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AUSTRALIAN DEFENCES. powerful vessels are needed. The torpedo gunboats belong to a class which is singularly ill-adapted for service on the Australian station. The contribution paid by the several Colonies under the agreement is 126,000l., 35,000l. being supposed to represent interest on first cost, and 91,000l. being for maintenance. A reference to vote 16 of the Navy Estimates shows that, in addition to the 35,000l. an annuity of 60,300l. is paid by the British taxpayer.

One point in this agreement demands special notice. By article 4 the vessels shall be employed beyond the limits of the Australian station only with the consent of the Colonial Governments. The localisation of the Australian auxiliary squadron, in deference to the wish of the Colonies, is a mistake. I gave an illustration of this in an address in the Melbourne Town Hall last October, and the question is so important that it will bear repetition here. During the troublous times of last year it seemed quite possible that we might have found ourselves at war with France and Russia. The naval force maintained by these powers in waters in the neighbourhood of Australia is absolutely insignificant compared to our own; but in China the Russian and French squadrons were equal, if not slightly superior, to the British squadron, much as it has been strengthened in recent years. If the British-China squadron were to be defeated in battle the command of the sea between Cape Horn and the Suez Canal would be temporarily lost, British commerce would be interrupted, and Australia would be liable to invasion by Russian troops from Vladivostock, or French troops from Saigon. The squadron now in Australian waters would be powerless to prevent 203