THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Monday. March 22. 1909. THE NAVAL SITUATION.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12494, 22 March 1909, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Monday. March 22. 1909. THE NAVAL SITUATION.

That -.which f^lie naval experts have long foretold has come to pass at' last, and Britain has to face the necessity for prodigious activity and expenditure, in shipbuilding if her time hon-oured-boast of being mistress of the seas is not to be an empty one. The situation which has been threatening for a long time, and which the disclosures made during the debate on tho Naval - Estimates . show has materialised, is one of the most interesting as well as the most sinister in the maritime^ affairs of the Empire. That Germany has been steadily improving her naval position 'has, : of course, been no secret. The surprising thing is that the debate on the Naval Estimates ■ was required to bring home to the people of Britain* a sense of the jeopardy in which our maritime supremacy will be placed unless our energies are redoubled to more than keep pace with the activity of the ' Fatherland. That Britain does ■now. recognise the gravity of the situation- is' manifested by the attitude of " all political parties. Even, the Labour Party has forgotten. its traditional grievances for the moment in: deference to the infinitely greater problenrin which is possibly bound up our national existence. What, too, could be more significant than the unceremonious abandonment by the Limitation ".. of Armaments- Committee of its .amendment to the Government's motion? The only difference of opinion- is as to the extent to which the British Gov-: eminent should immediately lay down, ships. As to "the urgent necessity of -increasing the naval strength of the Empire, aiid at once, there is no dispute. As a London-paper points but, the present is ah unique opportunity for construction imder the most eco--' noriiical conditions. Tlie shipbuilding "l yards afHome are in a state qf . stag- ' nation, which has contributed to a. very large extent to tlie lamentable unemployment at present existing in the' Old Couutry. At such a time orders giving the smallest remunerative return would be welcomed by the shipbuilders, as is suggested, if~pnly in order that, theii- yards may bo kept busy and their staffs together. , How the Government's proposals will fare remains to be/seen j but the programme certainly will not be reduced, The weighty criticism of Mr Balfour, and the grave admissions it adduced from the Premier, had no less an effect upon the House than upon the country. ' It has been- conclusively shown that the British naval policy has been based upon a false hypothesis ; that the shipbuilding facilities of Germany are superior to those of Britain, and that Britain no longer possesses an advantage,- and it has further been proved that Germany V intentions are "not to be guaged by her declarations. Particularly hapiiy at this time is the Australian' suggestion that Jthe colonies should take occasion to again prove ■fio the world that, they are ready, in .an emergency, to return some of what the}' have received from the Motherland. The addition of one or two Dreadnoughts to the British Navy by. the .combined efforts of the oversea dominions, would not perhaps.be. aivery severe strain upon their finahI ces, but^the effect of an offer of such assistance in the maintenance of the bulwarks of the Empire^ would 'be not less valuable at the present:: juncture than was the despatch of colonial trdops to South Africa dur•ing the Boe&war. 'The colonies have in the past made great demands upon the Nayy ? ■■ in return 7 foi- merely nominal subsidies towards -its^upkeep. Tlie "Sydney' Daily Telegraph/ now suggests. an admirable m6ahs.T>f partly T liquidating the colonies' debt to the Empire, at the same -time giving a most significant" intimation to the nations that in an emergency every Jijjxrb ot the Empire' is ready to assume its share of the burden.. -'. : ■■..■':---.■ ~: '- . ", ' -