THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS TUESDAY, JANUARY 39, 1907. COLONIAL NEWS IN THE BRITISH PRESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13398, 29 January 1907, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS TUESDAY, JANUARY 39, 1907. COLONIAL NEWS IN THE BRITISH PRESS.

The comments made by Sir John Madden, Chief Justice of Victoria, upon the absence from the British newspapers of any information relating to Australia apply with still greater force to New Zealand. For his suggestion that this is due to a mistaken impression thai Australia desires to break away from the Em pire cannot possibly be made in reference to this colony, yet- there is the same general absence of Now Zealand news in the press of the United Kingdom and the same general ignorance in the British mind of the opportunities offered here to British immigrants and to British investors. We must, therefore, look in other directions for a satisfactory explanation, and should examine first of all the means of communication between Australasia and the heart- of the Empire. These means of communication are extraordinarily and inexcusably backward and inadequate. True we have a Penny Post, thanks to the splendid work of Sir Joseph Ward, but the mails cannot nowadays feed with news the modern press, however valuable, they may be for commercial and social purposes. Even with the San Francisco service running smoothly, practically a

month elapses before Auckland mails reach London, and a month is an age in these days of cables and telegraphs. It would be possible, of course, for a suitably organised colonial news bureau, connected with the High Commissioner's Office, to promulgate a vast amount of information throughout, the United Kingdom if an intelligent use were made of the standing requirements of its daily and weekly newspapers. But for the news proper the electric message is universally relied upon ; and the cable rates between the colony and London are still almost, prohibitive. Only the barest and most meagre reports of even important happenings and momentous political doings pass through the cables from the colony to London, for the colonial demand for Home news which encourages the colonial press to special effort is not yet reciprocated in the United Kingdom. An examination of any newspaper published in the United Kingdom will demonstrate the effect of this. The first step towards popularising at Home the dissemination of colonial information is a reduction of cable rates to a. modern standard. A Shilling Rate would be amply sufficient to compensate the partners in the Pacific Cable for their outlay, and would speedily increase business until the present annual deficit no longer existed. This is the opinion of competent and expert, authorities, but owing to the influence exerted by the Eastern Extension Company a Three Shilling Rate is maintained and the purpose of the originators and promoters of the Pacific scheme has been "-hitherto defeated. We have urged Sir Joseph Ward, whose sympathies are well known, to make another attempt while in London to popularise cable communication between the colonies and the Mother Country, and trust that lie will succeed. For until rales are sufficiently reasonable to enable colonists to cable habitually to their relatives, friends. and correspondents at Home whenever time is an object, and to allow reports of public interest to pass freely from the colonies I io London, we cannot hope to break , down that barrier of ignorance 1 which now bars the complete under- ; standing which ought to exist bei.tween the British at Home and (he I British of the antipodes.

British ignorance of colonial conditions and of the colonial life has ■frequently been remarked upon by j observant visitors to the Old Land.. The colonies are better versed in Koine conditions and in the Home life because the elder members of our colonial society remember the land where they were born and because J of the steady stream of colonials j who visit the land of their fathers. But owing to the remarkable change I in British conditions (hiring the past J feneration even the personal recol- j lections of those long absent is apt i to bo misleading and confusing, as Now Zealanders who have visited the United Kingdom after many years in the colony are all aware. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at if those who have never left Home and who have had only the ordinary inadequate sources of information are quite ignorant of the colony, its opportunities and its potentialities. We have, therefore, the extraordinary situation 'that while the colony is crying out for strong hands to exploit its natural resources the Old Country has many thousands of capable workers, often with capital, who j do not know how to apply their energies in order to obtain a secure and sufficient livelihood. As Sir John Madden says, '-'many are desirous of emigrating," and though to many of these the cost of getting to Australasia is a stumbling block, unless State aid is accorded to desirable immigrants, to a very great number it must be ignorance of our colonial life and conditions which shuts our door against them. That this is a sound deduction may be learned from the immense success of the Canadian immigration movement, which drew last year to the Dominion, from the United Kingdom alone, close, upon 100,000 souls. Over 215,000 immigrants poured into Canada last. year, while this colony can only boast of a paltry 1'2,000, according to the figures given on Saturday night by Sir Joseph Ward. Canada has the immense advantage over New Zealand of being comparatively easily reached from Europe, and of being contiguous to the immense and easily moved population of the United States. But it is not the mere possession of these advantages which has caused the influx, for it lias only assumed such colossal proportions of very recent, years. The persistent popularisation of the idea of emigration to Canada, long regarded as a snow-bound and inhosi pitable land, is the impelling factor in the movement. The man at Home has had Canada forced upon his attention—its lands, its laws, its harvests, its wealth, its railways, its schools, its churches, its colleges, its people, its sports, its minerals, its every opportunity, its generous offer. Until it has become a familiar land to him; until the idea of migrating from crowded England to open Canada has become as commonplace as the idea of a holiday trip to Paris or of an excursion to Margate or Blackpool. Once, the .idea was engrafted into the British mind all the Canadian Government had to do was to keep it alive and growing and to make adequate preparations for the reception of the swarming thousands. Surely New Zealand can do the same. We have not the vast wilds of the Dominion, but we have millions of untrodden acres tit for the settler, and work wailing in every corner of the colony for willing hands. And if we, can make this known, dropping the foolish fad of 66-years leasing, which never populated a colony yet and never will as long as the British heart, craves for a piece of land it may call its own, we need not doubt the solution of the population problem.

tifiecl themselves with its corporate existence. Nor was there ever more cause for this than to-day. As year succeeds year, the progress and prosperity of the city that has sprung from the first small settlement- on the waters of the Waitemata advance with ever lengthening strides. Until we can confidently claim for it place not only among the foremost ports of the Pacific, but among those whose future pride it may be to be among the great cities of the world. For it has latterly become evident that Auckland has passed the stage when any material difficulty can seriously interfere with its expansion. The growth of the city may be hastened or slackened by temporary influences, but there is every reason to anticipate that, it will be continuous. As the province settles up with improved railway facilities and with the removal of the embargo so long laid upon the Native Lands, its population and productivity must necessarily increase and with them the trade and population of Auckland. This confidence in the future of the city has been slow in coming to the minds of those who have witnessed its earlier struggles, but that it has come at last is shown by the improvements being made on every hand. On this Anniversary Day. in the Slush of this new-born confidence and certitude, we may well remember with gratitude those who laid the first stones of this ambitious city, and should bear in mind that all it is and can ever be is due, in the. first place, to their endeavours. Not the least of them is the venerable "Father of Auckland,'' still with us, whose constant love and unbounded generosity should teach us to make Auckland not only the greatest but the most beautiful and the happiest city in New Zealand.