ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 123, 25 May 1909, Page 7

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

(From. Our Special Correspondent.)

LONDON, April 16. jjBVV ZEALAND'S LONDON OFFICES. The ffig ll Commissioner is still enraged in considering various sites in Central London for new premises for the London offices of the New Zealand Government. He has not decided yet •Inch sites to recommend to his Government, "but he has his eye on one in tte Strand, which, if it can be secured jjg a reasonable lease, would, in his w inion, serve the purpose admirably. 'The great thoroughfare which runs '" fcoji' Charing Cross to Fleet-street is lapidiy becoming an Anglo-Colonial ' centre under the new advertising policy - which the various oversea Dominions are • idopting in this country §, The Canadian ' SDominion;, Victoria (Australia), gßho(South Africa), and Ontario ' (Canada) have started window displays "at Charing Cross and in the Strand, where can be seen at a glance the jioduets of their countries. Other colonies are contemplating the 'siipp'y ol similar object-lessons. The aim is to bring about closer commercial relations with this country, and to show that England need not depend on foreign countries for her food supplies or 'for the raw materials of many of her manufactures. ' The official in charge of the Rhodesian . depot says the results of the shopwindow policy have been excellent. "It is surprising to find how vague is the knowledge of the ordinary stay-at-home iEnalishman about his colonies," he said, >ana until ie sees witn nis own e i' es the actual products of his lands across the seas he gets no conception of their .•jrealtH' and possibilities. "lien who, passing by, have caught jjoht of the pictures of Rhodesia and | of° the samples of our corn, tobacco, beans, and cotton, have come in to make I iniuiries, and have been astonished at j -the profusion and quality of our pro- ; ducts. ' "They have been delighted, and in some cases the visits have led to im--1 portant business transactions. It is thus . that we are laying the foundations of a <reat commercial union with the . Jfother Country." .-.. I. THE EMPIRE AND THE NAVY. Sir John C. R. Colomb, the eminent • naval authority, has given mc a copy i'oi aL paper which he read before the Jjoyal Colonial Institute as far hack as • 1873 on the subject of "Colonial Defence." " It has a topical interest to-day in view of the present agitation in England for 'a larger fleet of Dreadnoughts. Sir John's paper was an appeal to England " : to realise the fact that her colonies are the members of a body of which she is the head; that attacks upon them are | attacks upon her; that to suppose that ...defence of the United Kingdom against --invasion is "the one thing needful in the matter of national defence" is a grievous error. He maintains that for purposes of defence the Mother Country and the oversea Dominions should be treated strictly as one, and that the •Empire should be guarded at every possible point from assault. The closing ; passage of Sir John Colomb's might have ./-teen written just after New Zealand's :! nue,r of/a-v Dreadnought to the Mother Countryyinstead of 36 years before:— ; i "Home is something more than an • abstract idea, having reference only to - "locality£? its -foundations r are laid in , X ' common interests, sympathy, and affection. A 'silver streak of sea' can-' net divide these interests, nor can miles . of ocean sever the strong ties of affection and sympathy. Hence it is that, I from whatever quarter of the Empire a cry for help comes—wherever the British flag waves over Englishmen struggling on their own ground for all they hold dear —it is there our home is in danger; there is the rallying-point of forces created for its defence." Fortunately that "cry for help" has . not yet been raised, but the attitude of, the Colonial Governments ancS people in the present'naval controversy has illus- . tfated that Imperial unity of sentiment and interests on which Sir John Colomb lavs stress. PRODUCE AND TRADE. The High Commissioner informs mc that he has just received from his Gov- - tnunent, ex s.s. Papanui, a special shipment of cheese, made by the dairy exy s>«b of the New Zealand Department of j jSgneulture. The cheeses have been |mi to the High Commissioner, so that j they may be brought directly under the notice of merchants engaged in the cheese trade here. It is also desired to obtain a report on them that may afford ail indication and guide to the dahy division of the Agricultural Department in determining the class and quality of ;cheese most suitable for production for ttle on the British market. . The cheeses have arrived in excellent order and condition, and are being landed at Cotton's 'Wharf, Tooley-street. ' will be on show there one day next week, when experts will be invited to examine them, and give their opinion. . " EAST COAST TRADE. The Hull Chamber of Commerce and Shipping is continuing its efforts to | promote trade between the Antipodes and. Third Port—as Hull is called. :-*■ -A-letter has been received from the High Commissioner of New Zealand acknowledging a resolution passed in De- ' amber last, which he had forwarded to the Government of New Zealand. The "r-'jottef stated that at present there was , little prospect of the New~Zealand Government subsidising a special service to «nvey shipments of produce to Hull. He understood, however, that at the pre"sent,. time the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Shaw, Savill and Albioh Company are extending the running k .their steamers' to Hull when sufficient Cargo warrants their doing so. :Tie Hull Chamber lias also addressed j communications to the Chambers of Commerce at Australian ports, pointing i fut that Hull is the natural distributing .centre for the whole of Yorkshire and wincashjre, and for districts with a Population of over ten million persons.