Rounds THE Corners

New Zealand Mail, Issue 759, 17 September 1886, Page 17

Rounds THE Corners

What touching guileless trustfulness on the part of those Patea Natives 1 They were prepared to relinquish everything, their right as electors and all; didn’t want any representa tion in Parliament, the Maori members might go to “ Taipo ” and both Houses of Parliament to his abiding place, so long as dear J ohn Bal--1 lance was preserved to them. Give them John Ballahce, the King of Native Alinisters, for breakfast, dinner and supper, and they would ask no more. Vide Telegram in New Zealand Times of September 11th. Well there is no accounting for tastes or power of assimilation. Those Patea Natives would digest anything. ’Pears; to me, Ballance, they are a«deuced sight--too affectionate. You had better watch it, my dear boy, or you may some fine morning, find yourself within a copper Maori. They are evidently hungering after you, man. Well, I certainly should not like to express too strong an opinion on the subject but, not to put too fine a point on it, I don’t think the banquet would agree with them. lam sure it wouldn’t if you only managed to introduce Vogel as an entree and Stout as a side-dish. If there is any probability of the affair coming off do take them with you, there’s a good fellow. Lord, Lord, what a pacification would ensue upon completion of the transaction.

There is an ominous ring in the news from Europe. The affairs there are seething and bubbling and a boil over seems imminent. And England’s position is most unenviable. She has not an ally “ worth a cent.” She is regarded askant by the whole of Europe; the wretched Gladstone foreign policy is bearing fruit; what between that and his suicidal coquetting with the Irish question he has succeeded in half ruining the country of his birth ; and, if we may judge from his later manifestoes, has become half lunatic himself, and thus is partly verified the strange prophecy that “he would ruin England and die in a madhouse.” English politics have landed her lin a very serious position. Untrue to herself,

for she is at serious variance with an integral portion of herself, she is not fit to “shock the four corners of the world in arms,” and so much, or very nearly, threatens to be demanded of r her shortly. True to herself she would defy every bit of the world outside her own language, but with the terrible Irish schism on her hands she is weakened indeed.

It cannot be denied that the attitude of

France and Russia is extremely sinister. Is there a secret understanding between them ? or is France presuming because of the. Irish ,5 trouble and Russia’s movements? It is not like France to act, as she is doing, in the New t Hebrides business ? She is not only bounceable but offensively aggressive, is in fact behaving as if there was no danger of retribution dogging her. She has brought aggression within appreciable distance of Australasia, and Australasia will be wise to take the hint and make ready to repel it, it may be much sooner than

‘"we expect. What folly to hesitate in putting the house in order when the signs of the times are so apparent. If the Irish difficulty is not solved, and war breaks out meantime, England will find her hands full of war near at home, and the outskirts .of the Empire will have to shift for themselves pretty much. And a nice shift New Zealand is likely to make of it with her handful of riflemen, half-a-dozen or so torpedo boats, and partially-fortified chief ports. This defence business cannot be urged too often or too strenuously. In whatever other direction we may economise, we may not economise in that. Our “ bottom dollar ” must go, if requisite, to provide means for efficient defence. And in the midst of it all, with war clouds lowering and internal British disssenions increasing, we, in this corner of creation, are supinely waiting for the turn of events, and fixingthe standard of height for the defence force at sft 9in. Rubbish ! Any man who is willing to fight, and who has got the fight in him, should be enrolled if he offers himself. Every man and boy in the country should be made ready to fight, so that if need be we could send our women and children over the mountains to the Wairarapa, and, after fighting to the last, burn Wellington rather than surrender it, and then follow them. That’s the kind of spirit that wants fostering. “No surrender.” But if proper measures of defence were taken there would be no danger of Wellington, or any other part of the Colony, being placed at the mercy of a foreign invader. Again I ask the question, When will the necessary action be taken by the Ministry ? Begin with the boys in schools and vitalise the Militia Act; ’tis little batter than a dead letter now. And, moreover, provide plenty of weapons of the right sort.

It is high time that trustees uf benevolent societies, and other institutions supported by public contribution, should cease to draw lines of sectarian difference when dealing with their charges. They at Dunedin seem to be posing in quite “unco gude ” style. We were informed by a telegram, last week, that the committee declined to allow a Freethinker to engage a servant from among the waifs and strays in ' he T institution, because it was not likely Christian instruction would be imparted to the said waif. Now, we may entertain the very highest regard for Christianity, and yet find room for toleration of other forms of religious belief, and admit that their moral teaching is not one whit behind that of the Christian. Take the Jews, for instance ; if sharp in money matters, yet their morality is of the highest, and as for the poor Freethinkers ! —why some of the best and greatest of the Anglo-Saxon race are of that persuasion. And as yet there has been no ground upon which to impugn their morality. Proof has yet to be adduced that a Freethinker’s household is worse ordered than the households of other people, and that he is not fit to be entrusted with the waif of a Benevolent Society.

Yes, if it were only possible to sink all Imperial, intercolonial, and local differences, a grand, a perfect scheme of federation on the part of British people might be accomplished. The difficulty lies in the if. Local, intercolonial, and Imperial prejudices are so strong ! And yet we must federate if we are to preserve our nationality. Unfederated we are all like the sticks in the singular ; federated, we become a compact strong faggot, not to be broken until torn asunder. And federation means a deal more than can be crammed into a “Corner ” par. One of its features must be a uniform Customs tariff in essentials. The confederation would have to trade on an equal footing, imposts being only levied on the products of people outside of itself. That is one condition that has to kept in view. The confederacy " V s ’offence. This is an aspect of the position that \ has to be very seriously considered. Are the ; y ColOhiss content- to . stands' or fall .with? the >, v\ Empire, or will they elect to take-their individual chances of resisting an invasion in case '.the Old Country has to succumb to overwhelming outside odds, or the force of internal dissension. The peril of these positions is about equal. United, the Empire could take a deal more thrashing than any nation, or probable combination cf nations, would be able to give it. But if segregated, with the Colonies holding aloof on neutral ground, the worst might happen in the by-and-bye when England had been trained to depend more on the Colonial props than she does even now. And the props, what of them ? Could they stand by themselves against, say, v a combination of France and Russia? The Colonies have been draining the Old Country’s blood for some years and it does seem unnatural not to make an effort, at least, to construct a reasonable and profitable bond of federation with her. Should we not all lament disaster to the dearoldland ? Would not our blessed Colon- . i a l poitions be immensely weakened thereby ? Aye ! marry would we aud they. Let us hope, then, that a means of federation will be devised and let us not only avoid, with scrupulous care, auy factitious opposition to it but do our level best to bring it about.

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