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aite so enthusiastic in making sure we will develop it in the 
g ht way. The present greatest problem we are faced with 
i= to ensure the safety of the Empire, and, above all, the 
+ fotection of our great trade routes. (Hear, hear.) Australia, 
sf ®ing so far away, has a vital interest in the security of her 
f vn shores. You, I suggest, as the controllers of great 
1 dmmercial interests in this country, trading over the seven 
& las, have a similar interest with Australia in ensuring that 
1 Iritain’s sea power is maintained at the requisite strength— 
I, 1ear, hear and applause)—and in ensuring the safety of our 
- feat sea-going commerce, which is the lifeblood of this 
1 ountry and of the whole Empire. (Hear, hear.) 
= I do not want at great length to go into the position 
T lat we find ourselves in to-day, but I would remind you that 
+ 1© world is not safe at the present moment. There are 
gf °Me people who think the League of Nations has made 
+ 2 safety of everybody secure. Nobody believes in 
1°16 League of Nations more than I do; no one is more 
st hthusiastic to see the great ideals it was created for realised ; 
+ ut one has to look at the world as it is and it is impossible 
+2 look round and imagine that everyone is secure, that we have 
gf tached that point where dependence can be put on the 
4 -€ague of Nations to save us, and that we can abandon any 
lea of protecting ourselves by the strength of our own right 
£°Im. (Hear, hear.) It is imperative that we should have 
+ be requisite and necessary Force to protect our own great 
| Nterests. There is no aggression in that; that is only ordinary 
itudence and sanity ; but for the last few years we have 
1 ertainly allowed our defensive forces to reach a point where 
1 t must be a matter of very great anxiety to anybody who 
+ Oves the Empire, and doubts must at times cross our minds 
ts Vhether we are doing quite enough to ensure our own safety. 
+ do ask every one of you to give very serious consideration 
{ O these questions of ensuring the Empire's defence, and, 
1 bove all, I ask you to remember what we have owed in the 
Fast to the British Navy and to remember that we are probably 
1 10Ing to owe just as much to it in the future. (Hear, hear 
{ Ind applause.) I would also ask you to look at those 
g-luestions of defence as being matters of Empire-wide signifi 
+ 1ance. None of us are entitled to look only at those questions 
+ rom the point of view of one isolated piece of an Empire 
§ Which is stretched over the whole surface of the globe. 
ii saw the other day that a suggestion was made that the 
F drovision of an adequate Air Force in Britain was of far 
+ jreater importance than the securing of a base in the Pacific. 
1: agree there is nothing more vital than that Britain should be 
otected against any possible menace from the air, but I 
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