The Press. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1890.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7449, 15 January 1890, Page 4

The Press. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1890.

Now that the character of the Con ference on Australian federation has been settled, the Australian .Press is giving its attention to the practical questions which should be dealt with at the meeting. It is pointed out taat the approaching meeting differs in no respect, save the object set before it, from previous Conferences held in one or other of the Australian capitals. It bears no Parliamentary commission, and in this respect will be very different from the gathering Sir Henrt Parkes proposed in the first instance, when he commenced his Federal crusade ; nothing less than a great conference, appointed by the various Parliaments, would satisfy him. The members were to come together having authority to draw up a complete scheme of Parliamentary government for United Australia. The approaching conference will have a very different task before it. The conference will simply be a meeting of leading statesmen from the various Australian colonies come together for the purpose of dis cussing the question of the feasibility .of a closer union between the colonies. The local Parliaments will not in the slightest degree be committed by the proceedings of the Conference. The discussions which will arise ought, nevertheless, to be of very great value in enabling the public and the Legislatures to arrive at something like a satisfactory decision as to their future course of action. The colonies which belong to the Federal Council will, we understand, be represented by the members of that Council, While those who have not joined that' body will, no doubt, take care to send delegates in whom the Legislatures have a large amount of confidence, and who can be depended upon to state the case on behalf of their colonies clearly and dispassionately. Since Sir Hbnbt Pabkbs first startled the public of Australasia with his scheme, the question has been pretty fully debated in this colony. Thediseussion has, however, been almost ex-i clusively confined to the newspapers. One or two references have been made to it in banquet speeches inDunedin it is true, but we have had no elaborate speeches on the question from the public platform, as has been the case in some of the Australian colonies. It appears to us, however, that public opinion in the colony regarding Australian federation is definitely up. The people of New we believe, are willing to go the length of seriously considering any proposal for the formation of a Customs' Union which would involve the free interchange of the natural products and manufactures of Australasia. Qdx manufacturers profess themselves quite prepared to face the com petition of the manufacturers of Victoria, and our farmers/) are naturally quite satisfied with a scheme which, while in no way interfering with their freedom to ship to the : best market outside, would give them free access to the Australian markets as welL This, however, is not quite what the advocates of Australian federation desire. The advocates of this scheme are, it is true, by no means agreed as to what they desire to see accomplished. Sir Henry Parkes, aa we all know, seeks the creation at once of a Dominion Government' with practically the control of life and property throughout the Dominion. , The Caua dian example is the one wliich we are • invited to follow. If that plan wereadopted, certain powers would no doubt be delegated to the local' Legislatures, of greater or less extent, according to arrangement; but the central authority would have large powers, of taxation and borrowing for national. purposes. The more cautious will insist on a very distinct agreement being arrived at before they consJnt to part with their local independence. They appear, however, to be willing to go some considerable length in the direction of calling into existence a central power. New Zealand, it appears to us, is not prepared to part with any of its local independence on any consideration whatever. It has been said, especially in .New South Wales, that in approaching the consideration of the question New Zealand must remember that unless she consents to become part and parcel of the new dominion she cannot expect to have the Australian markets kept open to her. This way of putting the case, it appears to us, shows unmistakeably that there is something behind not yet disclosed. Either colonial reciprocity is a desirable thing of itself, or it is not. If it is desirable, as we are told it is, why should threats be made 1 It is one step, surely, in the direction of union, and when adopted may lead to others. If, on the other hand, New Zealand is to be offered the bribe for entering an Australasian Dominion of a market, which, however times, is unreliable, then assuredly the

«r will be Why sbouM t&e people of New Zealand be called upon to contribute towards the cost of an Australian Federal Army, when such an arnsy could be of no use whatever for the purposes of our own defence? Probably one of the earliest projects of the Dominion Parliament, were it created, would be the construction of one or more transcontinental railways. It would be represented that they were urgently required for the purposes of defence, and, as such, would be of national importance. The money required for their construction would be raised on the joint credit of the Dominion. We have only to iook at the annual expenditure of the Canadian Dominion Parliament to understand what a Federal Parliament of Australasia would mean for this colony. Now,.if this colony were really part and parcel of Australia the position would be different. But we are geographically too far distant from the continent to make it possible for-a Dominion Government to deal fairly and justly by this colony. Our representatives would, from the very circumstances of the case, be almost invariably in opposition, and being in a hopeless minority, their protests would be quite ineffectual. Almost every question regarding which there is a necessity for action can be settled by mutual agreement between the Governments concerned. We have managed postal matters in this way on the whole very successfully. There may be others which can be dealt with in a similar fashion. If the Federal Council Aot had been passed on the lines advocated in New Zealand, it might have by this time proved of considerable use in arranging ; such questions It would have brought together once a year the leading public men of Australasia, and would have enabled them to make recommendations to the different Parliaments which would have resulted In uniformity of legislation on a number of matters of considerable importance to the colonies as a whole. The New Zealand proposal was, however, not acceptable to the majority, and this colony prudently kept aloof from the Federal Council. The approaching Conference will, it is to be hoped, elicit what the real views and aims of the colonies are. It will" also be made clear, ~we trust, what the attitude of New Zealand must be towards any large scheme of federation.