Manawatu Evening Standard. Circulation, 3,500 Copies Daily TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1909. INTER-COLONIAL RELATIONS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9066, 9 November 1909, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. Circulation, 3,500 Copies Daily TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1909. INTER-COLONIAL RELATIONS.

It is a matter for some regret that in these days with all the talk about Imperial solidarity there should be any estrangement between the people of the Dominion and their near neighbours of the Commonwealth. Yet there is no doubt that relations between the people of both countries are not as cordial as they" might Be. Australians who come to New Zealand are often heard, to complain bitterly of inhospitable treatment for no other reason apparently than that they are Australians. On the other hand travellers in the Commonwealth have noticed there some slight hostility towards New Zealand. In the opinion of Mr A. W. Rutherford, ex M.P., it is more an attitude compounded of ignorance, diffidence, and a general distrust of the unknown than active hostility, and one reason is the New Zealander'e aggressiveness and energy, which without intending to' do so give the idea that he is adopting a position of domination. Ignorance.,of the characteristics and aspirations' of each other is probably responsible more than anything else for the misapprehension that prevails on both sides of the Tasman sea. Mr Rutherford asserts that virtually nothing is known of New Zealand in Australia. .General ideas exist, of co'urse, but even these are often ludicrously wrong. Within the last month, and in a leading article, the Sydney Morning Herald twice referred to "the six hundred miles" of disstance that separate New Zealand from Australia. The name of New Zealand legislation is frequently introduced, into the debates of the Commonwealth Parliament. But nearly always it is taken in vain—without any real comprehension of methods and results.. The converse can practically, be said of New Zealand in regard to Australia, and the removal of these should be the immediate care of the public men of both Dominion and Commonwealth. It is a matter for some regret that the opportunity for an alliance in the matter of iiaval defence which recently presented itself was not accepted by New Zealand. Both countries are subjected to common dangers from possible enemies, and the day may come when they will be called upon to face a common foe. But apart from the great advantages of a defensive alliance, such an arrangement would have shown the people of both countries in a most impressive fashion that they belong to the same race and that in their relationship they should have no small differences and no petty antagonisms,