THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1886.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7794, 13 November 1886, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1886.

The closing of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, which is reported to have taken place on the 11th instant amid great enthusiasm, may be said to mark an epoch in the history of the British Empire. To this it may be held to have contributed more even than its opening ceremony did, grand though that event unquestionably was, because the success of the undertaking had then to be determined, and the impression it might create on the minds of both British and foreign visitors was still problematical. But by the time the experiment had run its course the estimate of its moral and political effect was no longer a matter of doubt. The fact that, during the time it was open to the public, the Exhibition had been visited by five arid a half millions of people of itself speaks volumes, especially when it is borne in mind that the greater number of these may have paid only a single visit to the structure which contained the collective evidence of colonial industry and progress. The reports, too, which were sent abroad, during the progress of the Exhibition, of the impression it made on those who had previously a very vague idea of the extent, value, and resources of Britain's colonial empire, all led up to the conclusion that more than anything else that had ever before happened it had served to demonstrate to the world the secret of Britain's progressive power. There the numerous spectators from all parts of the earth found spread out before their eyes the proofs of the vitality which distinguishes far-separated communities, enjoying in the most of instances an independence of action far in advance of that experienced within continental kingdoms and empires of the old world, and bound by the ties of race and language, and, still more, by the feeling of loyalty to the mother country and the Sovereign, who wields the sceptre of peace over them all. The sight was one which the world had never before witnessed. And what tended more to emphasise this fact is that there is not and never has been a Power whose position and institutions could have made such a spectacle possible, save Britain alone. The freedom essential to the realisation of such a scene has in no other instance of an extensive Empire been conferred upon its remote territories. And the people from other lands where national life is stunted by its over-subjection to official surveillance must, on witnessing it, have had the belief created or deepened in them that an all-pervading sense of liberty is the true source of abiding unity and greatness. Thus the Colonial and Indian Exhibition may be held to have furnished a substantial and highly beneficial contribution to the education of the world. The effect, too, which it has had on the mother country, and the distant possessions where her offspring is busily engaged in laying the foundations of future kingdoms, has been to enable them, all round, the better to realise their own community of interests. As the Duke of Cambridge appropriately said, "it has greatly helped to weld the Empire together." It has tended to make all colonists feel more attached to the land of their origin, and has induced the inhabitants of the old land to look upon the colonies, not- as its mere appendages or dependencies, as they are sometimes mistakenly called, but integral parts of the Empire. Even before the idea of this Exhibition was happily conceived by the heir apparent to the Throne, people in all political circles in Britain had ceased to regard the colonies as a burden, and began to think that they were worth looking after. This change of view, however, was traceable to their progress in material . wealth and the excellence of the market they supplied for British merchandise rather than to any decided improvement in the sentiment cherished towards them. But the exigencies of the mother country during the Soudan rebellion, and the spontaneous offers of assistance which her principal colonies then made her, both in men and money, showed the sentiment of loyalty to be so strong in the colonial mind, that the idea of Imperial unity and power at once entered upon a new development. .Then, for the first time, did the potentiality of Britain's colonial Empire dawn upon the minds of even British statesmen, while it startled the politicians of foreign countries out of that selfcomplacent contempt with which they were wont to speak of Britain as a non-military Power. Following close upon this came the Prince of Wales' conception of a Colonial Exhibition, as an auspicious supplemental demonstration of the Empire's resources, and proved to the British race itself, as well as to the world at large, that the culture of peaceful industries is the best means both of cementing union and of preparing for the emergency of war. In a word, the Exhibition has, more than anything preceding it, revealed to the British people their own strength, and taught them to have confidence in themselves and in their destiny as the agents of civilisation and the guardians o of universal liberty and peace. From this time forth their unity will in all respects grow apace, and take the forms best adapted for giving it practical effectiveness; and the Imperial Institute, which is to succeed the Exhibition, will be a fitting memorial not only 'of that historical event, but also of the jubilee of Britain's most illustrious Sovereign, as well as an instructive record of the new departure which has been made by the Anglo-Saxon race towards the ultimate supremacy of the world.