2X8 



The Review of Reviews, 



March 20, 1906. 



come to their aid. A progressive Land Tax would 

 probably be a most satisfactory way of settling the 

 difficulty, for in that case those best able to pay 

 would contribute most to the country's necessities. 

 However, the question is likely to tax the ingenuity 

 of Mr. Deakin and his Government, for some people 

 are always ready to cavil when increased expendi- 

 ture takes place, no matter how necessary it may be. 

 People like taxation which is indirect, although the 

 ultimate effect on the pocket may be exactly the 

 same, or even a little worse than direct. 



{)i course some people cite the Aus- 

 iThe Australasian tralian section of the British squad- 

 Squadron j.Qj^ ^g ^ sufficient shield for our 

 Not tnougn. , i , .i i o- i^ ■ 



coasts, but the difficulty m connec- 

 tion with that lies here. If England were at war, 

 it would probably be necessary to withdraw a section 

 of the Australasian squadron in order to protect com- 

 merce on the high seas. The battle for Australia 

 would almost surely be fought a good many thou- 

 sands of miles away from our own coasts, and it would 

 in all probability be necessary for Britain to con- 

 centrate her power and resources a long way from 

 Australia. Certain it is that, if England's sea 

 power were destroyed, Australia would stand a very 

 poor chance of defending herself. It stands to 

 reason, therefore, that in addition to the Austra- 

 lasian squadron, we should have some local resources 

 in order to somewhat defend ourselves against the 

 casual visit of an enemy prowding round to see what 

 he could pick up while our screen of fighting ships 

 was away. That is precisely where the necessity 

 for an Australian navy, small though it may be, 

 comes in. Of course some people urge that we have 

 our Harbour Forts and our Land Forces, and we 

 are inclined to cite with pride the fact that our men 

 did very well in South Africa without training, and 

 to argue that they would do equally well at home. 

 But the probability is that no land fighting-man 

 would ever catch sight of the enemy. His operations 

 would be limited to shelling a city from a; point 

 comfortably out of sight of land, or to lying in 

 ■wait for trading vessels along the coast. What an 

 easy thing it would be for one or two warships to 

 paralyse the whole of our inter-State sea-borne 

 trade ! The half-comical aspect of the question has 

 often been suggested, of an army of men dodging 

 backwards and forwards over hundreds of miles of 

 railway, to try to concentrate near a point where 

 an enemy's warship was last seen. Necessary, of 

 . course, a land force is, but the sea force is more so, 

 to keep the coast clear foT inter-State traffic, and to 

 be able to ward off for a time the enemy from our 

 gates w^hile the squadron is away guarding the 

 heart of the Empire. Something like that suggested 

 by Captain Cresswell is necessary. Captain Cress- 

 well thinks that with what he has suggested a de- 

 fensive line might be established, which would give 

 security to O'Ur naval bases, our populous centres. 



and our co^mnierce, a kind of improvised fire brigade 

 to keep a fire under till the well-equipped brigade 

 with all necessary appliances can arrive upon the 

 scene. 



And why should not we help to 



Bearing i;.;^.^!- the burden? What rhyme or 



Our Share of the j-^^^sqj^ jg there in O'ur leaning year 



Burden. ^. .u a r ^u n '\ 



atttr year on the Mother Country, 



asking her to protect us when we ought to be look- 

 ing after ourselves. Of course we make our naval 

 contribution, and sometimes are inclined to think 

 that we do not get enough for it, grumbling because 

 boats not of the latest class are sent to us, forget- 

 ting all the time that we are at one of the extremi- 

 ties of the land projections of the globe, and that 

 the vital parts of the Empire lie about the coasts of 

 Europe. We should not, therefore, grumble toe 

 much, but rather should we assist in every way that 

 we can to carry the burden. If our national and 

 our home life are worth anything they are worth 

 protectmg, and a liberal contribution in order to 

 preserve our coasts from attack may be, after all, 

 a very cheap insurance premium. God grant that 

 the day may never come when defence will be neces- 

 sary. Nevertheless, the country, like the man who, 

 knowing of the presence of danger, does not streng- 

 then the doors, catches and window-bolts of his 

 home, is foolish in the extreme. 



Strange are the vagaries of justice. 

 The Injustice of One is often amazed or grieved, as 

 Justi ce. the circumstances warrant, in not- 

 ing her strange inconsistencies. 

 Surely she sits and judges with wide-open eyes. One 

 grows accustomed to queer judicial proceedings, but 

 it is a rare thing to see the pendulum swinging to 

 such W'Onderful extremes as it has done within the 

 last few weeks in Victoria. A man who embezzled 

 some money from a bank has received a sentence of 

 nearly three years' imprisonment, while a man who 

 murdered his mother by stabbing her to the heart 

 received only one year, and another man who shot 

 his sister and killed her was sentenced to only two 

 years ; and immediately after that, a man who 

 wrote a letter to another man, threatening to kill 

 him, received three years' imprisonment. In the 

 eyes of the law, therefore, it is a greater crime to 

 threaten to kill anyone than to actually kill them. 

 Where the justice comes in is not apparent. " The 

 law is a hass," one exclaims when reading things 

 like this at his breakfast-table. Nevertheless an 

 uncomfortable feeling is engendered. The justice 

 of justice is likely to become a mere figure of 

 speech. 



The Royal Commission on the To- 

 Thc Tobacco bacco Monopoly has presented its 

 ''"IcS" ^ report, or rather reports, for cut 



of the six members four have signed 

 one report. Senator Keating has not signed any 



