The general public of Australis is much more inclined than it was a short time ago to give earnest con-Sideration to the question of defence. Both here and in Britain it Is recognized, even if reluctantly, that the easy-going days of the period which followed the war have gone at any} rate for the present. It was in 1093} that the Minister for Defence out-Mined g mace active programme, which provided for the Improvement coastal fortifications, Increasing. mechanization of the land forces, com plete modernizing of the air' force, extended manufacture of munitions and strengthening of the navy. Since then, the need for all this has increased, The Commonwealth Government is alive to that fact, it has public opinion solidly behind it and the statements made by the—present Minister for Defence are received with Interest and sympathy.
'Many Australians, indeed, feel that the one complaint' that could _be that still more is requi from those who hold the vital destin-fes of the nation in their hands, There is no country which is more entitled to take counsel with the Motherland, seeing that Australia's contributions to the common cause, though small when weighed in. the British scale, are so. far ahead of those made by the other Domintons
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.