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Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 153, 4 August 1914, Page 6

The dramatic developments on the Continent, coupled with the probability of Great Britain being involved to retain the balance of power in Europe,, have shocked the world from East to West. The gravity "of the situation is undeniable, but so far as tie oversea dependencies are concerned, there is nothing in the present state of affairs to warrant the wave of hysteria that is manifesting itself in several quarters. In Melbourne, for instance, the notes and gold from the Treasury have been removed to an inland town. This is surely an unnecessary precaution before England has yet fired a-shot. There is no reason for supposing that the colonies are in any danger of molestation whatever at present, as we have published figures and facts that proclaim the impotence of Germany in the South Pacific. The Australian Navy, at least on paper, is sufficiently powerful to dominate the naval position in colonial waters, and the action of the Treasury officials in Melbourne suggests that somebody in authority has "oo'ld feet" in a rather pronounced form, instead of a cool head. These scare tactics are" calculated to drive timorous people into panic—a condition of things for which there is absolutely no justification as matters now stand. The New South Wales Government has sent 2IK) men to guard the Ifawkesbury River bridge—an intimate connecting Jink between ■ Sydney and Brisbane. The authorities are to bo commended for keeping their eyes open for emergencies, but, while international complications are as yet more suggested than real, and while nothing has occurred to suggest other than that the British Navv is practically im . pregnable, such panicky precautions must tend to inflame further the popular mind to a dangerous degree. The occasion calls for cool deliberation, not "cold feet.