THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MARch 30, 1898.

Grey River Argus, Volume LVII, Issue 9940, 30 March 1898, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MARch 30, 1898.

"Be brave that you may live"— or, in other words, do not be afraid to fight — eaya one of the characters of the lata Judge Manning's " Old New Zealand." It is the abaenoe of thla bravery, the an* readiness to fight, that haa embarrassed Britain and plaoed her in so doubtful and disadvantageous a position In the linbrog* Ho that has been brought abont in the Far East. She has bsen relying upon intern national honor and diplomatic negotiations. Bat these methods are fatlle with Buch powers as Russia, and they are but little more efficacious with either Germany or France. Visconnt Gross hit the weak spot when he satd '.hat a well direoted policy would fettle the China and Niger difficulties. All that Is required is' that Britain flhould make the other fellows understand that ehe is not afraid to go to war. As mutual preparedness for war Is considered the best means of averting such a calamity, so the next beat prevention to war is a lively national courage that will not flinch at the risk of, bloodshed. Britain ia essentially a trading nation, whose best interests lie in peaceful relations with all the world ; and the pursuit of wealth and happiness on these lines best accord with the traditions of the race. Great Britain baa grown phenomenally wealthy under the prevalence of such a pillcy, aad her statesmen are not nnnatarally loth to break away from it to enter upon a policy of aggression and rapine- Bat other nations h ye counted upon this. While they envy Britain her colonies and wealth, they presume on he? well known peaceful instincts to encroach upon her privileges whetever they may Imagine that they discern an opening or an opportunity, if Instead of an attack of influenzi Lord Salisbury had been afflicted with the bellicose disposition of " Old Pam" in the early stage of the j difficulty in the Far East, the Rasslaos might not have been at Port Arthur nor the mailed fist 1 ' of the Kaiser at KaioChau. Nor would the French have be ri making themselves an unp'easant and aggressive nuisance In the aoath-weatera portion of the Chin. Be Empire. Bat Lord Salisbury never possessed a vestige of th? Palmerstonlan audacity, nor of his bluntness and force. The one is a man of phrases j the other was essentially' a man of action. While he may have allowed his impetuousneaa to sometimes take him too far, he carried with him the compensating advantage that the nation he represented was always either feared or reapeoted abroad. She wa-a well known not to be afraid to fight, and that prevented many a collision. There are ■times in the history of nations when a little blood-letting is absolutely necessary. It is the only propbylaotio to guarantee Intervals of peace, We are mush afraid that the old country h&a new

i truck such a period, and we can discern uo safe way out of the impasse but a Bghtlng policy. Th*b is the only path that ia likely to load to honor and safety, Not the slightest reliance can be placed upon any of the Powers, but least of all on Russia and China. The diplomacy of both nations is bated on lies and systematic deoditfulneßß. They resort to diplomacy mere'y to gain time to enable them to perfect their arrangements bo as to be In a position to assume a defiant tone later on. The possession is acquired of Port Arthur and Talienwan under the form of leases from China, which still claims to exercise sovereign rights over these ports. But no one Is Innocent enough to suppose that the Russians will ever retire from either point of vantage unless shelled or starved out. Nor 1b it to be supposed that they wtl be allowed to remain free ports longer than suits Russia's convenience. We put no trust whatever In the old saying that " the voice of the people is the voice of God." The people are too 'often wrong for that. The French people forced Napoleon 111. to declare war against Germany, and have mourned for It ever since in sackoloch and ashes. The British public foroed on the Crimean war. Bdt|at this distance all minds are calm enough to agree that that war was a huge mistake. Britain was oovered with shame and confusion for tha criminal neglect of he? soldiers ; and the war established no g eat principle — it effected nothing beyond I a cruel waste of life. But there is a difference In respect to these Eastern complications. Four-fifths of the trade of China is in British hands, and it is, proI b-ib'y, the most pr fitable trade in the Empire. It Is only to be expeoted then that the mercantile community should olamof at the vacillating and nervelesß policy of Lord Salisbury. However, the bulk of the people w'U be with them In their clavuor. What Is bad for the mercantile class must be equal y bad for the rest of the community. .England's prosperity ia based solely on commerce and manufacture, and she cannot placidly submit to either being undermined and cut off. "Keep your hand out of John Bull's breeches pocket" is aD old aphor* ism, a profound truth In vulgar phrase John Bull will fight to his hi t shilling in defence of his commerce. He can only hope to maintain the supremacy of the Empire by doing so. The time for talk has passed. The time for aotlon has come, D Jays only play Into the hands of the enemy. Sinca the imbroglio haa come into prominence W9 have had a series of surprises in respeot to China and Corea. The announcements of the facts of the position on one day are made 'quite nugatory by diplomacy in the Interval. China is alternately cajoled and terrorised, and her rulers bewilderlng'y vacillate between the extremes of distrust and confidence. She falls in with Russian views to-day and rcC*nts her heresy to»morrow. The nation haa loat all national grip and pride and muat fall a prey toother nations. The end ia inevitable. While the Powers are cutting up the moribund national carcase, Great Britain only Btands on one side, taking no part In the' game of grab going on. She must realise that aa China is paßt praying for and must be dismembered, right or wrong, it ia time that England began to look after her own interests In the. great game. There is still room for one more surprise, a last trick In the game that Britain has it In her power to play. The fleet Is under orders for the Gulf of Pechili. The Royal Palace of P king is not far inlard, and easily reached. British forces have been there before. What Britain should do now to bring matters to a head Ia to take the Imperial Palace, make prisoners of tha Royal Family, and control the foreign polioy of China from there. It would be a daring Btroke, but we believe that some suoh step Is necessary to atone for and repair the mischief of the vacll° latlng policy of Lord Salisbury, who is ill, and has not for a long time been at his best.; . No ailing man Is. The Infirmities of the body generally paralyse the mind to some extent. But- in any case Salisbury has beea too much overrated. The '** Stupid Party" always have a tendency to deify a leader that shows any ability above one common herd. Sails > bury's foreign policy has been such a series of howling mistakes bhitbhey wood have wrecked half-a-dozen Liberal Ministries responsible for the like. The cation wants a young Foreign Minister, and one who is not altogether inclined to be hampered with the traditions of the past In the oondact of humsn affairs we never fiad two positions precisely alike, no more than we see two hpman faces exactly the same. Tha nation wants a man who can grasp the sltua'ion and ia not afraid to speak for the nation, who are warlike to the roots of their hiir and will never impe«ch their administrators for following a bold forward policy. The wreckers are now engaged on the demolition of the Chinese bulk ; and If Great Britain ia to come in anywhere she muat hustle tor i , Britain has only one (t pull" on the great natioua. She can faca them all, singly or combined, on the water, a. d aha U now paced in so perilous a position, that nothing but the most fatuous Imbecility can prevent her seeing that the oi ly solvent of tro international tangle that la bringing everything into a hopeless state of confusion and uncertainty is to declare war in the Interests of free and untrammelled commerce, which cannot be even hoped for where my of the great Powers is allowed to have control.