Much as we deplore the publicity which hag fallen to our lot of late, we must be glad that, in future, our letters will reach us properly sed (and not Singapore, India; Singapore China; as often in the past), and that Malaya generally will "have been put on the map of the world. Sir Roger Keyes, speaking in Parliament recently, said that Singapore was "a vital link in the chain of Imperial defence" and that the "construction of the battleship base at Singapore was a necessity if ever we were to go to the help of Australia or New Zealand in time of crisis. He added: "It would be easy to cut the cables, There would be no way of getting to them without the base at Singapore."
As for the past, it was interesting to learn what had been happening to the Base in the past few years, much as we may have thought we knew from actual inspection of the Base self, Discussing the question of supplementary estimates we learn She reason the total had been increased was that the truncated scheme, as this Government took it over, i cluded only a hole in the ground where a graving dock was to be put, ho provision having been made for the caisson, power station, etc. "The main part of the increase is to make the Base efficient and defended." Sir Roger added: "The idea that the crea tion of this Base is a threat to anyer isa sheer delusion. You might well say that our base at Davenport isa threat to America.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.