A Colonial Navy. 71 



employ by far the largest portion of her forces in guarding 

 her own coasts and the avenues thereto, and, by the amount 

 of tax thus levied upon her energies, have so much the less 

 to employ on remote stations. But, even granting that 

 Britain will maintain, as in days past, powerful fleets and 

 cruisers in every sea, such will not and cannot be so ubiqui- 

 tous as to prevent the most ruinous loss to these colonies 

 from the operations of a few swift and moderately-armed 

 steamships, under the control of an active experienced 

 enemy. Such protection can only be afforded by a perma- 

 nent, ever-available force in our own waters and under our 

 own control, and by sufficient means for securing the 

 transit of our mails and bullion across the ocean passage, 

 without risk of interference from ordinary ships or from 

 single cruisers. At present the means provided for the 

 transit of mails and bullion offer every inducement for 

 attack ; but, by rendering the stoppage and attempted capture 

 of such something more than dangerous — namely, madness — 

 for ordinary ships to meddle with them, one very great source 

 of temptation to an enemy and damage to ourselves would 

 be removed, whilst for the ordinary merchandise the usual 

 convoys would be available. 



8. The discussions which have taken place of late years, 

 both within and without the walls of the Imperial Parlia- 

 men, all point to the strong growing feeling which exists in 

 England, as to the necessity of the .colonies generally, 

 accepting the conditions of self-defence along with the grant 

 of free institutions, yet at the same time freely admitting 

 the responsibility of the Imperial power, for the proper distri- 

 bution of her forces throughout the globe for the purposes of 

 general protection. That such a course of policy is wise and 

 just, few thinking men will deny, seeing that it is 

 but an amplification of the national character and policy, 

 which has taught the people to act for themselves, and 

 fosters that self-reliance which has made the nation what 

 she is. 



9. To those who may object that my scheme is premature 

 for so young a country, I reply that such objection is unfair; 

 for if the country has not deemed itself too young for respon- 

 sible government, she has no right to plead disinclination or 

 inability for self-defence, or other of the responsibilities which 

 responsible government entails. It is, I think, a tolerably 

 well-known axiom that those who deserve freedom will defend 

 it, and thai) those who possess freedom and are riot willing 



