Page:Problems of Empire.djvu/100

PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE. to establish branches of the Naval Reserve in Australasia, as well as in Newfoundland.

It is, however, not only in this direction that the Colonies can assist in the matter of naval defence. Melbourne and Sydney have been made two of the most strongly-defended ports of the Empire, and Albany and Thursday Island have been protected from the raider, mainly at Colonial expense. The forts that defend them are manned by Colonial troops. Is it too much to ask Canada to follow the example of Australia, and make herself responsible for manning the defences of Halifax and Esquimault? Bases such as these—and with them must be included Durban and the Cape—which are rendered secure not so much by their forts and guns as by the fact that they have a large population behind them ready to resist the invader, are a valuable element of sea power, and a Colonial contribution to the defence of the Empire which must not be lost sight of.

On the Navy we depend for the defence of our shores from invasion, for the protection of our commerce, and for the security of our trade routes. The part which the British Army can play in war with any first-class power except Russia and the United States is only a secondary one, but it is still important. It is our chief weapon of offence. With the assistance of the Navy, it must lend its energies to the capture of the Colonies and coaling stations of the enemy, more indispensable now than before the introduction of steam to the success of their depredations on our commerce. For a war such as that which we have recently waged in South Africa, the Colonies have shown that they can provide material of unequalled quality. Mounted 82