The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, MAY 4,1909. SHOULD WAR CLOUDS BREAK.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2492, 4 May 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, MAY 4,1909. SHOULD WAR CLOUDS BREAK.

The Premier’s reference in his Invercargi’l speech to our attitude towards the English navy naturally raises the question of what would happen to New Zealand were war to be actually declared between Great Britain and Germany, and if in the first engagements the British fleet was worsted. 'Even if our local defences were ever so good, that would not prevent effects of the war being felt in this country which would be simply disastrous. It has been almost a maxim of labor organisations to protest always against military expenditure, but the more the matter is investigated the more apparent does it become that should war clouds break the working man would be the worst sufferer. As a result of Britain’s first defeat our export trade; valued at over £20,000,000 sterling, would be practically ruined. . Our staple product would be unsaleable in the wool warehouses or at our ports, for who would take the risk of shipping it? At first the insurance companies would ask a heavy percentage as a war premium, hut a defeat or two would make the business so risky that even extreme rates would not tempt them to cover. The banks would not find the money for buyers to pay the pastoralists,. for their action is dependent upon their being themselves recouped when the wool is safely warehoused in London or other destination. So with our mutton and lamb, hemp,’ butter, cheese, etc. Before many months were out our sheep would go unshorn, our farms would remain untilled, our mines would be filled with water. And all thoso engaged in the production of these commodities and their transportation to the seaboard as well as their ultimate shipment aboard would gradually be forced to join the rauks of tlio unemployed. So too, importation would virtually cease, partly because of the risk of capture, partly because the money to pay for the imports would not be forthcoming. This would mean the throwing out of employment of thousands of men aim women, girls and boys, who-are at present engaged in the manufacture of goods which, are in whole or in part made from material secured frojn abroad. Hundreds of prosperous businesses would be ruined. But more would be behind. The cessation of imports would imply the stoppage of customs revenue. Last year the Government collected over £3,000,060 from this source, and to stop its re-,

ceipt would mean that there would not bo sufficient funds to pay our national debt without devising some new methods of taxation. Private debtors would be in a similar position. The assets of the hanking institutions would soon become well nigh valueless, f.r.il so would those of the insurance sochiiu-cs. Where prosperity now prevails thero would be extremes of poverty. New Zealanders as a whole might not starve because wheat could chill. be grown aid meat and butter and cheese would still be plentiful, but thousands wou'd not havo the money to pay for them, and credit , would be a thing of the past. This .is what would occur shmid Britain lose control even for a limited period of the ocean highways, so it will be understood how vital it is for New Zealand as for all other parts of the Empire that the supremacy of the sea should, be maintained by the British fleet. Of course, should our own local defences be no better than they are at the present time, even worse results might bo looked for. In that case the disablement of the protecting fleet might permit a hostile cruiser or t<to to make a descent upon one of our chief ports and. in such an event wo should be absolutely at the mercy of the enemy. Any of our chief cities could be bombarded’ and seized, after which the invading force would be able to impose terms upon the population which would in all probability cripple the country for many years to come. It would scarcely be likely that a foreign foe -would be permitted to remain permanently in possession of the country —though Sir Joseph Ward frankly admitted this possibility—for even if England were so absolutely beaten as to be unable to assert her rights to her overseas territories, it is scarcely probable that other Powers would look on quietly whilst one of their number secured so rich a prize. Still the position of a defenceless country is far from enviable, and those who really desire peace to continue in this Dominion must recognise that the only way to achieve that end is to effectively insure ourselves, against war.