LORD BEACONSFIELD.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1695, 7 June 1884, Page 2

LORD BEACONSFIELD.

This day is the third anniversary of Lord Bcaconsfiold's death. All the leading* London papers, independent of politics, contain eulogistic articles on the life of England's greatest statesman of tho present century. His motto, his guiding principles, were "Peace with Honor." But, as a matter of fact, Lord Beaeonafield's system of being ready for war succeeded in maintaining peace ; while the alternative method of disclaiming force, of shrinking from notion, has in the long run brought about tho evils which it was designed to avoid. The deceased statesman was very partial to the simple, modest primrose, and Pier Majesty has sont annually a large bouquet of primroses to be placed over his tomb on the anniversary of his death. The consequence is that tho 19th of April has been termed " Primrose Day." It does one's heart good to visit London on this occasion ; almost every other man or woman you meet, from tho highest to the lowest, carries a small bunch of primroses on their garments. Tho drivers and conductors of 'bus or tramcar, the waggoner, some of tho actors and actresses on the stage, waiters in restaurants, tradesmen, the peasants, the working men on the thoroughfares, the gentry and the Peers. Calling to-day upon my butcher and grocer, I was pleased to find a profuse display of primroses, not only in their attire, but in their establishments, and I havo sinco come to tho conclusion that tho goods they soil are twice as good as what I previously regarded them. And I fool proud to find them, as Englishmen, that they aro nQt atraid of displaying their good Conservative opinions, or of thereby affecting their business injuriously. When I observed the primrose carried by .so many of the lower aud working classes, I cannot but come to the conclusion that the Conservatives aro mistaken in their apprehensions resulting- from lowering the franchiso ; let them take the working classes into their confidence, and recollect that after the last Reform Bill was passed a Conservative Government was placed in power. While alluding to this subject, it will be satisfactory

to many of your readers to ■ jpeffeefr that another Conservative victory has been WOti aft Poole by the return of Mr Harris, Conservative, with a majority of 62 over Mr Clarke, Liberal.

BARIi HOBEBEEEY, . . I think, paid a 1 visit to Tanranga in tlie course 6i his f difrneys, and made a very sensible pradtidal B^eedi ih&.Tveek oh our colonial prospects at Dundee, Oil Che titie&sitmoi being presented with the freedom of that city. He is a member of the present Government, and I trust that his remarks and experience may have some influence upon the majority of Her Majesty's present advisers, who regard our colonies and their feelings or wishes with such Apparent indifference!. His Lordship, in acknowledging «** $*% 8 4&, * h( t ™Wres - sion he had brought MCX frftri Adstralnji was the anxiety one felt that nothing should efver be allowed to separate Great Britain, and that colony. He was sorry to say the impression he received on his return was one of surprise at the indifference with which this country re-o-aifds her" giant possessions, and he asked them to cidntrdst tti'ft apathetic feeling with the conduct of France. iVattfie had 180 inhabitant to every square mile, White England had 44& #ha{ fact sftow'ed t thaf. the density of population ill this -country' must make the colonies of vital importance to GrfeaJt Britain, and yet we did not seem to recogilirie 1 the' fact. "We sent a nation every year to colonise tlie' world, and it was a matter of importance Where that ftation should go. He knew there was a 1 school df philosd-phefa who did not care how limited the Eirtpire may become* Indeed, they jfrqjild limit our dominion's to the three islands Jdrmirig'fhfcl/nited Kingdom, of which one by no stretch df Jmrf^iniitioii could be called very loyal or attached to tlie^ other' £#6V This sect of economists did not think it mattered much where our emigrants went ; but he thought it mattered enormously, for two very important reasons — firstly, . that trade followed the flag, and secondly, that the emigrants remained under our colours. There was something else whioh followed the flag besides \xp,Ce — something more important than trade — namely, the community o,f ideas and sentiments which binds people together. He believed that when countries separated there was a feeling in the old country that the daugliter' land Was too free in her .ideas and did not show sufficient refsfJect) and in the daughter country that the mother Stats was too slow, and her regulations impossible to be obeyed, the result being that a soreness, a jealousy, and a rivalry grew up which would never have existed had they remained under the same system and the same flag. If we separated from our . colonies, it would take at least 50 years before we could look for a friendly feeling on either side. He would regard separation from our colonies very much as he would regard building over the parks of the metropolis or the open spaces in large towns. Our colonies wore the breathing spaces our Empire had to depend on. Crowded as we were in these islands, we needed some open spaces to which we could send our surplus population, and it was a matter of the health, the welfare, and the strength of the nation that we should have these spaces in connection with our own homes. There were two things they must look to if they were to keep the Empire togeier. One of these was the extension of the system of local self-go-vernment. Parliament had not time to consider even vital and pressing questions of public concern, and how could it hope to take up Colonial matters that could only be facilitated by relegating a great mass of the business of Parliament back to the localities interested, and which were most competent to deal with it ? Another important factor in dealing with our vast dominions was for the Imperial Legislature to hold out the hand of sympathy a little more to our vast dependencies. THE. S.S. BOMBAY, chartered by Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company, Limited, leaves this on Thursday, the 24th, for New Zealand ports. It is certainly a most inconvenient day for me, as I have several passengers in her and must go down to the Docks and see them pff, and the 'Frisco mail closes the same day, for which I have a large correspondence to various quarters, of the colony, in reply to letters received by last mail. I fear some of them must wait another month, as I have some business meetings connected with our railways in the early part of the week. The Bombay returns with New Zealand mutton, and could bring back any samples from your local cheese factories. This matter could be arranged with the representatives of Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company in the colony through my extensive business connections with that company in London.