The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1909. THE PRESS CONFERENCE AND DEFENCE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12239, 12 June 1909, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1909. THE PRESS CONFERENCE AND DEFENCE.

The increasing need for more alertness

and longer views in national adminis-

tration and especially in matters • af-;

fecting the Empire: as a whole, has

been significantly emphasised, by the

weighty utterances of the distinguished

and representative statesmen who have

addressed the Imperial Press Conference during the past few days. Mr. Fen-

wick, of the- "Gtago Daiiy Times," was

well within the mark when he declared

that the speeches of Ministers and ex-

Ministers had made the Conference his-

toric, and had afforded the editors from the overseas dominions much inspiration

on, many points. .Lord RosebeYy'g bril-

liant and impressive oration, which has

met with the and endorse-

ment of men of all shades of political

opinion, has itself been described as an

inspiration. But it must be remember-

c.d ■ that the sentiments voiced by. that

distinguished statesman represent some-

thing more than a momentary flash of inspiration—they are, in fact, the embodiment of careful observation arid

mature judgment. Ten, years ago, in an address delivered at Glasgow, Lord

Rosebery made a striking appeal for a

general overhaul of our- administrative

and commercial methods, pointing out

that the State was "in essence a great joint stock company, with unlimited liability on the part of its shareholders," that the century would be "a period of

keen, intelligent, almost fierce- international competition," and that "we havo now to fight for our existence." It always seemed to him, he. said, that " in Germany nothing, and in Britain every.thing', is left to chance." It : is evident by his latest utterance that -since he made this survey-Lord Rosebery nls Sbt been able to take a more clieerful view, of the situation, and tliat instead he is more convinced "than, ever of the need for national, vigilance. -Lbrd-IMilner" is another who, more recently, indeed is late as April last, gave expression to opinions such as are now being, so em-. phatically endorsed at the great Press Conference by experienced statesmen; of at least some of whom it may be said that they are able to observe affairs at Home and the progress of developments in • other countries from a stand-point of comparative independence. Speaking at Nottingham, Lord Milner pointed out that those who were attempting social? reforms would only be wasting their efforts if they neglected the defensive power and commercial interests of the country. "We must remain a great nation if we are to be a prosperous and happy one." That was his text. He repudiated the idea that he and thoso

who thought with him were, subjecjfc,.t,j, fits of panic; his own feeling was.one of chronic but, as he believed/-reasonable anxiety. "I cannot tell at what time," j ho went on, "I do not know' in.^wlvjit quarter, grave danger may a^iae f ,t^^W' Empire. I doubt whether any man'caiiv); AH that I do know is thatif we e^n^ifiue" year after year, and decade after decade, to run such tremendous risks, to' undertake such heavy obligations, ex-1 press or moral, without knowing KpW, _'6 shall discharge them, to conduct so vast a business with such inadequate an in-! surance, we are bound sooner or later] to come to grief." The burden of Lord Milner's complaint was that the nation ; appeared to have forgotten the significant lessons of the South African War,

and that we are content to go on on tin--old lines, as if we had had no warning that we are living on the edge of a precipice. What makes this state of things more bitter, says Lord Milner, is "the. conviction that it is totally unnecessary.! Humanly speaking, it should be possible for us to enjoy a position of great secur-

ity, and one in which scares like the present would be wholly unreasonable. The potential strength of the Empire is immensej but so also is its unreadiness and lack of organisation. And no mere expenditure of money will put things right. More expenditure of money may indeed be necessary, but there may also be great waste of money from want of

system.. And nothing can be done in a.

hurry. What we need is carefully to think out our requirements as a whole, and then to set about year after year working up to the accepted standard." But the point of Lord Milrier's speech which should appeal most forcefully to

the people of New Zealand at the pre-

sent moment is his declaration that something more than a strong navy was needed. National defence, he affirmed, was not merely a question of fleets, 't was not merely a question of sea power, important as that was to a country like ours with oversea possessions and great foreign trade. It might very well be tr some degree a question of air power. It always must be, to a great extent, a question of land.power. All these things would have; to be considered together. "If," he asked, "itßeally is the duty of every able-bodied man of military age to take his part in the defence of his country, .as, we keep on asseverating, why should; we not be called upon to discharge it like any other recognised civic duty?" His arguments in this connection, apply as aptly to the people of this Dominion as they do to the citizens of the Mother Country. "Itis on land that the fate of empires is in the last resort decided," Lord Milner contended, " and Hve cannot overlook the possibility of being called upon to make efforts on land which would require larger numbers than anything short of national service can give us. I know that people are getting rather into the habit nowadays of saying that in view of the growth of other nations, of the general increase of armaments, and of the development or a new spirit of< restlessness in parts of our own empire, it will soon be in..re than we can do to f maintain our old position—that the weary Titan is no longer equal to the burden, and so forth. But.just think of the vast reserves of power that we possess, if only we elioo«?» to use it, in. the young manhood of this country, which we alone among great nations in Europe, •:• ill leave wholly, or almost wholly; untrained to arms. Let us be honest with ourselves . We may be unwilling to make the effort; we may not think the object of national greilness and security worth the troublo of maintaininjg it; %we may' hold that it is wicked and?un-Cliristian to keep up, not indeed'an army, but an adequate one (that seems to be the strange opinion of a good many worthy people)-^-but do not let us say that we are unable .to kee P «P an -adequate army, or that we cannot afford it:. The money cost in this case is not the chief cost, nor would

it in the sum total of our national expenditure be a very great item. T/:e i^Ms^ostJjis .of personal jservicy, ,wh,icli, it is ibha fashion to describe as sacrifice, but which; kept within reason-' >ble-limits£is not a sacrifice, but a bless-ing,-especially for a population living in the'conditions in which the majority of tho British people live to-day." And now, at the Imperial Press Conference, we ifind the great political leaders brought into harmonious agreement on tins vital question, we see Mr. Haldane and Lord Rosebery and Mr. Balfour and Sir Edward Grey1 standing, as it were, on the sajne; platform, and in accord with their weighty words of warning we have the reiterated, and imgratified declarations of Lord Roberts that the vol-

untary system lias entirely failed/ and. that nothing but forethought and preparation can make us reliable' for a great : emergency. Surely, faced with such overwhelming evidence as this, and with the knowledge that the people of the are ready and willing to nso to the occasion, the statesmen of New Zealahd cannot much longer hesitato to do the right thing.