MENACE OF ASIATICS

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 June 1927, Page 9

MENACE OF ASIATICS

800,000,000 LEARNING WAR. To emphasise the seriousness of the Asiatic menace, Mr. Holman, K.C., pointed out in a speech in Sydney that eight hundred million, within striking distance of Australian coasts, were learning the art of modern warfare. “It is Great Britain who is protecting Australia against these hordes,” he declared. The ex-Premiei' was speaking at the annual dinner of the Granville Brotherhood. During the past generation, said Mr. Holman, a great change had come over our conception of Empire. Formerly the Empire meant domination —a handful of white men dominating millions of the dark races. Now, it meant nothing of the sort. The Empire was a number of countries banded together for the protection of white civilisation. . The Empire had reached a stage when it regarded India as a trust, and most enlightened people in England looked forward to the time when the Empire would be able to drop the burden of Egypt and Mesopotamia, and study our own white problems. There were seventy millions of white Britons, continued the speaker, and these were the backbone of the Empire; but forty-five millions of them were crowded into a few little islands. Their condition was not happy and not healthy, and this was shown by the fact that a million of them were being supported on the poison of the dole. This unhappy position was brought about by the wair and by some mismanagement and bungling since the war. The Mother Country was not in the financial position it was 12 years ago, yet the Dominions were much more prosperous. An unhappy blight had settled on leaders of industry, and statesmen were tackling the problems and the blight was disappearing. “Australia has no hope of independence without the Mother Country,” concluded Mr. Holman.