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FLEET ENTERTAINMENT.
THE STATE GOVERNMENT'S DINNER. .
TRIPS TO TBE COUNTRY.
DANCE AND SMOKE NIGHT.
Another busy day was spent yesterday
by members 01 the visiting J3riusii naval
squadron. A wide ranc nt entertainment
was provided, of which the ofiicer and
men took full advantage. The public
again turned tip in large number to see
the war ships. One of the clue! event
of the doy was the trip to liallarat bj
special irnjn. an enriy Hrnrc was uinuc.
and tho visitors wore enabled to see much
of the provincial citv, the citizens of
whieli made evevv effort to give, tlie sailor
a good time. The dinner to the officer
by the State Government was a siiucesfi-
fill affair, and the l-np ot tho olhoois to
Yallourn full oi interest to tlie visitors,
Those men who participated in the Cdv
Council'M trip to Warburtou were de
lighted with tho scenery and their wel
come. The itugby football match provided
some thrills and amusement. 'J he evening
functions included a dance at State (<o
vcrnment House, another given by the ;
A.X.A. at tho Town Mali, another givou ;
by the Australian Club, and a smoke
concert at Anznc Mouse.
The State Government's dinner to the
admirals and ofhcevp oi the special service
squadron was held last night at State
Parliament House. About 150 guests were
present, including members 01 both
.Houses of the Slate Parliament and brads
of State dcpai tments. 'Ine chief guests
were "\ ice-Admiral Sir Frederick Field,
admiral of the squadron: Pear-Admiral
Sir Hubert .brand and their personal
fitafTs, and tbe principal ofiiccrs of the
squadron, i lie Minister of Defence Mr
Bowdcn, and tlie Lord Mayor, Cr ilrim-
ton, wtM'o also amongst tho guests.
the only toast honored, apart from
that of Hie King, was Our Guests. It
was proposed by the Premier. A great
deal, he said, had been written and said
about the squadron dunng the past, few
weeks. Ho voiced the sentiments of all
present when ho bid a hearty welcome
to the admirals, oilmen? and men of the
squadron to the Slate Parliament. Xevci
before had lie seen sueli sustained on-
thusiamn ns that which had been demon
strated in Melbourne during the past few
days, nor bad be seen greater crowds
gathered. It: tho State Parliament they
were precluded from dealing with matters
C£ naval policy; no doubt Admiral Field
would.be grateful for that. So be would
content himself with saying how deeply
grateful the people of Victoria were for
the protection the British navy had al
ways- afforded these shores. He wanted
the officers and men to return to Kngland
and say that we were building up a Com
monwealth wiLh British ideals, traditions
and Kcnlimcnts. The interest that had
bum ithowii by the people in tho squadron
was not merely ible curiosity. (. was a
token of deep and abiding gratitude, an
expression of what tlie British navy had
done, and what it still means to Aus
tralia. He was sorry that thorn had been
110 opportunity to show the officers and
men w hal was beiug done here as regards
land settlement, irrigation and power sup-,
ply. Necessarily their attentions had
been confined to the capital cities. He
wsmted them to interest the people of
Kngland in that work. (Applause.)
The Ibesident of the Legislative Coun
cil, Mr. F. Clarke, assured the guests that
in tho Slate Parliament they had a most
profound and lively anxiety within their
own ambit to do whatever they could
to help tho embassy which Admiral Field
represented in coming out io Australia.
He believed that the. voice of State Par
liamentarians in support of a sound de
fence policy would not bo. without its
effect on the Commontvealth. (Applause.)
Greater population would enable us to get
greater funds to maintain a greater navy
in order that A»Kf.rnIi«i niiirltL uliwr ita
part in the collection oi' nations that con
trolled the world, for (lie world's benefit
and peace. With regard to Singapore
base, be would say thnt, whilst they might
not accept absolutely the opinions of this
or that politician here or in Kngland,
they had a most profound belief in the
wisdom of the Board of Admiralty.
(Cheers.) He felt sure when the board
cftine along with a naval policy Australia
would accept it witho/.t question.
Tlie Speaker, Sir ff, Mackcy, also ex
pressed bis regret that the officers and
men had not been given' the nppnvfcmqty
o fcc more of the outback life of Aus
tralia.
The Admiral's Reply.
ice-Adiuirnl Sir Frederick Field, on
rising to reply to the toast, ivlucli had
''con enthusiastically honored, was greeted
with prolonged cheering and applause.
The greater part of his reply was de
voted to the clearing up of some inaccur
acies which lie slated had been made in
the publication of some of his utterances
in a section of the press— -inaccuracies
which, he said, were impossible to avoid.
Ho had been credited with the statement
that it would be better to spend money
on aeroplanes for the dcieuce of Eng
land than to spend money on the Singa
pore base. Tliat impression be had no
intention of giving. lie had never thought
such a tiling. What he intended to con
vey was that if they wished to defend
England aiid tiie narrow waters cm-round
ing it from air attacks, they could only
adequately do that by building up a suffi
cient air force. That had nothing to do
with the Singapore base. He had added
to the statement that, although an ade
quate air force would defend England
against air attacks, .t could never save
England from starvation, because, that
force would not take the place, of the
necessary cruisers to guard the great tiade
routes on -which the food supply, of | ,ug-
land depended. He had also been credited
with saying that it Singapore nas not
gone on with, it would lie qeeessai) to
build uu equivalent base at Darwin.
Wlint tie meant fo iv was that if Aus
tralia carried out the policy winch the
Admiralty wished it to do, by
replacing its cruisers with up-to-
date cruisers when the Uie ot
tlie 'present vessels was closed, it would
be necessary to begin to -provide fuelling
stations somewhere, near the patrols. It
was important that vessels should not lie
oil their beat, longer than was necessary.
Whether the Singapore base was gone
ou witli in alter years or not, those luel
ling facilities would be just as essential,
Therefore no harm and no waste of money
would take place if those stations were
provided in time for the cruisers when
tliey were complete;!. F uithermorc, that
money would not lie wasted, because if
by any clinnco it v/us considered advis
able iu tlie future to make a big base for
the main fleet nt Darwin, that
would be ail to the good. He had also
been given the credit of saying thnt in
his opinion Australin should no longer
have its own navy, but should go back
to tlie old theory of contributing towards
the Imperial navy. That was not liis
opinion, nor was it the opinion of tlie
Board of Admiralty. (Cheers.) The
opinion of tiie board 'was that Austra
lia should maintain a local defence forco
for the defence of its own ports, and ae
many cruisers as it could nftord to guard
its own trade routes. All he had saul
was thnt the ofhecrs of the Australian
navy should be translerrcd to the Roval
Navy list. (Applause.) In every way
tlicy should be interchangeable, so that
they would, bo eligible for -promotion in
the Royal Navy. That meant- that greater
inducements would be riven to young
men . to join the navy. Ho felt spro it
would not detract from Australia's navy:
Australian ships should not ehvnvs serve
in Australian wutera: tliev should be' de
tached aad exchanged with .British ships".
/ i
That would increase tho efficiency of
the ships and personnel of the navy, be>
cause they would all be trained in the
same school: -Tho navy bad been .
in the past, and would be in
the future, a great colonising,
agent. In his younger days . it
was tlio ambition of the officers to serve .
011 tho Australian station. He was very
proud that ho would bo in command; of
tlie light cruiser Adclnido during the rest
of the cruise. (Cheers.) By regularly ex
changing ships, Australia would restore
that colonising agencv. (Applause.) With ,
the interchange of ships there would also
come greater understanding. It was be- .
ginning already liv the visit, of the squad-'
ron. On their return the officers and men
would tell the people of England of the
wonders tliev had seen. He felt sure a
tremendous lot would be done in a'cdlp- v.
msing. way by the men of the squadron,
but it must be kept up by the interchange ,
of ships. ' - .
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