IMPERIAL DEFENCE

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2510, 25 May 1909, Page 5

IMPERIAL DEFENCE

GABLE NEWS.

SPEECH BY ADMIRAL POORE.

A NOTEWORTHY UTTERANCE

United Press Association—Copyright. (Received May 24, 11.35 p.m.)

SYDNEY, May 24

Empire Day was celebrated in gloomy weather. Tho outdoor functions were somewhat marred by the rain which fell in the morning, but the weather cleared in the afternoon.

Admiral Poore, speaking at the Royal Exchange, said that a year ago Britain held unchallenged the proud titlo of mistress of the sea. iShe held that titlo still, but not unchallenged. We were brought face to face with tho fact that, under certain conditions, our peaceful command of the seas may he endangered, and must strain every nerve and must make any sacrifice so that our command of the sea shall he recognised as absolute. Germany had reached the point of being able to build as speedily as Britain, so that in thi'ee. years from now she would have an equal, if not a superior, force of the last type of battleship ready for sea. The Triple Alliance existed. Germany was a power in the northern seas and Austria and Italy in the Mediterranean, and both the latter Powers were building Dreadnoughts. Any disaster to the British fleet in the North Sea or tho English Channel would imperil the safety of the Empire. This fact was equally good in regard to the Mediterranean. In either case the routes to the East and Australia would be cut. He did not speak as an alarmist or pessimis.t hut simply put forth liis opinion as a naval officer, speaking on his own responsibility. They had looked grave crises in the face in the past, and the race was never at its best until faced with an emergency. Why a state of things which threatened their existence as an Empire should suddenly have been brought to pass was a matter difficult to understand. If there were two races in the world which should march side by side they were the British and Teutonic races. Both were mercantile in their instincts. Both had world-wide experience, and both aimed for the settlement of a great population, whose instincts and feelings were almost identical. Let them consider the capital invested in the world’s affairs by the British and Teutonic races. Should either fail, there, would he a world-wide financial catastrophe. Let them consider what a power for good would ensue from the two races meeting in commercial rivalry only. Instead of this peaceful competition, there unfortunately existed at present an extraordinary and acute military antagonism for which ho. could not but think there had been excuses on both sides. The present crisis must bo met by the cooperation of the Mother Country and the colonies. Speaking in regard to the naval schemes put forward, he said that Australia should resolve to meet the danger which was common to all parts of the Empire. The Dreadnought movement showed a keen appreciation of tho fact that the first and Foremost necessity was the command of the sea. The scheme to provide a torpedo flotilla would ho a great advantage in the defence of Australian ports, or as an auxiliary to the main fleets if ever engaged in these waters, but thetrue defence of Australia lay in the capacity of the main fleets of the Empire to overpower tho main fleets of tho enemy. Whatever the form of naval defence for local purposes, it must he under Imperial control. The personnel must he. trained by Imperial officers and men, and here must be a constant flow of officers and men, Australian or otherwise, passing from the great naval manoeuvre grounds. There could be no divided control in naval defence. There could only be one fleet and one flag. The third scheme, that of an Australian navy, was one that this was not the time to discuss. If Australia could build 15 Dreadnoughts or their equivalent in the next five years, for duty in tho .Pacific, and equip them, well and good, hut the period with which they were concerned was not the next five years. They must act now, and that word “now” must be spelt in capital letters. If they were united, and realised it, they would in the end hold their own. If not muted, or if they let matters drift, each of them would he more or less responsible should disaster occur.