OUR LONDON LETTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7651, 31 May 1886, Page 6

OUR LONDON LETTER.

[from ouu own correspondent.] London, April 22. THE IRISH HOME RULE BILL. Partly because this is Easter week, but mainly because all public interest is centered around Mr. Gladstone's marvellous coup de main, in the shape of an Irish Home Kale and Expropriation of Landlords Bill, there is and has been a great dearth of Anglocolonial news since I last wrote. Ever since the historic Thursday, a fortnight ago. when Mr. Gladstone unfolded to the astonished House of Commons his scheme for the disruption of the British Empire, scarcely anything else has been talked about in the clubs, in the streets, in the railway trains, and in the mart. I will nottrouble your readers with a disquisition upon the merits or demerits of this fantastic scheme—which, by tho way, has not as yet been supported by a single argument from the Ministerial bench, save the argument of fear ; but there are some aspects of the discussion which has been taking place upon it which are not without interest to colonial readers. Of course, in a debate upon the granting of self-government to Ireland, frequent reference has been made to the self-governing colonies. The example of Canada was the one which apparently found favour in Mr. Gladstone's eyes, and he was understood to declare it to be the object of his Bill to render the connection between England and Ireland similar to that which now exists between England and Canada. Tne Prime Minister pointed to the examples of our colonies as affording an instance of how loyalty and unity could be combined with the fullest measure of autonomy ; but the way in which his references have been criticised by Anglo-colonials, and those who had some knowledge of our colonial Empire, does not say much for the amount of time and attention which the Prime Minister has devoted to the study cf colonial questions. Mr. Chamberlain, who is one of the bitterest opponents, or at all events the severest critic of the Irish policy of his late chief, gave it as his opinion that the model which the Prime Minister had selected was one of doubtful expediency, inasmuch as the connection between our colonies and ourselves— though unquestionably very strong — was nevertheless purely a sentimental one ; and we certainly could not rely upon the existence of such a sentiment in the case of Ireland. Incidentally Mr. Chamberlain called attention to the somewhat curious anomaly of Mr. Gladstone proposing to substitute the present tie between England and Ireland to something like the connection j which bound England and her colonies together at the very time when there was a general desire both here and in the colonies to exchange the present relations between us and them for something more binding and more substantial. If he were called upon for a solution of the Irish difficulty, Mr. Chamberlain declared that he would be inclined to look for it not in making Ireland a mere colonial dependency of Great Britain, but in the adoption of some general scheme I of federation, which would really maintain the Imperial unity, and would at the same time conciliate the desire of the Irish people for a national local government. But the Prime Minister's references to the constitutions of our self governing colonies have met with severe handling from those who have had actual experience of colonial life and Government. Mr. Robert Pharazyn, M.L.C., New Zealand, in the course of an able letter to the Times, describes the " very ricketty colonial constitution" which Mr. Gladstone proposes to bestow upon Ireland as bearing a " singular resemblance not to the relation which exists between the colonies and the mother country, but to that which used to exist between tho General < Government of New Zealand and any one of | the six provinces into which it was originally divided." The result of such relationship, Mr. Pharazyn says, was perpetual conflict i between the supreme and subordinate legislatures—conflict which on more than one occasion led to the verge of war—and which ended in the final abolition of the subordinate chambers. If, asks Mr. Pharazyn, such an unfortunate state of things could arise as rapialy as it did in a new country between the different sections of whose inhabitants there was no natural antagonism of interest or feeling, how much more likely would it be to arise between Ireland and England. Mr. Pharazyn also sounds a note, which is echoed by nearly every Ans<locolonial in this country, namely, that if disintegration begins with Ireland it will not end there. The Spectator last Saturday published a long tter headed "The Colonies anil Mr. Gladstone's Irish Scheme," and signed "Australasia." The writer of this letter reviews Mr. Gladstone's Irish Home Rule scheme under two heads—(l) What is the feeling at present in the colonies—Australia, for instance—upon the subject ? and (2) what effect is it likely to have on the action taken by thote colonies in the future? "Australasia" declares, in answer to the first question, that there is undoubtedly a very strong feeling in the colonies in favour of Home Rule. This, he says, is due to two causes, the first of which is the presence in every colony of a strong Irish element. This element is almost invariably Roman Catholic, because somehow or other, the Irish Protestant becomes absorbed in the general mass of the law-abiding community, and thus loses his distinctive Iri»h individuality. But the Irish Roman Catholics always remain a separate body, and rapidly become a centra for the focussing of nationalist view 3. Such papers as the Freeman's Journal and United Irishman are diligently read, and journals are printed in the colonies of the type of the New Zealand Freeman, in which the woes of Ireland centuries ago are recounted, and England is constantly held up to odium as the oppressor of the nation, the representative of heresy, and the embodiment of every vice. The second reason for the sympathy felt in the colony for Irish Home Kuie is the success of the colonies themselves in the direction of self government, and the opinion prevails there that a similar success would attend the granting of extended powers of local self-government to Ireland. But, with regard to the second question, "Australasia" emphatically asserts that the carrying out of Mr. Gladstone's Government for Ireland scheme would cause this opinion to become reversed, for Ireland would cease to be a part of the United Kingdom, and the Irish in the colonies would certainly not be pleased at the idea of Imperial legislation being. controlled by a Parliament in which Ireland had no share. " Australasia" believes the time must soon come when the English nation and the English colonies will have to choose between separation and federation, and he declares that if separation be begun in the case of Ireland, it will soon spread and lead to the speedy and total dismemberment of the British Empire. Mr. John Dennistown Wood, one of the honorary treasurers of the Imperial Federation League, has also published a pamphlet entitled "Irish Home Rule from a Colonial Point of View," in which he treats principally of the constitution of Canada and the connection which subsists between that colony and the mother I country. But the main objection taken by j the British public to Mr. Gladstone's analogy ! between Ireland as it would be were his j scheme in operation and our colonies is, that ' the latter, without exception, are loyal and ' attached to the mother country, whereas the natives of Ireland, as their friends are forced to confess, are so much the opposite that for the space of over half a century there have been hut two years in which it has not been found necessary to have recourse to repressive legislation for the purpose of enforcing respect for the law. Another great point of objection to the scheme, is that although the new Irish Parliament which Mr. Gladstone proposes to create is to have no authority in military or naval matters, yet there ib nothing to prevent it raiding a volunteer force, and indeed Mr, Gladstone even seems to contemplate that it will do so. In a year or two's time it might even have a very respectable volunteer force, for, as the World points out, the colonists of New Zealand, after English troops were withdrawn from that colony, equipped a volunteer army of their own with which they entirely put down a serious insurrection of the Maoris. THE EXHIBITION. Everybody is noticing the great change which has come over the Queen of late. Instead of shrouding herself from the gaze of her faithful subjects, as has been her wont ever since the Prince Consort's death, Her Majesty seems, within the last two or throe months, to have been seized with aa almost eager desire to appear in public as much as possible. Our Most Gracious Sovereign has consented, as you are aware, to open tho Indian and Colonial Exhibition oa May 4,

1 and this is to be done with a degree of ceremony which is expected to be iuferior only to that of the great Exhibition of 1851. The announcement of the Queen's intention has put everybody who has any chance at all of obtaining admission to the Exhibition on that day on the t/iii vive, with the result that the amount of pressure which is being put upon Executive Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners by all sorts and conditions of men, women, and children, to obtain admission to the inaugural ceremony ie such as to lead these officials to entertain i serious thoughts of cursing the days on ( which they were individually, collectively, i and respectively ushered into the world. To do them justice, however, there is every disposition on their part to afford colonists as good a chance as possible of seeing everything that there is to be seen on that occasion, but the demands made upon them are so excessive that it is absolutely impossible to comply with them. As a matter of fact the leading colonial courts hive each received between sixty and seventy seats on the line of route in front, wherever possible, of their own courts; and a much smaller number, in no case exceeding twenty-five for the Albert Hall, where the opening ceremony will bo performed. This provision is manifestly absurdly inadequate in the case of colonies like New Zealand and New South Wales, whoso Governments have appointed a large number of honorary commisssioners. The restriction of the means of accommodation on the opening day renders it well nigh impossible to provide accommodation for the whole of these gentlemen and their lady friends. To a certain extent, however, this difficulty may perhaps be met by a species of subterfuge. The various executive commissioners will probably receive another hundred tickets, entitling the holders to positions of less prominence on the line of route, which tickets are nominally for distribution amongst exhibitors ; but the South Kensington authorities will no doubt wink at a partial transfer of of these tickets to honorary officials of the Exhibition. It would be superfluous for me to describe in detail the arrangements for the opening ceremony, inasmuch as these will doubtless have been indicated to you by cablegram long ere this letter reaches you. It may. however, be mentioned that, out of compliment to the colonies, Madame Albani, the celebrated Canadian cantatrice, will sing the ode which Lord Tennyson, the poet laureate, has composed specially for the occasion, and will also give the ever-popular ballad of " Home, Sweet Home." Madame Albani may also sing the National Anthem. All things considered, the various courts of the Exhibition aro fairly well advanced, notably those of New South Wales and Victoria, While assigning the palm for interest—artistic, historic, and unique—to India, it may nevertheless be predicted with a good deal of confidence that the Victorian display will be found to be unsurpassed, at any rate by that of any other colony of the Empire. It is more comprehensive in its class of exhibits, and indicates a wider range of national life than any of the other colonial courts. The contrast is especially noticeable in regard to New South Wales, which, although making an excellent display of minerals and raw products, is — always excepting her magnificent selection of photographs—decidodly inferior to her younger neighbour and rival. The above remarks are less appliable to the New Zealand court than to any other ; but 1 will not touch upon this point, as doubtless your special Exhibition correspondent will deal very fully with it. The astute Exhibition rntri>pr?n<'ur, Sir Philip Cuuliffe Owen, has been diligently looking after the Pre3a, and yesterday there sat with their kuees under his mahogany something like 150 representatives of the metropolitan, provincial, continental, and—murder will out—the colonial Press. Before entertaining them at one of those excellent little repasts which he knows so well how to arrange, Sir Philip trotted the Press contingent rapidly through the courts, giving brief summaries of tee distinctive features of each, and impressing into his service wherever possible such commissioners as he could lay hands on, and thus relieve himself of a little of the talking. Dr. Von Haast happened to be at work when the motley army of Pressmen invaded the New Zealand court, and he very courteously afforded all the information in his power to such as showed any anxiety for the same. A great deal remains to be done to the New Zealand Court before it is likely to make that impression which all antipodeans hope it may. The fern-tree gully ic not at present by any means an object of beauty, and there is reason to fear that the late spring will render it unsafe to transplant more valuable ferns from Kew to Kensington very much before the end of May. This, of course, is much to be regretted. In his after-dinner, or rather after-luncheon, speech Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen emphasised the gratification which the Prinoe of Wales had expressed at the excellent response made by the colonies to his appeal that they should be well represented at the Exhibition, and speaking on his own behalf he predicted that the forthcoming Exhibition would be the crowning one of all previous exhibitions, and that, to slightly alter the Italian proverb, it would be, "see the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, and then die."

CAPTAIN BRIDGES ON THE PACIFIC,

Captain Cyprian Bridge*, tha well-known commander of Her Majesty's ship Espiegle, on the Australian station, and one of the most active Deputy-Commissioners of the Western Pacific, has embodied the results of observation made during his many cruises in Melanesia, Micronesia, Western .Polynesia, the Louisiades, and New Guinea, in an interesting paper, which was read last week by deputy before the Royal Geographical Society. The gallant captain's paper is not only a valuable contribution to our geographical knowledge, but throws a curious light upon many habits and customs of the human inhabitants of the uncivilised portions of the antipodes such as are rarely heard of on this side cf the world. He confirms the suspicion that many of the native tribes of the Pacific are addicted to cannibalism, and gives the palm in this respect to the natives of New Britain, who are, he says, the only cannibals who do not appear ashamed of their fondness for their fellow-creatures. Captain Bridges also alludes to the truthful qualities of the Melanesiau character, a respect in which they seem to resemble the Maoris of New Zealand, though, he admits that probably the credit that ho gives to his Melauesian proteg6s would not bo accorded to them by the majority of colonials at the antipodes. Full justice is done in the paper to the enormous influence which Bishop Selwyn has obtained throughout these islands, and to the noble personal qualities which are jthe basis of such influence. Captain Bridges declares it to be impossible to exagtjarato the high opinion entertained of the Bishop by the officers and men of the Australian squadron, who admire him in the twin capacity of a pious ecclesiastic and a plucky seaman. It would be interesting to know to which of these qualities the lion's share of Jack Tar's respect is accorded. It would appear from the paper that Captain Bridges entertains the idea that the Pacific Islands must at one time have been the seat of a highly-civilised people. Some of the islands, he says, possess canals and artificial harbours, of the origin of which the present generation of natives have no knowledge ; and in the Island of Panafi there exist what look like the remains of a large city. The paper concludes with the expression of the opinion that these islands are not likely for generations to come to be of use to civilised mankind on account of the difficulty of obtaining supplies of labour for agricultural purposes. Referring to New Guinea the gallant captain condemns the unwise and uucalled - for eruption which England has made into that territory, but finds some consolation in the fact that, as least, we have not done as Germany has done. That Power, he says, is annexing territory which cannot for many years to come do more than provide a moderate income for two or three trading houses, the trade of which will inevitably pass into English hands if anything like fair competition be permitted. As regards ourselves and New Guinea, he believes, as the result of his experience, that if we do not take proper steps with regard to the natives of that island we shall find we have got a wolf by the ears. Englishmen have now a noble chance, he declares, of showing that they can rule barbarians without either exterminating them or dispossessing them of their lands, and if this chance be properly utilised it will be possible to make British New Guinea prosperous, civilised, and, what is of equal importance to John Bull and his purse strings, self-supporting. THE NEW HEBRIDES. Something of a scare was created in colonial circles a few days ago by a telegram from Franco reiterating that the Republican Government intended to despatch this year a

thousand convicts to the Isle of Pines, and indicating that there was a prospect of a larger consignment in the following year. As already explained in this correspondence, the French Government expect to receive the reply of the Australian Governments upon their New Hebrides proposals some time at the end of this month, and pending that the recidiviste scheme is in suspense. A commission has, however, undoubtedly been appointed to get the recidiviste system into working order, and should the attitude of Queensland and Victoria over the annexation of tho New Hebrides continue as stubborn as it is at the present moment the chances are very strong that the Pacific may yet be flooded with French criminals. The minute which Mr, Thurston presented to the Victorian Government embodying a number of objections to the proposod transfer to France of these islands has been cabled over by the Melbourne authorities and submitted to Earl Granville. Mr. Thurston's opinions are said to have produced a decided impression at the Colonial Office ; but I think this report had better be accepted with _ the proverbial saline accompaniment. The views which both Earl Granville and Lord Rosebory entertain on the New Hebrides question are well known to be diametrically opposed to those held by the Acting Governor of Fiji. Practically Earls Granville and liosebery want to dear a difficult question out of the way, and they think that tho complete cessation of transportation to the Pacific, plus commercial concessions and protection to Protestantism, together with Rapa for a coaling station, a very good return for the New Hebrides, especially as they see that Germany is quite disposed to throw in her lot on the side of France. THE PROPOSED PACIFIC CABLE. The scheme for laying a submarine cable from Vancouver's Island to Australasia, with which Sir Alexander Stuart and Mr. Randolph Want are associated, has not materially advanced within the last fortnight. Sir A. Stuart and Mr. Want are, however, pushing the matter with considerable energy, and propose shortly laying their proposal before Earls Granville and Rosebory iu the expectation that the Imperial Government will pot be indisposed to grant them some assistance in the shape of a subsidy, seeing how greatly it would be to Imperial interests for military purposes to develope a steam and cable route across the American Continent. Mr. Randolph Want has had an interview with Mr. Garriek, the AgentGeneral for Queensland, in order to ascertain if there was any prospect of a subsidy from the Brisbane Government. Mr. Garrick very naturally told him that inasmuch as he had just come from Australia he ought to be asked that question in Brisbane and not in London, but he nevertheless promised that if ho had any proposal to make it should be duly communicated to the Queensland Government, A day or two ago Sir Alexander Stuart received an official notification from the Canadian authorities intimating that they viewed his proposed line with so much favour that they were prepared to subsidise it in a proportion equal to that which would be paid by tho Australasian communities. Thi» direct offer will probably havo the effect of determining in favour of Vancouver's Island instead of San Fraucisco, because tho Congress of the United States does not seem inclined to make any direct money grant to the promoters of the scheme. Moreover, the acceptance of the Canadian offer would involve tho double advantage of enabling the entire line to be laid through British territory. Earl Granville has been interviewed by Sir A. Stuart, and seems favourably disposed towards the scheme, but the matter is to be discussed at greater length after the Easter holidays. It is thought there will be no difficulty in raising a couple of millions to lay the cable, and that it would be quite possible to reduce the tariß from England to Australia to 4s per word for the public and 2s for the Press. This would take a little of the wind out of Mr. Pender's sails, though, inasmuch as he is chairman of one of the cable companies between here and America, he may possibly have something to say in the matter.