Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Third of a Century.] THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1914. SIR JOSEPH WARD AND THE NAVY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 11977, 14 May 1914, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Third of a Century.] THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1914. SIR JOSEPH WARD AND THE NAVY.

The Leader of the Opposition, Sir Joseph Ward, ha.s been doing much talking lately on the question of naval defence, and among other things ho has accused the Government of increasing the expenditure in this direction. Sir Joseph's memory must be short, indeed. It was pointed out by Mr Fisher, in his recent speech at Oainaru, that the presont Leader of tho Opposition had placed a scheme before the Imperial Conference in London by which Now Zealand was to contribute no less than £525,000, which is equal to ten shillings per head of the population. This being so, how can Sir Joseph accuse the Government of extravagance and be consistent? Speaking at the Conference in 1911, Sir Joseph Ward said:—"Wo must have some alteration in the present disjointed so-called system. That is what I am trying to arrive at. ,. Continuing, Sir Joseph Ward said: "I want to place on record my view on this matter (naval defence) and to say that in my opinion a position of enormous strength, with at least three of tho most powerful battleships, could be provided for Australia, that six of them could be provided for Canada for dealing with bo£h tho Pacific and Atlantic Coasts, that three of them could be provided for South Africa if South Africa required them, although I know they aro in a similar position to New Zealand in the matter of naval defenses. Two could, be provided for New Zealand, one for Newfoundland, and all the subsidiary vessels that make up fleet units could, be provided for all these countries. . In addition, ten Direadnoughte could bo added promptly to

the British Navy, and all this could be done entirely by the oversea Dominions out of the proposal which I am speaking of at present.' ; Again, Sir Joseph Ward Baid at the conference: "With all respect to every portion of the British! Dominions individually, though we are involved when Great Britain has a fight for the supremacy of tho seas,' we have no voice at all. We are helpless. " Sir Josoph Ward's proposal was that New Zealand with her contribution, of £100,----000, and Groat Britain with her expense on naval defence of £80,000,000, should have the same partnership rights and the same say, as to whether Britain should go to war or not. The scheme as outlined by Sir Joseph Ward was turned down by Mr Asquith and the other Prime Ministers attending the Conference. Sir Wilfrid Laurier said: "I must say with all due deference to Sir Joseph Ward, the proposal seems to me to be absolutely impracticable. " Mr Fisher (Premier of the Commonwealth) said: "If we were to take the path Sir Joseph Ward invites us to take, I am of opinion we should retrace our steps early and hurriedly. '■■' General Botha said: "I have very carefully considered the proposal, but I cannot come to any other conclusion than that the objections against such a scheme arc far weightier than any benefits that may arise therefrom, and I regret, therefore, I shall not be able to record my vote in favour of it." Sir Edward Morris said: "In any scheme of representation, no matter what you may call it, Parliament or Council, the oversea Dominions must have so very small a representation that it would bo practically of no value." Mr Asquith (President of the Conference) said: "Sir Joseph Ward, in a speech, the ability and interest of which we all acknowledge, which must, and undoubtedly did, represent the expenditure of a great deal of time and thought, has presented us with a concrete proposition, but it is a proposition which not a single representative of any of the other Dominions, nor I, as representing, for the time being, the Imperial Government, could possibly assent to. For what would Sir Joseph Ward's proposal, come to? I might describe the effect of it, without going into details, in v. couple of sentences: It would impair, if not altogether destroy, the authority of the Government of the United Kingdom in such grave matters as the conduct of foreign policy, the conclusion of treaties, the declaration and maintenance of peace, or the declaration of war; indeed, all those relations with foreign Powers, necessarily of the most delicate character, which are now in the hands of tho Imperial Government, subject to its responsibility to the Imperial Parliament. That authority cannot be shared, and the co-existence, side by side with the Cabinet of the United. Kingdom, of this proposed body, clothed with the functions and the jurisdiction which Sir Joseph Ward proposed to invest it with, would in our judgment be absolutely fatal to our present system of responsible government." ■ We would have imagined that the rebuff received by Sir Joseph on this occasion, and the views expressed by those in a position to know the ins and outs of the whole question, would have convinced him that his knowledge of naval affairs was limited. But this has not been the case, and wo find the Leader of the Opposition still opposing a scheme that is regarded by the statesmen of other Dominions as the only solution of the problem of Australasian defence.