The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1599. LOYAL AUSTRALASIA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 162, 11 July 1899, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1599. LOYAL AUSTRALASIA.

For __.a cans. t_at lacks assUtanc., For tho Trrong that needs rc._~_.c-, Fdl* the futoro in tho dlstanco, And tho Good that vo can do.

Following the example of loyal Canada which, a fortnight ago, offered the . Imperial Government a thousand picked men for service in. South Africa, the Queensland authorities' according to a cable message received by us to-day, have announced their willingness to equip and send two hundred and fifty mounted infantry to the Transvaal. Canada has always regarded herself as the most loyal of the colonies, and no one can deny that she has been .ever to the front in single-hearted devotion to Imperial interests. But if willingness to fight the battles of the Empire is to be the chief test of our loyalty, then we here in Australasia are in no way behind Canada. The offer of the New Zealand contingent for Samoa was a generous one for such a small colony as this to make; and the levy which Queensland proposes to contribute out of her sparse population' is unexpectedly large. As compared with the proposed Canadian contingent, the Queensland one would be a singularly handsome gift to the Imperial authorities, for while the Canadians, out of their abundant population of close- on five and a- half million have offered a thousand men, the Australian colony, with a, population of barely half a million, has. offered two hundred and fifty. If a proportionate generosity were, shown by the whole group of colonies here, the entire Australasian contribution would number some two thousand two hundred and fifty men. But the v actual number would probably be much larger, for there is a disposition on the part of some of the colonies to be, comparatively speaking, lavish in their contingents. For instance, New South Wales, with a population not a fourth of that of Canada' has been speaking |of despatching a battalion a thousand strong. Besides the great difference in population between New South Wales and Canada, which alone constitutes the former's offer a much greater sacrifice than the Dominion is

prepared to make, there is another difference which greatly enhances the value of any contribution by the mother colony on the scale suggested. In Canada there is a military establishment of a character no colony in Australasia can boast. Altogether apart from the Imperial garrisons, there is a militia, force, the active division of .which includes some3s,ooomen, and a reserve consisting of all men in the Dominion between the ages of IS and GO years. New South Wales on the other hand has a permanent force of not .more than 700 men, and the volunteers number about 5000. Love of adventure and the desire for change are doubtle-is powerful factors in this willingness on the part of the Australasian youth to light for the Empire, but at the same time there is not the l^ast doubt that they are actuated by h generous patriotism as well. For men; love of adventure and change colonials are scarcely likely to endure the rigours and dangers of war on a paltry wage of a trifle over a shilling a day—for'it is not considered probable Ihe colonial contingents would be r.abl higher than ordinary British soldiers. Behind all other considerations which prompt these volunteers for service, the Imperial spirit is very evident; and it is certain that, apart from the actual ' aid an Australasian contingent might j render in war, the fact of the men j having' fought shoulder to shoulder iwith their countrymen from every remote corner of the Empire would j stimulate that spirit to an incalculable degree. It may be argued that ; Australasia has little interest in South j Africa, and still less in the Transvaal, j and that it is a mistake on .her part to (concern herself in this quarrel with the Boors, and sacrifice the lives i of her citizens in.'.a war that can in no ! way benefit her. But that is. not the standpoint which loyal Australasia | takes. She looks on herself as j quite as much an integral ! part of the Empire as ScotHand is, and bound by tho same feelings of devotion, arid the same bonds of duty to take her part in upholding the honour and glory of that Empire throughput the seven seas. Her increasing willingness to render assistance to the Mother Country on occasions like the present is a signal proof of the growth of the sentiment of Imperial responsibility throughout these colonies.