IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2615, 24 September 1909, Page 5

IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

THE COMMONWEALTH DEFENCE BILL. ENGLISH PRESS COMMENTS. United I’kknb Ahkooiition —Copyright. LONDON, Sept. 22. All the newspapers display details of the Commonwealth Defence Bill. The “Daily Mail” heads an article, “Every Australian a Soldier —375,000 Men and 'Thirteen Shins for the Empire.” The “Standard” states that the importance of the proceedings at the Imperial Defence Conference to the Empire may he measured by the fruits therefrom. It emphasises the importance of compulsory naval as well as military service. The “Chronicle” heads a leader with Mr Joseph Cook’s phrase, “Australia should be a Buttress, not a Burden.” Continuing, it states: The provision for Imperial defence has hitherto been occasional, spasmodic, and unorganised. A new era has been inaugurated, which will make 1909 memorable in the annals of the Empire. The Australian Government deserve all credit for the practical shape they have given to the people’s patriotic sentiments. The reception of the compulsory principle will be watched with lively interest. The challenge to the supremacy of the British navy, which Ministers disclosed to the country, elicited a spontaneous outburst of colonial zeal. The Defence Conference has been the means of giving it shape, substance, and permanence. The Australian scheme happily combines the principle of nationalism with Imperial co-operation. The “Pall Mall Gazette,” commenting on the Australian Defence Bill, warmly praises the example, which, it states, the Motherland ought to follow. Compulsion under the Bill is wisely limited at the outset to the thickly-populated areas. The scheme adds two new factors to the international situation, a fleet, which will materially affect the balance of power in the Pacific, and an army, which not even the greatest military powers can regard as a negligible quantity. The “Evening Standard” states that the scheme sets a pace which all can follow. It expresses the opinion that there .was never a better understanding destined to render the Empire a true and tremendous hegemony.