OUR LONDON LETTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7721, 16 November 1886, Page 4

OUR LONDON LETTER

(Fhom Oun Own Coititf.i.PONDENT.) London, September 21. TUB NEW lIKIUtIDKS. English opinion seems at length to be growing sceptical as to tho value of French promises not lo annex the New Hebrides group. It is true that the more respectable organs of French opinion like La Liborte and the Journal dcs Debats deprecate tho suspicions which are finding their way into the English press as to the bona fides of the French Governmaut, hut the Republique Francaise shrieks as wildly as ever about France's rights over these islands and about the French flag never being taken down when it has once been hoisted. England's perfidy in Egypt it declares affords France a moral justification for the annexation of the New Hebrides, and it threatens England with invasion from 500,000 men assembled at Boulogne should Admiral Tryon proceed to the New Hebrides to interfere with French proceedings there. Moreover, it is noted that somehow or other the action of the French Government shows a tendency to incline in favour of the Republique Francaise rather than to tho moderate councils suggested by the Jourual dcs Debats. The telegrams received from Australia within tho past few days setting forth the aggressive character of the French temporary occupation, and tho lengths which the French commanders are

evidently disposed to go in creating new grievances against the natives, have had an effect upon English public opinion which even the moderate and soothing tones of the Journal dcs Debats bave failed to neutralise; and the Pall Mall Gazette, which always flies into hysterics when coloniul grievances crop up for consideration, declares that if the French do not clear out of tho Now Hebrides tho two great nations of the western world will shortly bo engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle. Talk of this nature is, of course, as absurd in its way as the ravings of the Republique Francaise, and the Boanerges tone of the Pall Mall Gazette finds no reHection iv tho minds of serious politicians. Nevertheless the gravity of the situation as regards the New Hebrides is fully recognised, and it is felt that if the Australasian colonies are determined not to accept the proposals made by France in the spring of this year they should be prepared to face the consequences which would be entailed by a bold policy on their part if the same be backed up by the mother country. Amongst thoso who watch Pacific questions from the English point of view the conduct of the Australasian colonies over these matters does not meet with much approval. It is said that the coloiiies have now emerged from the status popiltari, and that it is time thoy put aside their petty childish jealousies aud banded themselves together to carry out a common policy iv their extra-territorial relatious such as would enable them to help themselves instead of constantly appealing to the mother country for aid. It is not overlooked -that mors thau ten years ago Lord Carnarvon advised the Australasian colonies to act together in respect to the policy to be pursued over the islands of the Pacific, aud told them tbat if they could agree upon a common policy with regard to New Guinea and would bear the expense of annexation, they could easily procure the addition of that island to the British possessions. That advice has not been taken either in regard to New Guinea or any other of the Paeifi; islands, and the feeling is spreading amongst those who make a study of colonial subjects that the colonies have only themselves to thank for the fact that other Powers have been enabled to secure a foothold in a portion of the globe which they wanted tobe reserved exclusively for themselves. While the colonies allow their own little intercolonial jealousies about tariffs and the like to divide them asunder they cannot expect their representations to be received with the amount of respect which would be accorded to the voice of a united Australasia and, until they are a littlo moro liberal in the matter of helping to pay the piper they cannot claim to be continually calling tie tune. It is all very well to appeal to tho mother country to carry out such and such a particular line of policy and bear all the expense which it entails, but it must be remembered that the mother country in reality means the British taxpayer, and the British taxpayer has a good many demands upon his purse just now. If England is to embark upon an extreme course with France over the New Hebrides question there must be no question about her being supported by the whole of the Australian Governments, and supported to the end. What Sir Graham Berry appears to forget is that while the colonies can indulge in" colonial blow" with happy irresponsibility, the mother country cannot give effect to this braggadocio without weighing the cost, for a great power cannot be constantly threatening and never carrying out her threats. The conduct of the colonies in the past is not such as to induce the Imperial authorities to provoke a conflict with another power iv order to give effect to their wishes; for since Lord Carnarvon's advice to tho Australian colonies to unite for common action upon questions of mutual interest they have not only neglected his counsel, but have contributed scarcely a penny towards the cost of the policy which they have from time to time called upon the mother country to carry out for their benefit. Of course it must not be understood from the foregoing remarks that there is any disposition or even desire on the part of Englishmen to refrain from affording the colonies all the assistance in their power, but it Js felt that the colonies would materially strengthen the hands of the mother country in championing their grievances if they would not allow their mutual jealousies to practically incapacitate them for joint action, and if they would show a little more readiness to bear a portion at least of the cost of any particular course Of policy which they may wish the Imperial authorities to adopt.

As might be expected, the first to move on receipt of the recent disquieting telegrams from Australia was tho Agent-general for Victoria. Sir Graham Berry must be accorded the credit of hitting out boldly and expressing his opinions in language too forcible to be wholly in accord with the traditional usages of diplomacy. Diplomacy has been described as the art of saying nothing, but the Victorian Agent-general in the course of his diplomatic functions manages to say a great deal and to say it very plainly. AVith the intelligence which had been telegraphed by the Premier of Victoria Sir Graham Berry sent into the Colonial Office a long despatch commenting upon the French intrigues to oust the Presbyteriari" missionaries from tho land which they held in trust for the natives at Havannah harbour. He pointed out that the news which accompanied his despatch, so far from indicating an early withdrawal of the French troops from the New Hebrides, afforded every indication of a prolonged occupation if not an absolute assumption of authority over the islands. He drew particular attention to the fact that the class of disputes which had arisen between the French and the missionaries— namely, those relating to the land, and with respect to which French officers were assuming the responsibility of final decii_i«_i—was precisely of that character which was likely to lead to hostile collisions and bloodshed, and that the latter catastrophe would afford a pretext of which the French would be sure to avail themselves for the exercise of powers incompatible with the neutrality of the islands, and certain to lead to a prolongation of the period of military occupation. The whole tone of the ' despatch showed very olearly that Sir Graham Berry entertained a shrewd suspicion that the French were simply manufacturing excuses for the purpose of protracting their stay. The Agent-general for Victoria could not of course presume to dictate a policy to the British Government, but he suggested iv unmistakable terms one which they might adopt. It was that the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Iddesleigh, should at once call upon the Prench Government to withdrawn their troops from the New Hebrides, inasmuch as these had now been

in occupation of that group for no recognised purpose ever since the first week in June, and that if the Republican Government showed any hesitation in comply/ng with this demand, British troops should be immediately landed at the New Hebrides, or such other measures taken as would place Great Britain on exactly the same footing upon those islands as that now occupied by Prance. Sir Graham Berry's dispatch was acknowledged by Mr Stanhope, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who in doing 60 intimated that be fully appreciated the gravity of the situation, and declared that the Imperial authorities were closely watching the acts of the French Government. The other Agents-general, with the exception of Sir Saul Samuel, have not taken any pai ticular steps in this matter. The representa? tive of New South Wales, however, has not done very much. He has preferred a request to.the Colonial Office that an inquiry should be addressed to the French Government as to the period when they propose to recall their troops from the New Hebrides, and stated that in the event of anything occurring which looked like an intention to permanently occupy these islauds, he had been instructed to. lay before the

Imperial Government a strong and vigorous protest, Sir Dillon Bell goes to the root of the difficulty in a letter which he wrote to the Times this week by declaring the kernel of the situation to be in the difference of the attitude taken up on this subject by New Zealand and New South Wales on the one haud, and Victoria and Queensland on the other —a difference which prevents Australasia speaking with a single voice. Your Agent-general, with regard more particularly to the land disputes, suggests that if neither France nor England is to annex these islands, and if the status quo is to be maintained, the Governments of both these countries should provide in concert for some kind of jurisdiction that shall take cognisance of disputes of this nature, and shall "rescue tho islands from becoming an Alsatia as soandalous as Fiji once was, a (disgrace to our civilisation and the approbrium of the Southern Seas."

Last Monday Sir James Garrick and Sir Graham Berry saw Mr Stanhope at the Colonial Office with reference to the alleged settlement of this question which had been talked about by tho Parisian papers. The Colonial Secretary, however, wns very reticent. He said that negotiations were pending between tho two powers with reference to the New Hebrides which he hoped would result in a settlement such as would be satisfactory to the colonies. What it wai, however, he distinctly declined to say, alleging that tho Marquis of Salisbury refusod to permit him to divulge any details at present. There is a good denl of speculatiou in colonial circles as to what can be meant by this language. The least that will satisfy the colonies, and that only for the present, would be the evacuation of the j islands by the French and the return to the status tjuo; but inasmuch as the status qua simply means, as Sjr Pi|lon Be)! says, tl)? cjeatiw ot I

an Alsatia in tho Pacific, it cannot be expected that the colonies will rest long content with so unsatisfactory a state of things. A correspondence is taking place in the : columns of The Times between Mr Kinloch , Cooke, a globe-trotter, of whom I have had something to say previously, and your Agent-general as to whether theNewHebridesgroupcomewithin the operation of the Western Pacific Orders-in-Council. Sir Dillon Bell says lhat this group was expressly excluded from the area over which fiese orders extended; but Mr Kinlcch Cooke quotes a dispatch from the Colonial Secretary to the Marquis of Normanby, dated October 10,1878, which he declares shows that though the New Hebrides may not have been actually mentioned in the Orders-in-Comicil, yet it was the intention of the Imperial Government that they should be embraced within their jurisdiction. AQUATIC. Hanlan has issued a challenge to Beach to row him for the championship of the world over tho Tyne course, and has followed it up by actually startiug for England, where he is expected to arrive either to-day or to-morrow. Beach, hoy - ever, has declined the challenge on the ground that he waited in vain for Hanlan all through the summer, and that he has now taken his passago for Australia on October 14. But if Hanlan actually arrives in this country it will be difficult for Beach to persist in his refusal to meet him. Should he yield in this respect the odds would be strongly in favour of HanlaD, for Beach will have been in hard training for four or five months, and weakened by rowing five races in rapid succession, whilo Hanlan will be comparatively fresh. The Toronto sculler will also secure an additional advantage in the fact that ho is familiar with tho Tyne championship course, while Beach knows nothing about it. THE QUEENSLAND SEPARATION MOVEMENT. Mr Henniker Heaton has also been figuring iv another function. Last Monday he introduced a deputation to the Colonial Secretary in support of the petition which has been presenter' in favour of the separation of North from Soutn Queensland. Dr Ahearne and the Hon. Harold Finch Hatton were, of course, prominent members of the deputation. Mr Henniker Heaton's proteges seem to have gone away highly encouraged by their reception, and apparently under the impression that there was nothing but plain sailing before them, though all that Mr Stanhope said in reply to them was that tho Government would observe an attitude of independence upon the subject until, they had fully weighed both sides of the question. The Colonial Office is famed for its oracular utterances, ond Mr Stanhope appears quite competent to maintain the traditions of his department in this particular, for the opponents of the separation scheme are as satisfied with the attitude of the Colonial Secretary as Dr Ahearne and his friends. The latter believes that he is in possession of Mr Stanhope's private opinions, and he declares these to be distinctly favourable to the idea of separation. The opinion has been expressed by leading officials in the Colonial Ollice that, by intimating that they were prepared to disclaim any idea of promoting the separation movement in the interests of coloured labour for the planters, the promoters of the separation movement have practically destroyed the rahon d'etre of their agitation. On the other hand, Dr Ahearne and,his friends can point to a despatch of the Duke of Newcastle aB an evidence that the establishment of North Queensland into a separate colony was actually contemplated by the Imperial authoritieß at the time that the present colony of Queensland was founded. For the present, however, it may be safely assumed that the entiro subject is Bhelved, ' for Mr Stanhope will certainly not move in the | matter either one way or another until he is in full possession ofthe views of Ministers, of the Governor, and of the opinions of members as expressed in the debate in the Queensland Parliament. Meanwhile Dr Ahearne, on the assumption that his mission will ultimately bo crowned with success, is considered to have covered himself with glory. On Wednesday evening he was the hero of an impromptu banquet at the Criterion Restaurant, commonly called the " Cri," at which all sorts of kiDdly sentiments were expressed towards him as the loving cup passed round. Yesterday the .gay and festive young medico started for Naples to catch the Jumna en route for Townsville. The Hon. Harold Finch Hatton has been left in charge of the separation agitation. How thia young sprig of nobility will work the same remains to be seen. It is important to bear in mind that no matter how strongly the Seperation Committee may protest that thoy have no intentiou of working this agitation in the interests of the planters, the suspicion remains very keen amongst English public men that they are only seeking for separation in order to be able to work the cheap black labour traffic according to their own ideas.