Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

understand how things are going down In
that neck Of the woods that II has got
into the game Of warship building and
thereby will put the mother country under
peculiar obligations to It. Perhaps Eng
land will pay more attention hereafter to
that cry OF keeping all it's big territory
down that way a white mans country.
That naval observers and men Of diplom-
acy regard as the milk in the cocoanut Of
this offer.
SO daft did New Zealand go over the
visit to Auckland that the newspapers even
caricatured the church in order to make a
point of the zeal OF the welcome. The
fleet got into Auckland at 10 o'clock one
Sunday morning. The leading newspaper
Of the city had a caricature of a clergyman
of the English church preaching to abso-
lutely empty benches with a smile on his
lips and a spyglass in his hand through
which he looked out Of the window at the
incoming ships.
What New Zealand has in mind in
building the ~Dreadnaught was probably
best expressed by Lord Plunkett, the gov
ernor, when he said in a formal speech at
a great dinner to the Americans:
1T Is true that for the safety Of our en-
pire, no matter the sacrifice, our navy
must always be equal to a possible com
bination of two other great powers. but let
me remind you that though we nave a full
appreciation of the vast potential resources
of America she has never been reckoned
as one of such possible combination.
But even that two powered standard
would not be enough II we had to sup
port all that we have taken upon our
shoulders in the past. For centuries the
British navy, almost apart from its coun-
try's defense, has borne almost alone the
burden of policing the seas, capturing the
SLAYER, charting the oceans, overawing the
tyrant, championing the oppressed"
Patriotism IL Practical.
II is to help England to do all these
things that New Zealand wishes a big
navy, and when she heard that Germany
was about to lead in the race of building
all big gun ships--the present ones are to
be obsolete in a few years If this idea con-
tinues to prevail-she wanted to bear her
part in trying to help Great Britain to
construct a naval establishment that should
always be equal to a possible combination
of two other great powers.
Even this gift of New Zealand, accord
ing to the latest accounts, will not ac-
complish this result, but IT will help. New
Zealand feels that 1t is doing its part
Canada is talking Of joining in. 1t is a
moot question how much the world grid
ling trip Of the Atlantic fleet has con.
tributed to this end or has inspired 1t.
New Zealand and Australia pay each
year to Great Britain a lump sum for nava'
protection. New Zealand pays 100000 a
year. Australia pays $1,000 900. For these
sums Great Britain agrees to keep a squad.
ron OF warships on the Australian station
which includes New Zealand. This squad.
ron must consist of one armored. cruiser
first-class; two second-class cruisers, -four
third-class cruisers and four sloops of war
Keep a Naval Reserve.
Australia and New Zealand maintain
what is known as the royal naval reserve
consisting of twenty-five officers and 20
men. One of the warships Is held In re.
serve and three Of them are named in par
by the royal naval reserve. The remainder
are in full commission with British crews
The largest warship England has dowr
there now is the great cruiser Powerful
Vice Admiral Sir Richard Poore is in com.
mand of the squadron. Australians, II |.
said, had never seen a modern battleshiE
In their water before the Atlantic fleets
visit.
When the fleet was In Australia proper
mention was made In editorial articles and
In numerous speeches by the big guns thai
It was time for Australia to build a navy
of her own. There was no intimation tina
some day it might be needed In case Aus
tralia should become a nation Of itself
That country has never had war anC
knows that war is scarcely within tn,
range of possibilities so long as she file,
England's flag.
The suggestion Of an Australian navy
came from a desire to help the mother
country and to be prepared for nationa
emergencies. in case by any untowarC
event these should arise. Always Their,
were the dark hints about a white man.
country, but no one took 1t to mean tina
Australia wanted a navy to use agains
England in case she did not take heed O.
the commemorative aspirations in tina,
direction.
Debt Problem In Not Easy.
Australia is having a hard time in as
Stunning and adjusting the debts which III,
commonwealth is required to take owe,
from the various states. That problem !,
still one of the hard ones to crack. an,
probably the commonwealth would not h,
able to make such an offer to the hom,
country as New Zealand has done.
New Zealand has a territory about one
seventh smaller than that OF Great Britain
and ireland combined. 1t sells to foreign
ers about 500, 900. 200 worth Of goods a yea,
and buys from other countries only abou
$50 G0. leaving a neat balance Of trade.
1t was the first country to establish uni
versal penny postage and old age pensions
to assist settlers in buying farms, to estab
lish compulsory arbitration, to adopt In,
policy of confiscating large estates and de
Veloping them for small holders. the frs
British country to adopt woman suffrage
70 establish life, accident and fire insur
ance by the government, the first to operat,
government coal mines, TO provide govern
ment owned dwellings for workmen, AM
the first In a lot of other ideas in govern
ment, some of them chimericaI and som,
OF them not.
In offering to pay for a Dreadnought 70
the home country New Zealand adds an
other distinction to her career as a colony
or course she has no shipyards where tn,
vessel will be cOnstrurta1 II mill L.. I'LL