PASSING EVENTS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1680, 11 May 1904, Page 49

PASSING EVENTS.

History is philosophy teaching by examples. —Thucydides, It is remarkable with what persistency quite a number of persons are psrcolaiming thelir belief that a series of lean years are about to overtake this country. Taking their cue from the prophetic utterance of Mr Austen Chamberlain, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, who announced) a deficit, of over slix millions sterling in his own budget, they imagine that because Great Britain is suffering from a depression New Zealand must of necessity make way for the same trouble. We do not hold with 'those who conjure up such dreadful forebodings. Were the conditions similar, the deduction might be permissible. The deduction is, however, killed by the facts, and this tragedy has been continuously repeated in the politics os tnis country. At the outset it may be admitted] that some of the conditions that affect Great Britain may also act detrimentally upon the affairs of New 1 Zealand j but it ought to be borne W mind when making this admission that there are factors operating for the prosperity of this country, over which any depression at Home can. exert little or no influence whatever. For instance, a million of the deficit declared in the budget of Great Britain for the past year was attributable to a, decline in customs athd excliwe duties, whereas xn, this country the customs showed considerable expansion. Now, the contraction of these duties at Home showed an inability on the part of the people to spend as freely as formerly on taxable commodities mostly luxuries, while the increase in New Zealand’s customs revenue told the oomfortling tale that the spending power of our people was increasing; and “the record year fa railway revenue demonstrated! beyond dispute that the quantity of commodities for export had largely increased during the year, and this had contributed in turn to the ability of . the people to expend more in railway travelling. But the chief decline was in property and. income tax in Gi eat Britain. This would indicate that there was a general contraction in . personal revenue throughout the United Kingdom,, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer made due allowance for its continuance in adjusting his estimates fvT the coining year. What confronts the Treasurer of New Zealand, in. this respect, is the'a'njiualTy increas-

ing ofi pefcaoms. whose lincomea hawia oiwor-jperaiciiitKiv the> Income Tax ex- £ owjpfcia®.. fethisi not. fiirfcher ©vidtence U g/h&m 'vxa&ctfto Bnwfjwity ? ..And; will: as*y one thali ‘xSEtcreased.. individual . gqyojMKfc is> ttfc- other tihaxt a> remote and jiifaßHfcafaonafe.' ■cfependfent upon the paoostsmtr ®f Great. Britakiniß Everyone - if. tii. -awKser,. aware that the finance® q£ r ecspeeiaily ai country lSjfay-G*or*tfc Britain,, cannot be materially dafcriME tmthmrfi. dfafcarbing those of her over which she exeirts a 'hr&iea'cje.; hot while ethie- ■ idly' tro' may hear one- another’s, burdens, poditdmily every cocnstxjr must bear its. owmAaad 5 thef necuessitios' of the one are A rwh necessity the necessities of the other. ' Tfc ia wrong: to argue that he--00099 & cßauHnahing oounitry is- depressed' tSat an«tli»E -must tmdergo a* ehnlilar fepjjiT aajd< thsottf it. is safe ‘to. predict it. With increasing- revenue in every department c& the’ State-, and the. country’s ? evil” axe a long AfUuyyfrom. fulfilinenb

v'TOfli e£ Part Arthur is but " adfhrtheir dfevelapinenif of the Japanese plxa csf ; campaign. Now that she has A ewtiecfc up hiur remnant of the Russian nb-thlat port hen* military operations iat tihe . immediate neighbourhood will

' befaciStatesL From, the Russian move- ' menfe. ws 1 may dlivmee something of the intentioinst .of Japan. Russia is. AvithdVaaxdiqg near troops north woods. With tie flee*. Mocked at Port Arthur, witn tlio JapsHseaßc across, the. Ylalu, the Liao- - tang ppittimarrih. is practically untenable tfc RhiasdsanL troops. The, Japanese will prohaWy land tfefcr infantry in strong MjasuhexH' at Dainy and push rapidly ncarth to where, they may again meet tflg enemy. It may be remembered that the? country to the north of Port Arthur ES.Gfuita familiar to the Japanese ■ oil anednarS of their former war in this t&eatn® with the- Chinese. There are reason* ah» why the Japanese military lftad'eia shoufctsoek a. conflict with Rus-aia-V. land forces in.-this: quarter. Besid.ee being, faaniliar with the country, t thcr- ground is suitable for infantry figjriang:;, ansdf on account, of its 1 marshy character it is- not favourable to manoeuvres by the-- Russian cavalry. If Japan them,, can. pick her battlefields in am agar etssave- plan of campaign, and place- one-, of her enemy’s strangest arms . in-difficulty or out of action, by so doing the advantage will’ unquestionably be hers. Having- landed at Port Arthur, he® troop® will proceed northwards to Newehwang. and when once the Japanese> have, established, themselves in anything; like, force in the territory lying between these two places the natives will, ratty to their aid. ' These natives have reasons for supporting tne Japanese against the Russians. During the Obino-Japanese, wax, they were 'kindly treated By the conquerors and the friendliest spirit towards the Japanese has, since the wax opened, been displayed towards, the inhabitants of lower v V Manchuria, Some - imagine that the Japanese soldiers will farce their way north, towards Mukden by way of Fenghttamrcbaag.' but- that - route is rough and l tha : railway has not. yet been oomJ. pfotedi. Although, tlxe.. Japanese axe

' aecostoaned- t» niiauntaineering, it is uniir lifeeiy that a greater faroe< than is sufficieut to hold tlio enemy in check and & Ebcrea- in. peace, will be maintained by Japan on tbie Yalu. The evacuation of draaval af ; hear troops, t© Laao-yang. ~v wiH practically throw the broken fleet »f the mercy of Russia's, adversary, - wduEef tbO' possession of Newchwang will ai once establish the prestige, tf the MHaadofe: forces in southern Manchuria, and naturally compel the Russians to withdraw tiuaiir remaming forces from along the route -of the Ldao-yarg—An-ting, railway.. That is evidently the plan of campaign Japan is pursuing. The Rossianaj finding Port Arthur blocked and. of little use to them are withdrawing from this fortification, and; already we- hear jof the landing of Japan eso troops .at a point which ■ • threatens both Fort Arthur and Newchwaug. Meantime tlie' Russians are . not idle in preparing for a. great land battle-near Liao-yang, but at this place they will be able to inflict a. defeat upon the* Japanese who wdll, however, from this, point,, find it U more diflicrult. to do permanent injury upon their foe. Nevertheless, when once in possession of Newchwang, the Japanese will be- masters of southern Manchuria and controllers of the ra/ilii.!;;:ivay to.Pekin. ..

• s ' The 1 political’ situation in -Great Brit- - ain *Jias< not improved- for the Govern-

ment in office. Mr Balfour and his : colleagues are confronted with many

i difficulties. . Some *of these have been • : overcome wrth determination and the

f pursuance of the policy formerly declar-•d-edlr Others; have been thrust aside and

remain; as menaces to the continuance •U --while yet a few have been solved; by the; most appropriate of . : all expedients—comproniise. 'Amid all neither the temper nor ::, tßftipatience of -Ministers- are improving, > and. their opponents are attacking the oecupantsi oF the treasury benches with a cqaifiden.c& begotten of many victorious Liberal Party, It would seem. as if the Unionist up* vernment. waajon the .wane, end iic.dents are of frequent- occurr r> e : point to its further dec ,

ultimate: dissolution. The influx of aliens into 'Great Britain and the proposal, to limit or exclude them, and the decision to import Chinese to the Rand —another part of the Empire—-have not improved the position of the Balfour Ministry. The Licensing and Education Bids’ have not added to their prestige, and its indecision upon various important questions, Eke the -fiscal problem, is weakening confidence among its own supporters. Mr Balfour describes himself as being in favour of “Progressive Free Trade,” and denounces what he considers; his poEtical opponents stand for, namely, “Stationary and Petrified Freetrader” but the “progressive” article has not yet been defined or intelligently explained The mere hankering after a change in the fiscal policy of a. country is not what, that country expects from its political leaders, and so those who will not “give a lead”' will be compelled to follow those who null. What is increasing the lack of confidence already so manifest, in the country is the Government’s impatience of fair criticism. If Mr Winston Churchill rises to speak, the occupants of the Government benches leave their seats and his. criticism is liberally levelled at “an array <?f vacant pews.” Chinese labour for the Rand has not improved the position of the Government ;, and Lord Milner’s rather defiant attitude upon this subject is further adding to Mr Balfour’s embarrassment. Lord Milner is truly “a great Pro-Consul,” but his work as an administrator is now under criticism. The Empire trusted him implicitly when he was negotiating for peace,, gave him a free, rein in the war, and was still ready to support him in settling South Africa; hut the Empire will not be dictated to, nor will it submit to defiance from any of its servants. Lord Milner was of course exposed to criticism all these seven years in South Africa,, but he acknowledged that he had the sympathy and- support of the majority of the people and that encouraged him to bear the adverse criticism of those opposed to him. Now he says he does not care for the opinions of people six or seven thousand miles away. They do not know what he is doing and have not the faintest comprehension of his intentions. This is the spirit and language of annoyance, and it is conduct of this kind at Home and abroad that is causing the Government to lose both prestige and power.

Among scholars and philosophic students the autobiography of the late Herbert Spencer will be read with deep interest. His was an unique character, and the name of Spencer will become as famous and as lasting as Aristotle. In a century or two he will be accorded his proper place as a thinker. Only by some of his contemporaries has the late philosopher been adequately understood. His autobiography will enable a larger circle to form a fairer conception of the man himself, but his works must stand as studies for the more thoughtful in all time to come. As ancestry and environment have much to do with the formation of character, we find Mr Spencer discoursing upon those of his traits which he inherited from his forebears. “That the spirit of non-con-formity is shown by me in various directions,. no one can deny; the disregard for authority, political, religious or Bocial, is very conspicuous.” And he asks whether there has not been the inheritance of this ancestrial trait. But along with this "spirit of non-conform-ity,” there was in Herbert Spencer, the placing of principles having super-human origins, above rules having human origins; for throughout all his writings relating to the affairs of men it will be found .that ethical injunctions stand above legal injunctions. “There is everywhere shown,” he himself affirms, “in my discussions of political questions, a contemplation of remote results rather than immediate results, joined with an insistence on the importance of the first as compared with that of the last.” If it came to a question of parcelling a country out in areas having 999-year leases, Spencer would look not so much to the close and effective settlement of the land so leased, but to the remote results, and he would have pointed to the fact that some of these leaseholds would in a quarter of the time become valuable beyond all human knowledge, and the increment (untaxable) given by all the possession of a few. He would also have realised that human aims and desires are stifled by an “eternal” lease, and the object of ail land settlement, i.e., attachment to the soil worked by the occupier, unattainable. Political economy was not to Hei-bert Spencer, as it was to Carlyle, “the dismal science, - ’ and he takes, by the way, Carlyle to task, for growing blindly furious over John Mill’s work “Un Liberty.” “One” he observes, “who scornfully called utilitarianism ‘pig-philosophy,’ and thereby identified the pursuit of utility with the egoistic pursuit of material gratifications, spite of the proofs before him that it comprehends the pursuit of other’s welfare and tiie exercise of the highest sentiments, d.splayed an inability to think discreditable to an ordinary cultivated intelligence, much more to one vanted as a thinker.” Some admirers of the Scots philosopher may be inclined to dispute with Spencer on these points, but because the study of laws affecting the relationships of men —capital and labour —xii a community were uninteresting to Carlyle, it did no„ follow that “dismal” . .is . pplicable to the science of politics ...ci,.lugy. Still, a perusal of one

great man’s opinions upon another’s will assist the reader to form or strengthen his own, and carefully read that is what Spencerian thought will do.