The Dominion. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1907. PACIFIC. PROBLEMS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 29, 29 October 1907, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1907. PACIFIC. PROBLEMS.

Upon many accounts there is more importance than appears at fcret sight in the Auckland telegram appearing in this issue, -which reports that there is such discontent iii Tahiti that the inhabitants arc desirous of coming under British rule. The notice of Australasia cannot be too often or too urgently directed to the problem of the balance of ; power in the Pacific, and to the ■necessity of conserving and advancing Britain's interest there. Ever Bince Sir Henry Parkes drew; attention in 1889 to the possibilities of Pacific velopment, and their importance to Australia, thoughtful Australians and New Zealanders have never lost, sight of the necessity for British predominance in the, ocean of,archipelagoes,,and events since that date.. have moved swiftly, to'fulfil the forecast of the old federalist. The scramble of the Powers for a Pacific foothold lias been one of the most interesting ' movements qf present-day international politics, i France, Germany, arid the , Nether- ' lands are Pacific;;colonisers of old standing. America has more recently taken a hand, and Japan must, before long, reach out for a share of Pacific influence. AlreaVly people talk of the shifting of the international centre of gravity to Pacific waters, and , when the Panama canal, now under construction,, is finished, the necessity for British, vigilance, and, whenever possible, energetic action : by Britain, will become greater;than ever... ; , ; At the present time there., are current rumours, and the echoes of,nw mours, of many important changes of ownership in the various archipelagoes,-. The signing of. the Anglo-French convention has temporarily placed,the Ne-w Hebrides beyond- the reach of the wholly British coutrol for which the Australian and New : Zealand Governments fought so vigorously, but _so unsuccessfully, against the short-sighted-ness of 'the Colonial Office: ■■Last taonth }t was rumotred that Tahiti had been offered ' to , Germany , by France, and colour was given to the rumour by an earlier statement by the Noumea '' Bulletin du.. .Commerce," to, the ,effect .that both.-Tahiti and, New, Caledonia were "counters.of exchange in French colonial policy.", The .present discontent in Tahiti is apparently similar to the discontent in ]New Caledonia. New Caledonia has long been cited as an example of strategic colonisation, for, as Sir Evarard im Thurn pointed out in a report upon the New lebrides (reprinted as a New Zealand parliamentary paper), its settlers have jeen directly subsidised and assisted by French Government money. rllecently, however, the French Government withdrew much of its financial support, and, as the times have not' 1 been quite of late, , the settlers'are very discontented. According to the , newspaper "France A-u's-trale," France is. " acting the part! of the cruel stepmother, and is exasperating the -whole population." panying these stories of cblonialfestiveness came reports of a'Fl'ench readiness to . sel 1 the islands _to Germany, 'Great Britain', or the United States: Exactly what the position may be is, at present, beyond, conjecture* One thing, however,/ seems to h'e certain: that the interests of France are not irrevocably fixed, but, rather,, are open to the operations' of purchase or exchange. As the "Sydney- Morning' Herald " recently pointed , out, France is probably not unwilling "to concentrate her efforts nearer home and in South Eastern Asia, ; abandoning her colonising experiments in the Pacific' > Accordingly the "Herald" asks: "Do we wish to change oiir nearest neighbours in the Pacific.ijand are we ready.' to view with equanimity the possibility .. of a powerfxil maritime nation under another flag establishing itself in force in a naval.base at New Caledonia, or gaining possession of Tahiti?"' The question is one, for New Zealand no''less • than for Australia. Geographically," Australasia would hold unchallenged the means of being to the developing Pacific what commercial Britainis to the re'st of the world, were it Jipt for the existence of Japan across the' Equator. There are other,. besides purely commercial reasons, why Australasia should form a strong opinion • upon the necessity for British aleriness, and impress that opinion on,the Home iiuthorities. It is to be hoped that the ~Ne\v Zealand and Commonwealth Governments will be found i working in unison on: this important'i^sue.