspondent of the “Morning Post” says:—“lt is difficult to follow the argument prevalent in Government quarters that there is no need to proceed steadily with the Singapore base owing to a capital ship holiday. “Singapore is not being developed primarily as a battleship base, but for erhisers, though it includes a battleship graving dock. "The ships we shall be able to maintain in the Far East till 1940 at the earliest must, be old, requiring more docking and repairing than the newer ones. Thus the capital ship holiday makes Singapore more necessary than ever. “After March, 1931, £4,867,000 will he required to complete the base, of which the Malay States and New Zealand are to find £1,290,000. "Surely the £3,500,000 payable by Britain, spread over many years, is not too high an insurance, seeing that the aggregate value of ships and cargoes on any single day on the Eastern and Australian waters is more than £150,000,000. “The Singapore base is a necessity that threatens nobody. Several of the most powerful nations have agreed that British naval strength based on Singapore will be the greatest influence for maintaining peace in the Far East.”