N.Z. MAIL PUBLISHED WEEKLY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1889.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 930, 27 December 1889, Page 16

N.Z. MAIL PUBLISHED WEEKLY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1889.

FEDERATION, ETCETERA.

General expansion about describes the condition o£ the Colony

during tlio month. Excepting- the slight decline in the price of wool, the reports from everywhere converging upon the Wellington centre have been destitute of even the semblance of grumbling. From the extreme north to the extreme south the people appear to be fully and profitably employed. From the South we have very cheering accounts of the prospects of the beach-dredging for gold, and from the north in thePuhipuhi district still come hopeful words of the newly dis covered silver country. That nothing quite definite has yet been proved is simply due to the wise precaution of the Government in checking indiscriminate prospecting in order to conserve the splendid forests of that part of the country. New Zealand timber is of marvellously slow growth, and once existing forests are removed generations must lapse ere they can be replaced. Indeed, on account of this singular characteristic it is essential that in New Zealand, more perhaps than anywhere else, efforesting should go hand in hand with deforesting.' As for Puhipuhi, we believe that good silver country has been struck there, and gold also. Of the more stable and legitimate staples, the products of the wool season and the harvest (just commencing) are likely to be superabundant. The accounts to hand are very cheering. At the early part of this month the continued dry weather had excited some apprehension, but since then there has been a copious rainfall that replenished springs, and gave new life to pasture and crops. 1 he country everywhere is lookiug delightfully verdant and summer pasture is assured. The flax industry is coming more and more to the front every day. Greater care in the preparation of the fibre is exercised, and attention is being paid to flax cultivation. In this latter direction some unexpected facts are being disclosed. Flax growth is found to be very much more rapid than was supposed. All the plant wants is close attention and proper cultivation to insure a constant and free yield. The question of federation has commanded more than usual attention during the month. The favourable attitude of the Mother Country to Imperial federation, and the deferential attention bestowed upon her colonial dependencies is exciting a reciprocal feeling at this end. And the statesmanlike propositions of Sir Henry Farkes with regard to an Australasian Dominionbas brought the whole question of federation prominently to the front and is compelling attention to it. On the whole New Zealand regards federation with favour. But it is plain to be seen that her comparative isolation places her somewhat at a disadvantage. Her policy is to wait and watch, and decide promptly and wisely when the time comes. h>he will no doubt be guided to that by the ultimate decision of her Australian neighbours. They predominate in numbers and material wealth and are the custodians of a huge continent, the potentialities of which in the way of resources can only be dimly guessed at. And if an Australian (to begin with) Dominion is ever to become a reality indeed, unanimity and uniformity must be tbe governing factors. There will have to be accordance among the various States, and that means the adjusting of a lot of differences and £he harmonising of much discord. The variola States=-for States they are, their colonial cbara.ctpr notwithstanding—have been running on anything but common lines. They disagree in so many respects, notably in their fiscal arrangements. It might have been supposed by business men of only ordinary shrewdness in the Northern Hemisphere that, having in view the wisdom and expediency of promoting’ -intercolonial traffic, a mutual Understanding would have been come to with regard to the adoption of a uniform gauge

when railway construction commenced. Not so, however, and the two leading States—New South Wales and Victoria —are finding this question of gauge a serious stumbling block between them. Each wentin free-handed on its own account, and metaphorically snapped its fingers at the other. There are other disagreements besides those appertaining to fiscal matters and railways that will have to be amicably arranged before Australian federation can be expected, even with any show of reason. How strong a hold the question has taken upon some leading men in New Zealand was instanced last week at Dunedin, a very admirable address dealing with the subject was delivered at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce by Mr J. M. Ritchie, the President. The views he enunciated were far-seeing and liberal, and be touched the tender spot above all others in insisting upon the indispensableness of uniform tariffs on the part of all the Australasian colonies before federation could be brought about That has been our contention a.i along, and also that until Australia agrees New Zealand can have very little to say more than by lending her counsel at the convocations to finally determine. The process will be both long and arduous. What may be termed a really first step will, iu all probability, be taken next month, when the Australasian Conference on the Federation question is likely to be held at Hobart, where the New Zealand Premier, Sir Harry Atkinson, is at preseub sojourning for health’s sake. That health is, we are glad to sav, improving, though slowly. "When Australian federation becomes a great and assured fact, it will be easy enough to approach the still greater question of the ciore associations of what are now termed Imperial interests. And the people of Australia are prepared to entertain that proposition when the time comes, and to give the fullest effect to.jt if compatible with colonial interests. It would be idle to dwell upon the subject now : we merely wish to assure our English friends that there is no likelihood of estrangement between the branches and the parent stem, the dssire is all the other way; and more than that, the idea of a close federation between all Englishspeaking people is looked upon as anything but extravagant in many quarters here. Upon the enterprise of the immediate future will very much depend the ultimate success of Imperial Federation. The nearer the ends of the world are brought together the greater its probability, and it therefore""behoves all who have the mighty project at heart to bring Australia and Great Britain in the closest couch. And one of the means to this end is the proposed trans-Pacifie telegraph cable that is already regarded here as certain to be carried out. We hope England will not let that project rust in the considering of it, but that both Government and people will decide on doing it at once. The colonies are ripe for it, and will lend all their influence to ensure an early consummation. And there are minds at this end prepared to grapple with that problem of problems—a uniform tariff for Great Britain aud her offshoots. We believe that recent events are trending in that direction, notably, the remarkable attitude assumed by labour organisations. It would only need a moderate divergence on the part of Great Britain from the hard-and-fast lines of Freetrade to render a first step toward a uniform tariff possible. And a first step toward a uniform tariff would mean a long stride toward Imperial Federation.