BISHOP MOO HOUSE ON THE COLONIES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 143, 17 June 1886, Page 4

BISHOP MOO HOUSE ON THE COLONIES.

C Australasian,) In the course of one of the interviews Dr Moorhouse, after dealing generally with various questions with regard to his former and present dioceee, referred to the relations between Great Britain and her colonies, and said : — '• The great fault of England is that she has magnificent colonies, but does not take much interest in them. The colonies fe 1 that their interests were neglected in the New Guinea question— that they were not deemed of sufficient importance to be considered in the matter by the mother country I have been reminded frequently of what was said a little time ago of the United States of America — that they were far more annoyed at the supercilious way in which the mother country spoke of them and remembered tbera than they were at the tea duties You will remember they threw their tea into Boston Harbor, and that was the ostensible reason of the outbreak of the War of Independence. But subsequently we are told that that was a mere sudden excitement, which would have passed away without serious consequences if the colonies had felt that the mother country had treated her great child with consideration. That supercilliousness annoyed them far more than the tea duties. I believe the great danger with respect to the unity of the empire at present is that the mother country speaks, and all public men speak with, if not contempt, utter indifference about the colonies, and they are just as sensitive as a boy growing into manhood is about the opinion of his father. If his father treats him with contempt the boy feels it far more than would a grown up man. So it is with the colonies. They are a great strong boy just bursting into manhood. They have the deepest affection for the mother country, and would submit to any sacrifice to assist her, but they desire some sort of affectionate consideration. They don't want interference ; they would not suffer that. They have independent legislatures, and the measures that they adopt in these legislators they expect to be carried into effect. All they want is affection and respect and regard from the mother country, and it is of infinite importance such affection should be extended to them The opinion of the colonies is that the unity of the empire, so far as the mother country is concerned, should be secured. Nobody in England has the smallest idea of the resources and importance of the Australian colonies. The future of Australia will be a great one, and it is of the utmost importance that the relations of mother and daughters should be close and affectienate. I wish I could persuade English politicians of that fact. It would be very much to the advantage of the colonies and the mother country. We in the colonies are comparatively indifferent to the distinctions of party. What we look to is nr.isures, no matter by which party they are carried. We felt, both in the case of the German occupation of a portion of New Guinea, and also in the treatment of the question of the French claims to the New Hebrides, that our interests were overlooked. The time is coming beyond all doubt when blunders made by England in respect of such questions as these may involve the colonies in war. They are extremely anxious to be at one with the mother country. They do not want to take any independent action whatever; but there is one question upon which they feel most deeply. The French have been sending convicts to the N> \v Hebrides and New Caledonia, and they ha ■ ostentatiously kept open a back door which the convicts have been allowed escape. The shores upon which they land r naturally the shores of Australia, and thus v / this back door — which we fancy has been purposely kept open — the scum of the population of France has been thrown upon tbe Australian shores. Some years ago tho question that most agitated New South Wales and all the colonies of Australia was the question of stopping the transportation to the cplonies, who are very jealous in maintaining the purity of their blood. They are more anxious than you Englishmen can imagine to prevent the convict taint from entering into the blood of the new generation, and if they were almost driven to rebellion on the question of English transportion, it may be easily seen that they are susceptible upon the question of French transportation, for the evil which threatens them from New Caledonia, is precisely of the same kind as threatened them from English transportation. English politicians have no idea of the excitement created by the dread of the convict taint in Australia. It is supposed because convicts are sent to New South Wales, that therefore the people of the colon ies care less than English people would about the mixture of the convict element It is that very circumstance which makes them more angry, for the mass of the population in Australia at the present time has no connexion whatever with the convict element. The gold diggings of Victoria took from England probably some of the finest and most adventurous spirits in the English population, and none would object more than they would to the admixture of the convict element. Therefore it is a very thorny question, and English politicians ought to be very cereful to guard the purity of the population of Australia, when it is threatened in this way in the New Hebrides. It is very important the question should not be lost Bight of. I cannot tell you what the revenues of the two chief colonies amount to, but I believe if put together they are quite as large as those of a secondary European state already and in fifty years they will be enormous. So the desires of these men should not be overlooked. Further, it is to be remembered that the colonists are all British, and the colonies are not like India, where you have an enormous subject-population governed by a small garrison ; but in the colonies the inhabitants are all of our own race, and they can strengthen us in any quarrels we may have with other people. The contingent that went from New South Wales to the Suakim could have been multiplied tenfold, and the people were anxious so to multiply it. At any time if England were engaged in maintaining her communications through Egypt with the Indian empire, Australia would gladly throw a contingent upon the flank of any enemy with which England may be contendiug. There is no need to keep a garrison in Australia in order to maintain English ascendency. On the contrary, instead of having to keep a garrison as in Egypt, England can reckon upon Australia to furnish her with a most powerful contingent. That country was a far more valuable possession, from the point of view of the permanent interests of the Empire than India is.