The Press. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1881.

Press, Volume XXXV, Issue 4823, 19 January 1881, Page 2

The Press. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1881.

The Intercolonial Conference, which has been sitting in Sydney for the last few dayß, will, we hope, be able to do some practical work. Since the project of holding this Conference came before the public* we have all along felt that the difficulties which must be encountered in coming to any definite conclusion on practical questions were almost insurmountable. The subject which above all others demanded earnest attention was carefully passed over at the sitting at Melbourne from inability to agree upon even a possible solution of it. The members passed resolutions dealing with an infinite variety of complex questions, but that was about all they actually did do. The session at Sydney has commenced by the re-affirmation of some of the Melbourne resolutions. In addition, the Attorney-General of Victoria has presented a Bill for the constitution of a Colonial Court of Final Appeal, which has been referred to to a committee for revision before being submitted to the Conference for coni sideration. It is possible, of course, to create a court which would combine the judicial ability of the Australian colonies, whose decisions would command the respect of the public. Properly consti-* tuted, we do not hesitate to say that it would be an inestimable boon, and if the Conference did nothing beyond agreeing upon a measure likely to meet with the concurrence of the various colonies, their session will not by any means have been a barren one.

But we must not expect too much. The Conference will have done a great deal if it succeeds in placing the subject of Colonial Confederation in the list of questions which must at no very distant date have to be practically dealt with. In the current number of the " Victorian Review," Sir Henry Parkes sets forth the indirect effects of such Conferences very clearly and forcibly. "The Federal movement," he points out, " can. only be helped forward by the cultivation of a sober and generous public opinion. Federation will not come upon ns full-grown and perfectly organised, with a people thrust together in harmony, by one magical stroke, to accept it with open arms. The ground must be prepared by slow and delicate processes." All this is undoubtedly true. At the same time, we must confess to harboring some lurking doubts of the rapid formation of such a healthy public opinion when we find that the question of intercolonial free trade, npon which so much depends, was left undiscussed at Melbourne from the utter inability, as we have just said, of the Conference to "discover any possible solution" of it. It is something, however, to know what the difficulties are. It clears the way, and renders more easy any practical steps in the future. If the sitting' at Sydney does this, we ought perhaps to be satisfied, It will be for the statesmen and journalists of the different colonies to familiarise the minds of the people with the various questions involved, and which must be settled to the mutual satisfaction of the colonies interested before the ties which at present unite the Australian colonies can be drawn any closer together.'

The people of Christchurch are about to be treated to another of those stupid exhibitions which are becoming, we are sorry to say, far too common both in England and the colonies. They are invited to witness the " marvellous feat" of walking one hundred and eighty miles in forty-eight hours. This " extraordinary performance" is to be preceded by a " grand one-hour go-as-you-please" for a _ilver cup, after which the excitement is to commence in real earnest. Now we utterly fail to comprehend what possible benefit can be derived from, witnessing such feats. They are, to our mind, utterly degrading and senseless, and indicate anything but a manly instinct on the part of those who take a delight in watching them. That they produce a pleasurable -sensation to some must, we presume, be taken for granted, or they would not be so popular as they are. Yet, if we analyse what class of emotions they give rise to, it is difficult to come to any other conclusion than that they are essentially lowering in their tendency, and can lay no -claim whatever to be classed along with those manly sports which are admitted on all hands to exercise a beneficial influence npon those who witness them and those who take part in them.

Such exhibitions have of late been rather roughly handled by some of the leading journals in London. In a recent issue the Saturday Iteview took occasion to comment in no unmeasured terms regarding such spectacles. " The beginning of these contests," says the critic, " are comparatively tame; indeed, they might be mistaken for the sort of race in which uncivilised persons, vacant of the glorious gains of the latter days, still take a considerable interest. The men are fresh, in good training, and sound in wind and limb. It is gratifying, however, to know that on the present occasion the patrons of the sport had an unusually short time to wait for their favorite and expected pleasures. The record of those pleasures is not wholly agreeable to read, for the new long distance contest differs from the old P. R., not in being any the less brutal, but in being entirely destitute of the rich argot which adorned the annals of the older institution. . . To see ian apparently hale and vigorous 1 person career round the ring is monotonous; but to see a wearied and beaten wretch flinch as he puts down his bleeding feet on the ground, or staggers round tbe track with the halfdrunken gait of one on whom the desire to sleep has come in an overpowering burst—this is truly delightful." The utterly disgraceful character of such exhibitions could not be better put than in the above extract. The writer also takes care to draw a wide distinction between these " brutal proceedings " and " downright walking under natural conditions," and comes to the conclusion that the attraction of the former is simply that which certain natures " feel in the sight of suffering in others." It may be asked what remedy is there against such proceedings p Should the Legislature be called upon to interfere and put a stop to them? We do not think so. Those who get them up do so because they find that some people enjoy them, and are prepared to pay for the pleasure. To ask Parliament to interfere would probably do more harm than good. We must look to the public at large to set their faces against such purposeless exhibitions, and the moment they cease to pay their promoters they will quickly cease to be got up,