Marlborough Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING, TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 1886.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1880, 15 June 1886, Page 2

Marlborough Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING, TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 1886.

The past few days have been event, ful in English and Colonial history. In England the consideration of one of the greatest reforms the British Parliament has ever been asked to deal with has terminated; in the East France is reported to have despatched vessels of war on a piratical cruise; Australia has been shocked bf' a sad shipping disaster on her coast —resulting in grevioos loss of life, and, coming nearer home New Zealand has experienced a thrill of Borrow and congternation, on’y equalled in the days of Maori wai fare, when sickening and harrowing details of deeds of violence and outrage were borne to the young colonists, and the story came of murdered friends and relatives, slain by the hands of the savage assassin.

Dealing first with that the terrible calamity at Tarawera, we may almost say that it is uniquo in the world’s history. By some fearful and supreme agency the silent wilds have suddenly been made to roar in their anger, and fire and molten matter has been strewn for miles around, carrying death and destruction, to the peaceful villages lying at the foot of thß beetling crags that seemed to guard the entrance to Lake Tarawera. The beauties of our wonderland, there is much reason to fear, have been completely destroyed; ant}, at the time of writing, report says that nearly one hundred lives have been lopfc. Sopje allowance mast, of coarse, be made for that exaggeration which seems almost a concomitant of calamity, but from the assured facts to hand, the loss of life must be very great. From this point of view the disaster is the most serious New Zealand has yet had to monrn. But there is yet another cans® for tsorroy. The wonderland of; Roforna and Tarawera—that panorama of grand mountain scenery, and placid lakes, of boiling spring and geyser and medicinal bath and, above all, the magnificent beauty of the White and Fink Terraces of Tarawera—wan the haunt of the tourist, and the best advertisement the Colony had. It is much to be feared that, at any rate, the White and Pink Terraces are destroyed for ever, as they lie at the foot of Tarawera, and although the volcanic disturbances of Thursday morning may have developed some now and richer'neaufy, all feeling of security will bt destroyed and none but the most intrepid traveller will now care to pass u night guder the shadow of the Moloch above L&kg Asa field for English und ental tourists we fear our wonderland is doomed. The loss- to the Colony from this cauße alone can hardly be estimated. The terribje outburst of Thursday morning is Nothing short of a national calamity; we'grieve '.for t£at, bjxt all our sympathy at ‘ present ‘goes out so 'the Buffering end to

those who 85 narrowly escaped an awful death and who have bee i permitted to witness nature in one o ? her most terrible convulsions. Let us hope the rescued will be sufficiently cared for by their fellowcolonists—as we are sure they wili be —and that all danger is no * past.

Looking now to England, we find that the discussion of Mr Gladstone's Home Rule proposals has resulted exactly as we anticipated in a former article. The British Parliament baa refused to affirm the principle of the measure s by negativing the second reading by a majority of thirty in a full House of over 600 members, and Mr Gladstone baa obtained permission from the Queen to appeal to the country. The battle is therefore to be fought out in th*> constituencies, but we do not an-icip ite that the decision will be reversed in the new Parliament. The narrow majority of thirty on such a lar.e question of reform is virtually a victory for the great Liberal chief of Eng’and, and, no matter what our individual opinions may be regarding Mr Gladstone’s Irish proposals, all must admire the political heroism he has shown in submitting them to the House of Commons. Had he been entirely successful Mr Gladstone might well have retired upon bis laurels; his victory would have added little lustro perhaps to his already brilliant reputation as an Imperial Statesman, but it would have been a fitting close to to unblemished a career. Home Rule will certainiy be granted to Ireland, not perhaps by the next Parliament; decades may pass, but eventually an Irish Parliament will assuredly sit on College Green. The first blow for the autonomy of Ireland has been struck, and it is, of course, quite possible that the Irish Speaker may take his seat upon his Throne much earlier than we can at present see reason to expect.

It is quite natural that the attitude of France in relation to the New Hebrides should have caused Borne sensation in Colonial political circles. The rumor that France has des« patched a couple of war-ships from New Caledonia to annex those Islands is probably unfounded in fact, but the position is sufficiently alarming to create doubt of the parity of French motives. England, by the action of the Australian Colonies, has been placed in an awkward position. Whilst some of the Colonies declare for the annexation of the Islands by England, other Colonies declare for the maintenance of the status quo, and others again are desirous that France should be allowed to take the Islands upon certain concessions being granted. Now, were it not for the rights of the Presbyterian Church in those Islands we should certainly agree that it were politic t® allow France to acquire the New Hebrides upon that Power agreeing to the concession of Rapa, and that she would cease to deport criminals to the Pacific. That was the first view taken by the New Zealand Government, we believe ; but the latter is now anxious to preserve the rights of the Presbyterian Church, and has since declared for the maintenance of the status quo. The question arises: Should the rights of a single Church be allowed to stand in the way of the rights and interests of the Stats 1 That'is the question our statesmen have to answer. As we have said, the position of England is an awkward one. Professing to act only upon the wishes of the Colonies, she finds the latter are not by any means unanimous; she therefore determines to stand by treaty conditions, and in the meantime, France sets out, so it is alleged, upon a piratical cruise. Should it turn out that there ia truth in the rumor England may feel snubbed by a first-class Power, but, with a want of unanimity in the Colonies, she might @Jso fejel that the hoisting of the tricolor on the New Hebrides would be the easiest way out of the difficulty. Unde? all the circumstances Und considering that the fslands are of little importance to New Zealand, whilst the J?resbyterjan Cfiurch has undoubted right to English protection, we think the New Zealand Government is wise in deciding that, for the present, the status quo should be maintained.