IMPERIAL NAVAL DEFENCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXV, Issue 11648, 23 April 1913, Page 2

IMPERIAL NAVAL DEFENCE.

SPEECH BY THE HON. JAMBS

ALajEN.

Sir Joseph Ward presided at a dinner of the Liberal Colonial Club at Prince's Restaurant, London, on March 12th, when a discussion, took place upon '' imperial Defence.'' The Hon. J anies Allen, Minister for Defence for New Zealand, was the principal guest of the evening. Mr Allen, who initiated the discussion, said that in New Zealand defence had been treated by all parties as a non-party question, and he hoped that tho members of the British. Parliament and the British public would also treat defence as a non-political matter. (Hear, hear). In this connection there were those who held that as long as the "first line of defence," as the Navy was called, was as strong as was required, there was no need to fear aggression. But he doubted if there had been a single instance in history of an international struggle in which Eng land was concerned, which had been settled by the Navy alone. In all cases it had been necessary to enlist the support of the laud forces to secure eventual victory. The fact was recognised in New Zealand that the land ,aud sea forces were the necessary complement of each other. In full regard of that fact, they had adopted a system of- compulsory national military service in New Zealand, and they were ready to transfer a portion of that military force to any part of the Empire in which their services were icquired. But the transport of that force was not possible ■without naval protection, and thus it was again brought home to them that the land and sea forces were interpeudent. But while both adequate sea and land forces were necessary, the more difficult problem related to naval defence. New Zealand had faced the problem by making a direct contribution to the Navy, and in doing so she had, he believedj acted wisely. .Canada would probably do the same. But this was only the beginning of the task of facing the naval problem of the Empire. It was .not a permanent policy. What they had to do in these outer portions of the Empire was to determine that policy For his part lie did not think that we could get from the Overseas Dominions the full measure of the required sacrifice in securing the national sentiment of the Dominions, and by adopting the principle of patriotic interest by which the Dominions wore animated. Thus it was that the Australian Commonwealth had adopted the policy of building a fleet called their own fleet, but not for their purposes alone. lie had been in close contact within the last few years with the Australian authorities, and he was prepared to say that Australia was not build-

iiiii" ;t. Navy for sel/ish purposes. Aus tralia had simply been using the senti ■ment of sacrifice .for the purpose of ultimately building up an Imperial Navy. He thought that was the policy which would have to be adopted ultimately by tho Dominions. He did not cure whether the Dominions began by building ships or buying ships, or contributing in any other form to the naval defence of the Knipire, so long as they all acted in unison with soire intelligent plan which would permit of effective co-operation in Imperial interests, and consistent with the larger policy of bringing the whole of.the.se various naval units together again. Of course, the formulation of such a large policy was one of grave difficulty, but he did not agree that it was an insoluble diiliculty. It was no use building these separate units except with a definite mutual understanding of what these units were i'or, and that ultimate purpose must be not only the defence of the separate parts of the Kinpire, but of the Empire as a whole. (Cheers).

A discussion followed, in which Mr A. Cecil Heck, M.1 , .. Sir I<\ Pollock. Mr A. M. do Beck. Mr H. C. Blyth, Mr Hervey de Montmoroncy, Mr Reuben Clarke, Sir Joseph Ward, and Afr Donald Mackinnoii took part.