THE RIVAL NAVIES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13866, 31 March 1909, Page 5

THE RIVAL NAVIES.

THE CENSURE MOTION. C!OVERNMENT ADMISSION. SENSATION IN THE, HOUSE. Press Assoeiii.l-ion-Tsy Telenrapli-Copvri'jht ■ Received 10.30 p.m.,- March 30th; LONDON, March 30.

Mr A. 11. Lee, Conservative meinher for Eareham, moved the censure motion in moderate terms. lie denied that there was a pnelie. panic, hut only a natural acute anxiety, the result of Mr Asquith's speech on the Kith. It was absurd, he said, to talk about Germany's treachery. Safety lay in refusing to be influenced by her promise not to accelerate building. A diplomatic declaration mhdit become obsolete in a week, . whereas :it ' woidd take two years to construct a battleship. Sir E. Gi'ey, in- replying, commended the absence of party feeling from "Mr Lee's speech, but the Opposition ought to have deferred the proposed censuie until July, when the shipbuilding vote would, bo considered,'.and more information upon which to form a right judgment would be available to the House, and the country. It was perfectly right to view the new situation created by the German programme i.\ graye. When the programme wis complete, Germany would have thiitythree Dreadnoughts—the most powe: 'ul fleet in the world. That imposed up >n Britain the necessity of rebuilding the whole of her fleet. Sir E. Grey said that the element of uncertainty was when this must he done. The first necessity, therefore, was' to take stock of the plant -of the country and what the Admiralty had done. The British capacity for building hulls, propelling machinery, and the manufacture of the largest guns was considerably in excess of the German. A doubtful point of comparative capacity was the. providing of gun mountings. The Admiralty had ' now arranged for manufacturers to, provide such an increase, that in a few months there would be a similar advance in this branch.

Periling with diplomatic relations, Sir.-E. Grey insisted on the good results of King Edward's , Berlin visit. Two j things might produce a. conflict, first, I a British.---attempt to isolate Germany ; second)- the of Britain in an ntteinpt by any Continental rower to dominate or dictate a policy for the Continent... . There was no reason to apprehend either contingency. The European- Powers were spending half their revenue in preparations .to- kill each other. To a-certain extent this expenditure had become a satire and a reflection - upon civilisation ; but Britain' must be prepared to defend her national existence under the conditions imposed by her own generation. lie was glad that colonies such as New Zealand recognised that their national existence was one with Britain's in this matter. The only possible basis of agreement on limitation, is an acknowledgment of British naval superiority. In.January I made our information regarding acceleration . known in Germany, adding that she must not be surprised if the British estimates were increased.' Germany, in a verbal but quite definite .declaration, said they would have Dreadnoughts by the end of .1912. This disposes of the extreme apprehension regarding the 10' 10-1911 four British hypothetical Dreadnoughts. It was not intended that there, should be. limitation of the next programme. National security shall have the benefit of any donbl. ~ The speech created a sensation in :i crowded House. Mr Asquith added but little to Sir "Rj Grey's speech, and concluded with a strong appeal to his supporters to vote confidence. Mr Balfour; in winding up the debate, the Government replying, said there was too small a margin of naval strength at a time when a - greater strain was placed on Britain's defensive resources, than during the. last hundred years. The motion was rejected by 353 votes to 134 votes. Lieut. Bellairs and Cant. KincaidSmith voted in favour of the motion ; the Labour members against it, and the Nationalists abstained from voting. PEACE SOCIETY'S RESOLUTION. SYDNEY, March 29. A meeting of the Peace Society adopted a resolution deploring the publit- excitement in regard to the British and German, navies, regretting the misplaced generosity of certain citizens, and supporting Mr Fisher's action in refusing to involve the people of the Common wealth in presenting a Dreadnought to Britain. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. LONDON, March 29. , The " Spectator " .discusses the possibility of the German navy being aimed at challenging the Monroe doctrine >n relation to German interests in South America ;' hence the building of battleships for Brazil. A BOLD STEP. MR T E. TAYLOR INTERFERES. On Monday Mr T. E. Taylor, M.P., sent the following cable message to the Prime .Minister, of Great Britain:— "Asquith, Premier, London —Cabinet's offer of a Dreadnought was made without consultation with Parliament or people. There is an increasing reeling that the offer was unconstitutional and an unfortunate interference with British party politics. Befieve Parliament would gladly increase naval subsidy.—T. E. Taylor, Member Christchurch. North." ' • '" After consultation with people in Christehurch North and with oilier persons," said Mr Taylor exnlaining to a reporter his reasons for sending the message, "T felt that it was a wise thing to do. AVe believe that the bulk of the excitement of the past week or two has been carefully worked up by Ihe Conservative Party in England, and was prompted more bv a desire to discredit the Liberal Administration and to embarrass the British Premier than by- any feeling that there was real danger of a conflict with Germany. My own feeling is that the whole incident is a fine illustration of the confusion that will arise if colonial Governments interfere with the course of British politics unless an actual crisis is known to exist."