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Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 182, 7 September 1914, Page 4

The party truce was thrown overboard with a loud splash in Wellington dn Saturday- when the "New Zealand Times'/' distinguished itself, by publishing a column of abuse of the Government's finance, and then an hysterical article about H.M.S. New Zealand and Sir Joseph Ward. As far as the first is concerned the Government newspapers are quite capable' of replying to, our contemporary, and they will no doubt point out very promptly that any financial embarrassments that the country may experience «is a result of the war will arise from the 15 necessity of meeting the Liberals' short-dated loans, which are maturing .at an inconvenient time. But we are more concerned for the moment with the misguided enthusiasm, not only of-the "New Zealand Times,?' but of other newspapers on both sides, for the policy which expressed itself in the gift o.r a Dreadnought, and left-New Zealand almost completely unprotected vat the present time. It is no doubt very fine and very inspiring that our battlecruiser should be fighting the Germans in the North Sea, and even (oppdnents of the gift Dreadnought policy were thrilled by Captain' Halsey's message to the people of New Zealand. But unless a man is prepared to bury his head in the sand like an ostrich, he cannot fail to see that it was because our battle-cruiser went to the North Sea we had to borrow Australians in order that we might send our men down to the Islands and Samoa. When this circumstance is coupled with the faet that the diversion of H.M.S. New Zealand from the China Station to the Home Fleet enabled Great Britain to build one s&ip less, leaving the relative naval strengths of Britain and Germany just where they would have been in any case, the doubtful policy of gift ships becomes more and more obvious. If instead of the Dreadnought the Government had built two or three Bristol cruisers for service in the Pacific, it would not have weakened the Mother Country one iota in the North Sea and the problem of convoying New Zealand Expeditionary Forces would have been greatly simplified. As it is, it will probably be necessary for Britain to detach ships that could be usefully employed elsewhere, or invoke the services of an ally for a job that New Zealand should have been able to perform for herself. Papers like the "New Zealand Times," that raged for months about "toy navies'' and printed columns of abuse and misrepresentation of Mr Allen regarding expeditionary forces, ought to have the grace and decency at the present time to be quiet.