THE : New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1882.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6813, 18 September 1883, Page 4

THE : New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1882.

The Annexation question is fast as* suming new and wore interesting, if not disquieting, phases, In our yesterday's issue we published lengthened extracts from the more important portions of the memorandum recently presented to the Secretary of State for the Colonies by the Agents-General for New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand, and Queensland. That document embodies not only a synopsis of the history of the past proceedings in connection with the islands, but a lucid statement of the rapid developments of the last few years, and very cogent reasons for prompt and energetic measures on the part of the Imperial Government in concert with the colonies, if the principal islands are to be saved to Anglo-Saxon colonisation or commerce. The reply of the Earl of Derby, which, received by telegram, we were enabled to publish in same issue, cannot be regarded as otherwise than unsatisfactory in the extreme. Of course, we have not the full text of the reply, atid know not whether, or how, he combatted the urgent reasons advanced by the Agents-General; but with the exception of a suggestion to the colonies to confer and " make a ; proposal concerning other islands not subject tb treaty obligations," and a promise that " such proposal will receive the attention of the Government," the reply is almost in every respect discouraging to the aspirations of the colonies. Lord Derby doubts whether the colonies are so very ignorant of the claims of other Powers, informs them that Samoa and Tonga have long been recognised as independent; that the independence of New Hebrides .had been respected by France for five years past; and that the colonial Governments had hardly considered the responsibility attached to the assumption of the government of the Solomon Islands. In fact the reply seems couched in a patronising, I half-contemptuous tone that will put to the test the question whether there is really "grit" in the colonies. "The Imperial Government are not satisfied," he adds, " that annexation is necessary and justifiable," and as to New Guinea, His Lordship says that he has nothing to add concerning it. Coming as this has come, after the Spontaneous outburst, of acclamation from the whole British Press,, and the unmistakeable sympathy of the whole British it cannot fail to produce a. profound impression throughout the colonies. That it will discourage the desire for annexation we have not the smallest expectation. On the contrary, the knowledge that it does not express the will of the people of England, will stimulate the colonies to more determined action, and we shall not be in the. least surprised to see that unsatisfactory colonial relations may swell the indictment against the Gladstone. Ministry, which in the turning of the wheel of events, time may bring. It must be admitted that from the first, Earl, Derby-has consistently

pointed federation as the preliminary;' step to any practical result of the kind desired by the colonies ■ and even in his discouraging reply he counsels conference and joint action in undertaking the Cost involved in; the scheme pr<v posed by the Agents-General. Thither, then, should public attention point. Federation be it. The parable of the bundle of sticks has been illustrated in this first atteqipt at territorial, extension. The colonies must just hark back; and beginning at the beginning, j they must the basis of s.uccess- | ful action of whatever kind, by strengthening intercolonial relations. The "curt, cold, ani unsympathetic despatch," as the Standard styles Lord Derby's reply, will probably have the effect of throwing the colonies in upon themselves, and it will not have been given in vain, if it serve the purpose, as it is very likely to do, of giving a powerful stimulus to the coming ConI vention.

While all this has been proceeding our attention has been suddenly called to a nevv aspect of the Polynesian question, by the action of the distant little Kingdom of Hawaii, which as our Honolulu correspondent informs us, has raised a solemn protest in the face o£ uations, against further annexation of the islands of the Pacific in any form by European Powers. We are inclined at first to Smile at the pretensions of the little kingdom, which evidently aspires to lead a confederation of kindred people scattered over the isles of the Pacific. By solemn j vote of Parliament its King ha-i addressed a protest to all the Powers of Europe, Asia, and America, asking for a joint guarantee pf the independence I of the aboriginal governments that may | develop themselves after the fashion of the Hawaiian kingdom, and we learn j that the King has actually sent Commissioners to various islands and groups in the Pacific, inviting them to cooperation in the development of Polynesian national life under the leadership of the King of the Sandwich Islands. If this movement were purely aboriginal, it would be one of the most remarkable and interesting in the history of native races in primitive stages of development, and would be calculated to evoke a sentiment that would have a potential influence in the councils of ciyilized powers ; and the little cloud no bigger than a man's hand rising on that far away horizon in the north-east* might come to shadow over the whole Pacific. But alas! for the sentiment and the prospect of aboriginal development of national life* there is only too much reason to fear that it is a power behind the throne of Kalakaua that has conceived the dashing scheme of Polynesian confederation. Everyone knows the relations existing between the Sandwich Islands and the United States, that under the treaty that has existed for many years, and is now about to be renewed, Hawaii is for all practical purposes a part of the "Union ; that its fiscal arrangements are based on the American system, and consequently hostile to all commerce but American commerce; and there is not the smallest doubt that this bold scheme for Polynesian federation with the Hawaiian kingdom at the head, is the emanation of a Yankee mind, with a spirited appreciation of the advantages of the extension of commerce in wooden nutmegs. It is an ungracious thing to question the motive of any noble and philanthropic enterprise, but the names associated with and appended to this ambitious proposal, so Suspiciously lack the sonorous rhythm of the Hawaiian dialect, and bear such striking resemblance to the names current in the Great Republic, that we cannot help feeling like the old patriarch when he cried, "the voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

We have no hesitation in accepting this proposal as mainly stimulated byAmerican enterprise. We are far from saying that it is therefore bad and to be reprobated. It seems to be the destiny of the Anglo-Saxon race to be the founder of " nations and companies, of nations;" and should the Pacific Islands come under the sway of any other ; people than the British nation, our sympathies and our interests would impel us to wish to See their fortunes shaped by our cousins of America. But this is a wholly unexpected development. When we thought of annexation first, our ideas were limited to the possibilities and probabilities of England's countenancing the movement ; subsequently treaty rights and international understandings crossed the path; but now, whether this movement of the Hawaiian Kingdom is spontaneous, with all the force of sentiment and sympathy with racial aspirations* which that would bring, or is stimulated and encouraged by America—which, with an extensive seaboard .on the Pacific, very naturally feels an interest in her future relations with the vast insular territory scattered over the ocean—a new phase has arisen in the matter of territorial extension by the colonies, and the question of annexation has become one of no inconsiderable complication. One thing at least is clear, and everything points to the imperative necessity of federation of the colonies, as the very first step to practical and effective action.