The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4,1909 DOMINION DEFENCES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2598, 4 September 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4,1909 DOMINION DEFENCES.

Sir Joseph Ward has been telling the Canadians that at the Imperial Defence Conference he stood firm for an undivided Imperial Navy, but that lie was outvoted. His attitude may have been correcfi so far as New Zealand’s own position is concerned, hut no one who understands anything of Canadian and Australian aspirations would have expected them to be satisfied with such a policy. By an undivided Imperial Navy we presume Sir Joseph means.a navy built in England, manned by Britishers, paid for by Britain—with such contributions as could be levied from overseas—and disposed of entirely according to the. views of the British Ad - miralty. This is an attitude which emphasises the dependence of the dominions upon the Mother Country almost to the verge of humiliation, and makes no provision for the legitimate growth of a national spirit. Under the old regime there was little possibility of a naval spirit being fostered in the dominions. They secured the protection of the British Navy by the payment of a sum of money, but had absolutely no voice in the disposition of the ships they were helping to pay for or in any part of the naval policy. ; It is quite conceivable that with a peace-at-aiiy-price party in power the navy might be so reduced as to make it impossible to fully , protect the scattered portions of the Empire. With the whole strength of a weakened fleet concentrated in the North Sea Australia, though paying three times her present contribution, plight be left absolutely defenceless. It was not at all' likely that such countries as Canada and Australia were likely to be long satisfied with such an arrangement and! the new scheme represents a statesmanlike effort to meet the problems of the situation. The permanent presence of a substantial cruiser squadron in Pacific waters should be welcomed ]by Australians and New Zealanders with whom the dread of an Asiatic invasion is always looked upon as a more or less remote- contingency. It represents also an effective reply to the persistent nimors that havq, been rife recently concerning German naval activity , in this part of the world. Mr Massey dislikes the idea of an Indomitable located in China waters taking the place of the Dreadnought we promised and which would have probably been stationed either in the North Sea or the Mediterranean. It is true our Indomitable will be some distance from these shores, but 'we shall see it sometimes, ■ whereas our Dreadnought would have been too far away to *give any tangible evidence to New Zealanders of its existence.

There is a good deal in this phase of jtho question. During its occasional cruises to New Zealand ports highly popular excursions to the battleship can be made and the meanest taxpayer in the Dominion can, if ho chooses, swell with pride as lie steps on board the Indomitable and declares, “I |itud ■for this.” And when it :s out of’s.ght he will probably find some consolation in the fact that its bristling guns though temporarily muzzled, are pointed in the direction of the “Yellow Peril.” But apart from this lighter aspect of. the matter we are convinced that the Defence Conference has devised’ an excellent scheme. Although Australia and Canada will retain control- of their own naval units in peat* time, no one who understands colonial sentiment for a moment will entertain a doubt that in the event of wal they would be available for concentration at whatever point the safety </ the Empire was endangered. So far as New Zealand is. concerned we should all look forward to the time when our resources and population will justify ■us in undertaking our own inland and coastal defences and in providing a squadron that, although located in adjacent waters, shall still be part of a great. Imperial fleet. That time, however, is yet distant, and meanwhile it is our duty to subsidise as far as possible the Imperial fleet which protects us, and at the same time arrange our land defences in a national and patriotic spirit. This is an aspect of the Defence Conference’s deliberations concerning which we shall anxiously await news and we shall feel surprised and disappointed if Sir Joseph has not a mission in hand to organise a system of compulsory universal military training for the Dominion. So far all we know is that the military units of each Dominion are to be organised on a plan which will make each one capable of forming part of a homogeneous whole should an outbreak of war render united action necessary.