NATIONAL WILL-MAKING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18711, 17 May 1924, Page 19 (Supplement)

NATIONAL WILL-MAKING.

NEW ZEALAND'S FUTURE.

by F.O.A.

America has just come to a momentous decision. She has •: decided to make a will, bequeathing America to her children; and a troublous business it is proving. Twenty years, ago the process had been easy. Twenty years hence it would be impossible. To-day it would seem that there are forces strong enough to -gainsay, if not to defeat, the declared verdict of a hundred millions. The voice of a continent has been lifted up, but in that mighty diapason is heard a new note t an

Asian note, faint but insistent. America, otherwise the United States, is associated in our minds with great

achievements, and she is faced with the greatest of problems, the race problem. Her people know, .with good cause, that it is not declarations of war, nor vic-

ies, nor treaties, that apportion the

earth .among its * varied inhabitants, but rather the steady migration of peoples that peaceful penetration," long advocated by the Germans. In the long run numbers must prevail. Is it not written "The meek shall inherit the earth"? We are not told when, but the implication is that they will dispossess the socalled dominant races when the latter, through lack of foresight, lose their hold upon what they have won. And so U.S.A. has at last bethought itself of its children's children, and made, a will. Mew Zealand's Will. ,By the way, has New Zealand such a will ? Has she had it attested and drawn up with all formalities to ensure its full and respectful administration in the time to come, and even now at hand? Probably the great majority of folk in their planning - and their building, in their contriving and their laying by, have at the back of their minds, dimly projected, known at least to their subconscious selves, a pre-oonception of the continuity of their race; a vision of their name and their fame and their traditions being handed on and cherished by their "kith and kind; of their temples . and , the halls that they have builded resounding, with the language that they have spoken, and trodden by a people like unto themselves.

Else would the building and enriching oi :his young country, and all the ceaseless striving lose its meaning for, most of us It behoves the peoples of these Pacific

ores, almost within hail of Asia's teem

ing millions, to visualise the future more clearlyto decide just what they are planning, for. But nations resemble individuals in shirking will-making;; the

esent is everything, the future can take

care of itself. A " white Australia,"— a white New Zealandthe great majority of us heartily endorse the sentiment, but make the mistake of taking too much for granted. ' ' ' What are the alternatives There are several, and they are worth exploring, if only out of respect for the minority that subscribe to them. ' The Brotherhood o! Man. •; The socialist is apt to proclaim the "brotherhood of man," a doctrine that most of us feel disposed to approach cautiously, and to handle somewhat gingerly. But there is nothing wrong -with the doctrine. Considered carefully, " brotherhood of man" is beyond reproach. it of course includes sisterhood. In this connection We feel we should like a declaration from Miss ' Asia . that she .can. never be anything more than a sister. Certain socialists would view unrestricted immigration complacently. ;■ i On. the brotherhood theory they picture ? a medley of races living together, on terms of equality, but not necessarily coalescing. . .• ,'V" •*. Passing over the question of whether the brotherhood hypothesis would stand the strain, the position is soon seen to be. untenable on economic grounds. There 'lis' no branch of industrialism' in which' A the Oriental cannot compete, and more 1 than hold his own. That he would quickly acquire industrial ; supremacy, and later monopolise the means of production, and capture the' legislature is a foregone conclusion. ■. ,', . • - - From one point of view this amounts to ; a confession of our inferiority to the Asiatic. If efficiency is measured by the relation of productive power to consuming demands, * .the European must take second 1 place. Our vaunted; social system could not stand a day in the face of free Chinese competition. Economic victor, the Oriental would impose his social system on the country. Japanese indignation at the " insult " implied in the American Exclusion Bill iti probably a pose; the Japanese knows well enough why the American fears him. ; There have been eminent men optimistic enough to look to the fusion of races for the evolution of a higher type, a beneficent blend that shall display the • best attributes of both component parts. Where the races in i question are discordant or incongruous to each other, the results have very rarely justified such hopes. The general tendency would seem to be a reversion tolward a primordial type, and the gradual elimination of true intermediates. . Nor does there appear to ♦ be any gain in physical endowments, but too often a weakening of that immunity to disease characteristic of civilised races. Coloured Labour* * : Still another alternative, albeit ,y the least worthy, remains to be enumerated. We ' sometimes hear it advocated by those \ undemocratic diehards, who seem bent on widening the . gulf ; between ■ master and man. They would welcome an influx of coolie labour, 'with. the commendable idea of speeding up * production and ; increasing dividends. A society so ■ constituted is in 1 a state of ■ unstable equilibrium, and can- ; not stand. Happily exponents ,of; this 1 system are - rapidly becoming extinct. . America has to . thank . this mistaken b policy - for her present embarrassing res', laticns with Japan. ■ Antagonism between 7 labour, and capital reached such a , pitch ' in the western ; states . that , cheap Asiatic 2 labour came to be; welcomed as - the . most effective weapon against labour organisa f tions. Whether capital or labour , should » have this folly laid at its door may be 0 a moot . question; blit both alike 'haw a paid the penalty. Hie countryside -thai a ,was the white. man's domain, has passec , r to the control of the , enterprising Japanese n Of what avail now are the paltry - gain; ® and : triumphs Vof - a past decade ? 4 Trulj w was it a case of bartering one's birthright y for a mess of pottage. '• What would not America, and Afric; n too, give to be ; freed from the " colouj *" question" ? Happy should the nation bi ,f that is immune from it, > and know; [ enough to remain so. >' ■:"