MARCH 20, 1906. 



The Rev 



EVIEWS 



ASIA. 



EQIJITABLH TiVII^DlTia, MBLBOl'R:\B. 



THE HISTORY OF THE MONTH. 



The report of Captain Cresswell, 

 Captain ^]^f^ Director of the Naval Forces to 



Cresswell's 

 Report, 



the Federal Government, 011 the 

 question of the naval defences of 

 the Commonwealth, is a masterly production — a 

 model of directness and terseness. Captain Cress- 

 well has 'known what he wanted to say, and he has 

 said it in plain, unequivocal language. It certainly 

 does not make palatable reading, for it is not a com- 

 fortable thing to be told that the bolts on your 

 doors, and the catches on your windows, are utterly 

 ineffective against the most bungling burglar that 

 tries to effect an entrance to your house. Practi- 

 cally, however, that is what he says. " We have no 

 modern vessels in the naval forces. With the excep- 

 tion of the torpedo boats, all the vessels are far be- 

 hind the times in design and fighting value. In 

 addition, they have been at least twenty-one years 

 in service in Australia." During the last twenty 

 years there has been a tremendous advance in naval 

 armaments and vessels, and yet the Australian ves- 

 sels have not only not been kept in line with this ad- 

 vance, but have receded from their original condi- 

 tion by their long years of service. Jt seems certain 

 from what he says, that as far as our gunboats are 

 concerned, we may put all flattery as to our effi- 

 ciency aside. 



With regard to the personnel of the 

 ^^ h ri crews. Captain Cresswell does not 

 Ta?e* grow any more optimistic than he is 



over the vessels themselves. He 

 says that Avhile the individual efficiency is satisfac- 

 tory, in point of numbers and organisation it is un- 

 satisfactory for the efl'ecti\e working even of the 

 present vessels. The permanent officers' list has 

 been allowed to liecome attenuated until it is in a. 

 condition bordering on collapse. It is certainly time 

 that we put our thinking caps on, when the Director 

 of the Naval Forces states that " The Naval Forces 

 remain to-day in a condition of arrested reductioit 

 and uncertainty." This is bad reading, but it is 

 nevertheless necessary that Australia should exactlv 

 know its position if it is going to arrive at efficien':"v. 

 Before any cure can be effected in a diseased bodv, 

 the disease and its extent must both be known. W'^ 

 have been so content to flatter ourselves upon our sup- 



posed immunity from danger through our isolation, 

 that it comes somewhat as a shock to us to know that 

 things are quite as bad as they are, and that we 

 should be in such a parlous condition if isolation 

 ga\'e no' immunity. Of course everybody has known 

 in a general way that our nayal resources have not 

 been the most complete, but the report leaves no 

 doubt as to their value, and it ought to have a good 

 effect upon us to be told what O'Ur condition really 

 is. 



Captaia 



Cresswell's 

 Suggestiois. 



Captain Cresswell's suggestions as 

 to what is necessary are terse and 

 to the point — three cruiser de- 

 stroyers, sixteen torpedo-boat de- 

 stroyers, and fifteen torpedo boats, first and second 

 class, at an estimated cost of ;^i, 768,000, with 

 ;^532,ooo added for maintenance, making up a 

 total of ;^2,5oo,ooo, which he proposes should be 

 expended in seven years, is his irreducible minimum 

 tor, anxious to secure what he considers necessary, 

 penditure of ^120,000 per annum in peace time, 

 including an addition of 456 men to the permanent 

 forces, and 466 to the naval militia. This is very 

 businesslike and to the point, but in matters of this 

 kind it is . impossible to do more than generalise as 

 to cost. It is not likely either that the Naval Direc- 

 tor, anxious to secure wliat he considers necessary, 

 would over-estimate the cost, and judging from the 

 way in which expenditure generally mounts up when 

 large naval orders are in course of execution, it is 

 probable that Captain Cresswell's estimate is very 

 much belo'W the mark. This is a feature which needs 

 a lot of careful consideration. It is probable that 

 another million pounds would have to be added to 

 his estimate. 



Of the necessity for an increased 



.., .J P**".^ armament everybody must be per- 



WouW the Money a a ^\ i u • 



Come from? s^^^^d, though how we are gomg 



to raise the money is another ques- 

 tion. If the Customs are asked to bear the burden, 

 it can, of course, be done; but they are burdened 

 quite enough as it is. If a scheme to increase local 

 naval efficiency be carried out, and if the Govern- 

 ment feel that they cannot load the Customs more, 

 (although that is hardly likely to eventuate, as they 

 have a leaning that way), the States will have to 



