1298 ADMINISTRATION AND LEGISLATION [parTV
prescribed by regulations under the Australian Act, and
when vessels of the Australian and Imperial fleets are co-
operating the command shall, subject to any Imperial Act
or regulations, devolve on the senior officer, and any part
of the Commonwealth naval forces may be placed under the
sommand of any officer of the King’s naval forces.
In both cases the legislation passed contemplates the Acts
having extra-territorial effect, and it is indeed clear that
without such effect the provision of navies proper would be
meaningless. The regulations which were adequate for the
Government forces which did not move beyond the limits
of the Colony are quite out of place in connexion with large
vessels such as those which are now possessed by Canada
and the Commonwealth. It is not clear whether the legisla-
tive power for Parliaments covers the whole sphere of opera-
tions, but the defect, if any, can be remedied by Imperial
legislation. More important is the fact that the position of
Dominions with naval forces raises at once a fundamental
question with regard to the defence and responsibility
for foreign policy of the Empire, a question which is not
raised in equal degree by the problem connected with
military forces only! In the first place, there is much
greater chance of international incidents arising from the
operations of a force which can go freely over the world ; and
in the second place, the existence of these navies is of more
immediate importance in defence matters to a country
which depends on its naval strength. It is impossible not
to recognize that the participation of the Dominions in naval
defence must ultimately result in their sharing to some
degree in the direction of the foreign policy of the Empire.2
' Bee Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates, 1910, pp. 4489-96, 5597 seq.,
where Mr. Pearce, as Minister of Defence, recognizes the new problems
presented. The Dominion Government have decided not to accept the
proposed assistance from the Imperial Government, and have repealed
the Naval Loan Act No. 14 of 1909, and are going to finance the scheme
by direct taxation and in part by the proceeds of a note issue (see Acts
Nos. 6, 11 and 14 of 1910). * See also Part VIII, chap. iii.
