Image TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage Tile
Image size: 7168x8704 Scale: 35% - PanoJS3
Page overview thumbnail

Article text

AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE,
Mr. Allen Interviewed.
Definite Proposals.
Auckland, June 3.
Mr. AUm, trm Xtw Zealand .Minister!
for Defence, is a passenger by. the!
steamer Maknra. He will not disclose,1
his naval policy. He stated that he
has returned with definite proposals to
place before his colleagues. Whatever is
decided there, need be no fear that any
New Zealand quota to the navy would
be under Anstralian. control. When
asked, "Will there be one fleet in Aus
tralian waters?" Mr. Allen replied. "The
policy must be decided by the Cabinet.'
He added:—"J assure, you if any thine
is done at my direction onr quota will ne
nnder New Zealand control. In such a
ease it might, of course, he used m con
junction with the Australian fleet in the
event of a fleet mobilisation."' Jie
had returned, re said, with a definite
proposal absolutely as the result
of his yonsultation wirli the British'
Admiralty and the Committee of Imperial J
Defence. He had always said, and lie "re
peated his assertion, that there was neeea-1
sity for combined action in the Pacific be-!
tweem. Canada, Australia. and New Zea-;
land. _ He had never altered that opiu- j
ion. The same opinion he gathered wa i
held by a great many Canadians. Ho i
agreed that Mr. Borden, the Prime Minis
ter of Canada, was faved with a difficult!
problem, but if be got a redistribution ol
seats he would get a majority in the wes
tern States. Sir Wilfrid Banner and his
party were smarting under the disaffection
of their own -followers. They were willing
to sacrifice almost everything to gain their
purpose, even to the point of the disinte
gration of the Empire.
1'egarding Mr. ChurehilF.s touring fleet
proposals, Mr. Allen did not, think they
wonki be of any- material value, as far as
the Pacific was concerned New Zealand's I
danger was not from Europe. fn that
sense no European fleet was likely to
Pike the sea for 'this distant objective,
but there were Powers which could get
her,- without .having to deal first with
Great -Britain. <Tre.it Britain'.- fleet
was not Pig enough to split up and
put inLo two places at trio one time.
That was the uroblcm which facer
faced Aus
tralasia, and Australasia was faring it
f=o far. ".Wc "have not done so," Mr.
Allen added. "Wc have never said New
Zealand must have a mosquito fleet. We
have talked about- a mosquito fleet, and
the purposes of snch a fleer., hut we
have not said to anybody. Canada,
elsewhere, that we must have a mosquito
fleet."
$