The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1864.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1322, 24 November 1864, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1864.

It may tickle our sense of Belf-importance, though perhaps not in the most agreeable way, to find that we are not so small or so distant but that we may be spoken of in connection with the remote contingencies of a European war. England would be an ugly customer on her own shores, as intending invaders have occasionally thought. For though a nation of shopkeepers she has those at home, as Mr. Punch points out, who would not be slow in coming forward to protect the shops, xit a pinch, to say nothing of her standing army, she has the means on her own soil of throwing into the field an effective force which it would be hardejj to number than to trust.

But the sun never sets, aB it pleases us to think, on the dominions of the British Sovereign, and some of her remote dependencies are less completely defended than tne Mother Country. Acting on the old maxim that discretion is the better part of valour, it appears to have occurred to some of our politic neighbours that on tjhese a swoop might be comfortably made, and if little spoil or honour could be gained, at least, considerable mischief might be done. It is alleged , that the Emperor of all the Russias, the father of his people, being irritated at the notijhn of any interference with his sanguinary fastime in Poland, bad laid out a pretty plan in which we and our neighbours in Australia were to be chief actors, or rather sufferers. Had the poor Poles been supported by English intervention some leaky official has iet out the secret that in that case, the Russian fleet would have come down on us from its hyperborean cruizing ground. Melbourne was to be shelled, Sydney taken, and some powder and shot expended even on our insignificant selves. •

Such a story, whether true or, false, is but the echo of thoughts which must often be

present to the minds of colonists, especially of such as are farthest removed from the Mother Country. And the comparatively unprotected state of the colonies has been forced on the attention not only of colonists, but of the Home Government. The question of colonial defence has been much ngitated. And it is unfortunately a question on which the Mother Country and the colonies are somewhat at variance. As trustee for administering the enormous taxation of Englaud, the Imperial Government is jealous of large drafts on her treasury, for the benefit of those who contribute but little to the funds on which they draw, and who enjoy in the countries they are colonising far better means of accumulating wealth than those who are struggling at home with the close competition of a dense population. On the other hand the colonies as parts of the Empire, bound-by the tie of allegiance to the Crown are unwilling to forego the right to Imperial assistance and protection implied in the duties of loyal and obedient subjects. But, here again the advocates of Imperial economy are ready with arguments to shew that such claims for protection, if

allowed at all, must be kept within the narrowest limits. They shew that Avarlike operations in the colonies are rendered necessary by those dangers which colonists are content to brave for the sake of better opportunities of acquiring wealth, and that it is hard to tax the home treasury for contingencies which the colonists must have anticipated when they first made their venture. And doubtless such arguments are not without force. Look, it may be said, at the Cape, look at New Zealand. The Kaffirs and the Maoris disturb the peaceful progress of colonisation. But the colonists who are to be chiefly benefited are bound to bear the brunt of such disturbance, and protect by their own strength the sources of easier won wealth that they have sought to secure for themselves. The force of such arguments cannot well be denied. But the hint of Russian invasion which has just reached us seems to make some change in the conditions of the case.

If invaders are attracted to the colonies simply by the hope of colonial spoil it is not altogether unfair to tell colonists that they have to thank themselves if they have become worth the spoiling. But the case is somewhat different when it appears that colonies are, or are likely to be, attacked as the easiest way of inflicting an injury on England. Assuming the story we have heard to be true, it turns out that Eussia, hesitating about the prudence of sending a fleet to the Thames to make reprisals for English interference in Poland, thinks she can play a safer and easier game by making a descent on the distant colonies of the British Empire. Here she has not to deal with a country bristling with national defences, garrisoned by a regular army, and by legions of volunteer shopkeepers. England, as a great colonizing nation, may be made to smart severely through her colonies, and English intervention in Poland may be repaid by Eussian raids on Australia and New Zealand.

Here it is to be noted that it is not colonial wealth which attracts the invader. The colonies are not the object, but England, through the colonies. The colonies become as it were a kind of buffer between England and her European enemies. Eussia would probably let us alone long enough but for the idea that injury inflicted here will be felt at home.

If this be a just statement of the case, it will appear that colonies have a fair claim to protection against assailants who are, in fact, incited to attack them by the mother country herself. In short the hypothesis on which we are arguing seems to suggest that there is a greater community of interest between England and her colonial possessions than it has been the fashion of late years to admit. We are not slow to acknowledge the liberality of England in granting to us free institutions, and in intrusting to us as far as is consistent with Imperial unity the management of our local affairs. But it may yery fairly be argued that our claim for ample and effective assistance and protection must be considered to hold good so long as our connection with the mother country exposes us to danger and inconvenience which we might otherwise hope to escape. Indeed, it seems incredible that such claims should be denied, unless, of her own accord, England shall seefit to cut the cord by which she is bound to her colonies, and leave them in complete independence to shift for themselves.

Of course it is possible that our premises may be defective. The report brought by the last English mail may be a hoax from beginning to end. We should not be greatly surprised if it were. The Russians do not rank very high as a maritime power. They have not often appeared in active operations at a distance from their own shores. The fleet of Russia can take refuge in the Amoor from an English squadron ; or she can fraternize ominously with the Americans in the harbours of California. But Australia and New Zealand are a long' way off, and the chances of interception and discomfiture are not very small.

Whatever may be the truth or falsehood of the report on which we have been commenting, its effect on ourselves will be wholly beneficial.if it leads our population to realise the idea that exertions for local colonial defence are to be made in good earnest. Whatever claims we may have on England for help and protection cannot in the slightest degree free us from the obligation to bestir ourselves actively for our own protection. Indeed without the organization ot a serviceable colonial force, we should deserve to rank no higher than those nations who wholly addicted themselves to commerce and domestic arts, relying on external aid for the protection of their quiet enjoyments. History holds out more than one example of the danger as well as the disgrace of a people holding its national existence on such terms. It would be difficult to shew that our position would be in any respect more honourable if the mercenaries on whom we relied were an English army with the peculiarity that we should desire to pay them as little as possible.

Looking at the subject from this point of view, it is satisfactory to see the recent revival and extension of the Volunteer movement among us. Even the distant possibility of invasion may serve to give it reality and strength. Feobleness must always be more or less a characteristic of such movemeuts while there is an impression among those concerned that they are " playing at soldiers." On the other hand, this and every other measure adopted for local defence will be strengthened and dignified if we fairly realise the thought that we buy munitions of Avar because we may have to use them, and that drill may have to be turned to account in active service.