FEDERATION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1507, 17 January 1901, Page 33

FEDERATION.

NEW ZEALAND AND THE COMMONWEALTH. TEMPTATIONS , OF - AUSTRALIANS. A PLEA FOE POLITICAL ENTITY. In addressing the editor_of the ‘‘New Zealand Times” Dr ■ If. Wallace Mackenzie says:— You deserve the thanks of young New Zealand for the light you .have thrown on the quest-ton of federation with the Australian" Commonwealth. The hook of “federation/ 7 which is designed to catch 'New Zealand for the “Commonwealth” as Maui caught her for the ancient- Maoris, is baited with various tempting tit-bits, but I trust the New Zealanders have too. high a sense of the. greatness of New Zealand s future —too great a sense -or responsibility for‘the great'birthright which is theirs and their children’s —to barter it away for a mess of pottage. The first bait is reciprocity of trade. We are solemnly, warned by Australian politicians that if. we do-not ioiiv them a, wall of protection will -be raised round Australia which will keep out our produce and ruin our trade with the continent... Whereas, on the other hand, if we join, the "Commonwealth/ 7 we. are told that- our produce .will be- received on the same footing as that of the oilier States. - This proposition, contains both a threat and a bribe. We are told that. Australia-, can grove ail the oats, potatoes and other farm ■produce which is now imported, from New Zealand, as well as it can be grown in New Zealand; but if this is so, why has it ever paid New. Zealand to export these products to Australia? It is evident from the fact that it has paid this country to send its produce to Australia, that such produce can be grown cheaper in New Zealand, so that the first result of the wall of protection will be to raise the price of farm produce in Australia. Now, the farmers are in a .large minority in Australia, so' that the rise in the price of their produce would be a decided! disadvantage to the largest portion of the community. As such the protective law leading fed such rise in prices would soon become unpopular and disappear.

But ©veu supposing the Australians t> he so foolish as to pay a higher price for their 'food supplies, in order to spite their neighbour, theirs is not- the only country which is within the limits , of oUr trade. China- and Japan, with their teeming millions, are being rapidly opened up to the commerce of the world, and we shall soon find a- large market there for cur natural products. India, with its droughts and famines, v/ili become a good) customer of ours when omce a regular trade is opened up with the East. South Africa, with its illimitable deposits- of diamonds, gold, coal, and other minerals, will soon be the home of millions of Europeans.,- who- will have to draw the bulk of their foodstuffs’ from abroad, and there we shall find an almost unbounded! market for our produce; so that the loss of the Australian market, even if it should foe permanent, will ultimately result in. the expansion of our commerce into a wider market hitherto almost untouched.

Another luring bait is that of federal defence. We are told that union is strength and no- doubt-this is true; but we must not- forget that there is a distance of twelve hundred miles of stormy ocean between us and those who seek the union with us. New Zealand would be a very outlying proivince in the Commonwealth. . The Australian States are in quite a, different position to‘us. Except one, they are connected, together by land; and that one, though near by, is already complaining of shabby treatment. In the event of the invasion of Australia by a powerful enemy, New Zealand would not be considered of such vital importance as the" continent. Consequently, in the case of extremity, troops might be withdrawn from New Zealand to defend the more important (to* Australia, who wo-uld' be our master),

been hurled at us ns to what will happen if we do not .join the federation, this step is wliat we might expect. Further, we do not need Australia to defend us: we arc able to defend ourselves against any enemy that comes. We have got the men, and our Government is' alive to the necessity of providing the required equipment, and is much more likely to attend to such matters efficiently than a. Government across the waters.

We are told that, it- will be a. grand thing to be a State in the Commonwealth of Australia—that it will broaden our views, and give us that confidence which pertains • only to the citizens of a great country. That sounds very well, but it is only the- worm put- to hide the sharpness of the hook, “Timeo clanaos et dona ferentes” was the remark made/by a famous Trojan about a present left- by those who wished to get possession of his country, and 'it applies also to the benefits offered to us by those who wish to secure the government of our country.

We already belong to the greatest Empire the world has known m modern times. Our views are already so much broader than those of the Australians, that we have, in fact, long ago completed the federation of the various provincial governments within cur coun-

try, and are now in a fair way, with our universal penny postage, and «nr Imperial Premier, towards the realisation of that higher and nobler union— Imperial federation. Under Imperial federation-—which is no dream, but a fast approaching reality —we would still retain that inestimable boon, the right- to govern ourselves. We have that right at present, and the progress which this country has made already', is good evidence that we govern ourselves with ail the wisdom that can be expected in so jomig a country. Doubtless we have not yet reached perfection, but our Governments Lave been, and still are, as wise and capable as any in the other colonies, and our administration becomes rnoie liberal, and considerate for the classes who produce our national wealth, as time goes on. Shall we, like the frogs in the fable, depose the king we know for one we do not know? If we do so, I feel sure that we will soon be vainly, wishing that we Had King Richard back instead of King Emu. whose only desire is to swallow as up. Let. us federate by all means, but not with, protectionist Australia, who would alternately coerce and cajole ns into her net : let us do all we can to bring about Imperial federation, which will - mean home rule, in addition to all the advantage? of being an integral-part of a great Empire. Wellington. January 10, 1901.