THE IMPERIAL NAVY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2761, 16 March 1910, Page 5

THE IMPERIAL NAVY.

CABLE NEWS.

SPENDING ' NAVY VOTE—2OO,OOO MEN TO BE EMPLOYED. United Press Association—Copyright LONDON, March 14. The Naval estimates are expected to •provide for the employment of 200,000 men for two years. Two thousand extra are engaged in the work oif broadening and lengthening a slip for the accommodation of Dreadnoughts; Another thousand will be engaged after the first cf April. SPEECH BY THE FIRST LORD. (Received March 15, 10.30 n.nri LONDON, March 15. Mr. McKenna, in committee on the* Navy estimates, said that these were neither excessive' nor insufficient. Two of the five additional Dreadnoughts would be dockyard ships, laid down in January. The remainder, under construction, would likewise be laid down in January. He expressed the. Government’s gratification! at the connection of the two great Australasian dominions with the national navy. (Cheers.) The Australasian ships would shortly he begun, and would be completed in the summer of 1912. They would leave Europe in the autumn of 1912, when the others would be. nearing completion. He added that by March, 1913, there would be twenty Dreadnoughts. Thus throughout 1912, till March 1913, our absolute superiority in Dreadnoughts. would be secure. Respecting other classes of vessels, our position was incomparable. He did not anticipate any serious reduction in future estimates. Replying to Lord diaries Beresfo-d’. interruption about the initiation Dreadnoughts, Mr. McKenna declared that the first British Dreadnought was begun five months after the Japanese Satsuma- (the Japanese Dreadnought) in 1903. He proceeded to emphasise the fact that there had been no crease in foreign naval programmes lust year, and said that the Admiralty's programme had been framed according t' what was being done abroad now and in the next two years.

AN INTERESTING DEBATE

(Received March 16, 12.1 a.m.) Mr. McKenna, replying to questions, added that thirteen German Dreadnoughts are now constructing. Four more for 1910 and 1911 would posibly be laid down in April, and commissioned 26 months afterwards. He hoped that the fact of the British Admiralty providing against any contingency would not give rise to fear that a friendly nation is accelerating its programme with any hostile design against ‘us. : Mr. McKenna admitted that the dockyard slips were idle between September and January, but remarked that the urgent need for more ships was not proved. Major Lee, Conservative member for Fareham, criticised the Government for starving the shipbuilding vote. He urged the Government to majie it clear that further estimates were possible during the present session. Mr. Barnes, Labor member for Blackfriars, Glasgow, described the estimates as unwarrantable, and said the Liberals had surrendered the principle of economy at the dictates of the Opposition. Mr. McKenna, correcting Mr Barnes, stated that Germany’s estimates . for 1910 and 1911 were considerably in ex. cess of those for the past . year. Lord Charles Beresford feared that the Government was delaying five Dreadnoughts. One bright spot was the providing of destroyers, but the fleet was not strong enough. The estimates for 1911 would he appalling. He urged raising a loan of 65 millions, spread over twenty or thirty years, and building all the ships required by 1914.