THE NAVY

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 4 June 1923, Page 9

THE NAVY

Singapore, or Perhaps Sydney? HOME TALK. About Overseas Settlement.

(Received 8 p.m., June 2.) by cable-press assn .-copyright.

London, June 1. In a letter to “The Times,*” j Rear-Admiral A. P. Davidson i draws attention to the growing' expansion of air schemes leading ! to an impression that, sea power ; lias become of less importance. . He urges the necessity of any air : plan taking second place to the < Navy. Australian and Hew Zea- . land trade and commerce would always be dependent on naval protection. He champions the : base at Singapore which should ; be pushed to completion in five ; instead of ten years, if finance permits. Co-ordination with the defence policy could best be achieved by the Ministry of ; Defence being composed of representatives of land, sea, and air.— The Times. 1 Lord St. John Bletsoe, presiding at a meeting at the Mansion House, organised by the British Dominions Emigration Society, said that within 41 years the Society had assisted 28,724 people to emigrate to the Dominions. The Duke of Devonshire pointed out that although Empire Settlement had developed since the war, the movement still

needed the co-operation of the existing societies. The Overseas Settlement Committee, which was operating under the Empire Settlement Act, was most anxious to work in the closest harmony and co-operation with such societies. He desired to emphasise that the Government s Empire Settlement Policy, which, he believed the majority, of thinking' people supported, was not an expedient or attempt to grapple with the pressing, temporary problem. It was a carefully thought-out plan, looking forward to the future, in the hope and belief that it would prove beneficial for generations to come. The Government believed that a well-ordered system of movement within the Empire would develop the _ great resources of the Dominions. In the course of the discussion, Sir Joseph Cook said the Dominions were not advocating migration because of unemployment in Britain. They would advocate it if there were no unemployment there, for the purpose of developing, peopling and defence of the empty Dominions.