ON THE WATCH TOWER.

Evening Star, Issue 14628, 26 July 1911, Page 7

ON THE WATCH TOWER.

[By Abikl.s Th-> lli'iu'j .iv t-radius o:n eIT ri*nir t:oi L H..; as efficient fig V.i«. !." . . vpi.i to get what they ask v.Tfnut The lion in the fable, wheu d'U'bug the prey, isaicl : "This par', l awn d to my valor, this to my sire lirt.i. tie- to my special exertion in the hunt, and whoever want* the rest wjII have tv deal with me." He was quite peaceable, .trd there was no fighting. If hj" had hcen unablo to fight there fcould ha\e luui a toy/ Napoleon, when hj« had established hit, reputation, nent _on altering the nap or Europe in tho piping tc»ag of peace. Know mg that they viould ha*-* to deal with him. nobody objected, etrept But.int. and .-he had to "resume the \. u u> consequent o Germany had adopted the N..pokome theory that a reputation save* fighting, and is a good thing to trade on. She is marching to world power on her reputation. One little warship repreeents her mailed fiet. " Hand over a colony of 200,000 square miles, and I'll let you alone," she says to France. She would a thousand times rather do the like to Britain if she were able, for Britain has the desirable colonies. If Germany wielded the trident, the ship would soon bo sent to South Africa, Australia, or New Zealand. There is war in pence for tho weak. Let the advocates of the blessedness of being weak take note of what is happening in the world. Forty years ago Prussia, after long and deliberate preparations, knocked out Denmark, Austria, and France in rapid euc-€.-evssion, and did it very thoroughly. This gave rise to the reputation. If France hjd been as ready as she imagined she was, none of those three wars would have happened. It was the certainty that ho could win that made Bismarck attack his neighbors. Hence it appears that if we want to keep peace we must not disarm whilst our- friends over the border are drilling night and day. Now, Germany has spared no pains to keep her sword and has steadily used her reputation to extend her power. That, she took part of Samoa and part of New Guinea, and part of China, and several largo slices of Africa was natural enough, but it shows that she aims at empires abroad. more important is the fact that she has made Austria a mere appendage, and has worked through her into the old Turkish principalities. Sho has squeezed Turkey into makiiLg great concessions which mean a railway from Berlin to the Euphrates. Italy chafes in the Triple Alliance, but she dares not recede from it. The allies of the lion are his servants. The united power of the Triple Alliance is wielded by Germany. Neither of the ■others has ever spoken louder because of it. Germany roars for three. A French Minister's policy in obnoxious to Germany. His removal from office is requested, and he resigns! Imagine such a request coming to any part of the British Empire! Would not every man with blood in his veins then wish that he coidd shoot'/ Again, Russia objecr-rd to the Austrian annexations, but she was not ready, having been recently beaten. Germany said : "I have an interest in this matter, and the fact is. any further opposition will involve the movement of troops." Russia accepted the inevitable. Thus, first by war and then by the threat of war, Germany ruthlessly pushes her way. But you say "she has never jostled Britain." Indeed ! I remember xhe Kaiser's telegram to Rruger. in which he spoke as it he were the natural ally and protector of the Boers. I also remember his visit to the Sultan, and his loud talk about the unity of Mohammedans, or something of the kind. As Britain has more Mohammedan subjects than any otherPower, this was an invitation to" make trouble and to rely on his support. It was as though our King had visited Warsaw ard made a speech about the unity and independence of the Poles. Only one J thing has Tjrevented °ur being jostled still more roughly. The German Navy is not supreme at sea. During the Boer War a distinguished German remarked : "If our navy were strong enough, things i would take a different turn in South | Africa." No informed person doubts it. Had their navy been strong enough the British Empire would have been broke a up at that time. Ever since then they have been straining every fibre to make it strong enough. What for? Perhaps those who object to this- Dominion paying for one ship will tell us what all this German effort is for. ******* The Lords have played the man. T am rso barracker for Loids. and I wish to see their claws pared pretty close to the quick, j Still. I like to see them game. They have j yielded far more than was ever yielded in j one act before. But they have da.red to I maintain that the General Election was not I a referendum on a dozen questions at once. It was not a referendum on Home Rule, for instance. The Lords contend that so vital an issue as the unity of the United Kingdom must he put to'the people, as a btni-jht-out issue, unencumbered by any other question The fiords are right'. In this instance they stand for the democratic principle. Politics arc now so complicated that the nation often has to accept what it does not want in order to get what it does want. in small affairs this docs not Batter, but in vital affairs it is intolerable. Hence, there should be some method of keeping the Government in power without our being forced to allow them to sell us. Australia found that method in th:> referendum. The Lords stand for a referendum on Homo Ride. ******* I The Irish delegates are taking £IO,OOO or so from New Zealand, and the people of New Ross, Wexford, have been burning tho New Zealand Flag, mistaking it for the meteor flag of England '. Have we received an apology? Cur Dreadnought is not ready, 60 I suppose we mast accept the lot of the weal;. Now. the Irish delegates assured us of the loyalty of the Irish. " Give us more power to injure the Empire and you'll see how we won't do it," they say: whereat there is much braying of confidence and applause. But why do they burn Hags, supposing them to represent the Empire? Please tell me. 1 would like to know now these dear, loyal people arrive at it. Why do they refuse to address the King? Why do they prevent the Mayor from doing his duty? Tell me that; I want to understand these hospitable Irish. Why does Mr Redmond, when in the United States, declare that Home Rule is oidy the first step towards full and final separation? Explain it to me, please. Why is there a different story in Canada and in New Zealand? Why does the policy change with geography 1 Why do the Irish Catholics in Australia, led by Cardinal Moran, set up paltry "Australia Day" against ' Empire Day "11 am really anxious to know what particular phase of loyalty these things stand for. And, whilst I am collecting information, 1 would like to know the precise political association of the Irish banners carried in the Dunedin Coronation Procession. I have not the slightest objection to the prayer " God save Ireland," but, like "God save the King,'' it has its atmosphere and conventional meaning. Pray what is it? *******

To create a few hundred peers in order to abolish the Lord 3 is a proceeding that has its humorous side. No doubt there axe hundreds of wealthy upstarts who are dying to be made lords, or whose wives vrould sell their souls for the honor. But most of these will have been courting the Tories and cutting all their Radical friends to prove their aristocratic nature and sympathies. And now comes the one great chance of history, and they are on the wrong side! What a situation for a diTMnaiist! The honors" must, of course, ba given to the faithful, and that will involve jtaking a large sauad of men out of tibe Commons. That, in turn, will involve half a General Election, in which the Government may lose a lot of seats, and be unable to go on with their Bill! Here, again, is a situation for a novel. The position of men who are promoted to the peerage in order to destroy it will be peculiar.. When the Premier says to a man, ** Til make you a lord ii you'll promise to make the honor not. worth having," one ■would not be surprised if the answer were -••Hi aee yoa farther first." In any case,

the new creations will be likely to form a class by theniselvea. They 'will not bo regarded as being elevated fox intrinsic worth, but as mote fagot votes, and as men who were willing to damage the peerage for the sake of getting into it. Already- the struggle for precedence has begun. The Liberal barons already' in the Upper House contend What they should get a step up, and that the new creations should be made barons. That would put the fagot votes in a class by themselves. On the other hand, some expectant Liberate who are standing in the queue are not willing to accept the lowest rung of the ladder, but want to be viscounts. That is, they are unwilling to be in the marked class. I sympathise with them, and with Mr Asquith, who has a piece of very rocky navigation before him. However, I expect that it will end in a tremendous disappointment to some thousands of ladies. The situation was somewhat similar at the time of the great Reform Bill. The Lords had rejected the Bill; the Government had appealed to the country, and won, and had the authority of the King for appointing fagot votes in D.ie Lords. They did not do it. 'however. They merely sent up the Bill again, and the hostile peers, not wishing to be diluted, absented themselves, and the Bill passed. The difference in the present case is that the Lords have passed the Bill in an amended form. If the Government are resolute, they need creato only a dozen peers, as a hint, and send up the Bill again. It would be certain to pass. *******

The latest information about the Japanese Antarctic Expedition is to the effect that the leaders have signed an oath never to return to Japan till they have reached the Pole. Failure will mean harakiri (the honorable death). The leaders are said to have boon goaded into this ridicidous oath by public opinion expressed in the newspapers. Ii this is true, it shows that our allies are still very primitive barbarians indeed. The Carthagenians used to crucify their unsuccessful generals. On the other hand, when Hannibal had destroyed a splendid Roman army under Van-us, and that Consul had rallied a few stragglers, the Roman Senate thanked him for not having despaired of the Republic. Need it be said that the Roman system mastered the world, while Carthago was blotted out of existence? The romance and glory of .Arctic exploration consists of failures. European nations have reached their present proud position through a hundred failures for every success. Uebig pitied the man who had made no mistakes. Failures in great enterprises are our best teachers. It was the man who had failed ottoner than anybody else who ultimately got to the North 'Pole. If Peary had been under a Japanese oath, America would have had one boast less. Tho Japanese system may be fruitful in the Dr Cook type of explorer, but it will not help inexperienced and pooTly-equipped men to overcome what, to them, are physical impossibilities. ******* Mrs Ariel, is much exercised over the price of butter. "And to think that there is a heavy duty on it!"' says she. " Talk about a ' fret? breakfast table,' indeed!" I also hear tho bitter cry of a newlyarrived father who can't afford to buy apples for his children. There is a duty on apples again. Duties compel all New ZeaJanders to regard fruit as a luxury I instead of a necessary and specially wholesome article of food. In America tire householder lays in his winter stock oi potatoes and apples in similar quantities and at similar prices. There is Freetrade between States that grow fruit and States that don't, and fruitgrowers make money because fruit, is not a luxury. There is an unlimited demand for it. All our duties are supposed to benefit the people. Some of them, perhaps, do, but others only make it difficult for wage-earners to live. Fruit and butter duties are of this class. The other day 1 read a statement of Japanese wages. A good tradesman earned Is 8d a day. Probably some New Zealand workers said: "Poor devil! he needs a union and an Arbitration Court." But let us see. How long could the Japanese man live on Is 8d? Probably a week. Can tho New Zealand worker live a week on his day's wages? If not, the Japanese man is the better off. It is not the amount of money you get, but what you can buy with it, that determines, the living wage. Duties and artificial prices are only efforts to lift yourself up by your boot-straps. Kittens have pursued their tails for thousands of. years. It is not on record that one of them ever caught that appendage, but they keep at it with a perseverance worthy of a more intelligent enterprise. Which things are an allegory.