1284 ADMINISTRATION AND LEGISLATION [PART V
should fail to act.! The Commonwealth Government then
sent in a set of proposals for the creation of a fleet unit to
operate in Australian waters and to be under the general
control of the Commonwealth Government, but they offered
automatic control in time of war through the operation of
sealed orders. The offer was made in the following telegram,
dated April 15, 1910 :—2
Prime Minister of the Commonwealth has asked me to
submit to your Lordship, for consideration of His Majesty’s
Government, the following memorandum on the question
of Naval Defence :—
Whereas all the Dominions of the British Empire ought
to share in the most effective way in the burden of maintain-
ing the permanent naval supremacy of the Empire :
And whereas this Government is of opinion that, so far
as Australia is concerned, this object would be best attained
by encouragement of naval development in this country so
that people of Commonwealth will become a people efficient
at sea and thereby better able to assist United Kingdom with
men as well as ships to act in concert with the other sea forces
of the Empire :
The views of the present Government, as a basis of co-
operation and mutual understanding, are herewith sub-
mitted :—
(1y The Naval Agreement Act to continue for the term
provided for ;
(2) The Commonwealth Government to continue to
provide, equip, and maintain the defences of naval base for
the use of the ships of the Royal Navy ;
(3) In order to place Australia in a position to undertake
the responsibility of local naval defence, the Commonwealth
(Government to establish a Naval Force ;
(4) The Commonwealth Government to provide ships
constituting the torpedo flotilla and maintain them in a state
of efficiency, wages, pay, provision. and maintenance of
officers and men ;
(56) The sphere of action of the Naval Force of the
Commonwealth to be primarily about the eoast of Common-
wealth and its territories ;
‘6) The administrative control of the Naval Force of the
* Parl. Pap., Cd. 4948, p. 3. For the dissent of Queensland, see Parlia-
mentary Debates, 1910, pp. 2464 seq.
* Ibid., pp. 3, 4.
