PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS,

Otago Witness, Volume 25, Issue 2321, 25 August 1898, Page 57

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS,

Empire Expansion*

Last week I read a very interesting article saying that "the last quarter of the nineteenth century Avill be memorable in the annals of the world, because of the extraordinary movement on the part of the great | nations of Europe in dividing among them 1 every possible part of the globe not under 1 the protection of some powerful flag. No- [ thing like it has been f-een before." In ' the article a series of figures are given, showing to Avhat extent this annexation of other folks' lands has gone on during the last quarter of a century. Here are the figures, J to Avhich I add the percentage of increase : —

Arranged in order of accretion we have Germany (an easy first), France, Great Britain, and last, and a long way behind, but most dangerous of all, Russia. . , These figures, you will notice, are not quite up to date. Since '96 France, has very considerably increased her Empire, and Great Britain aiid Russia in a less degree. Great Britain, in the opinion of many, ought now to be in possession of the Transvaal, and possibly the Orange Free State ; she has scuttled, too, from New Guinea, the Hebrides, and Equatorial Africa, though the position there is now being retiieved. Italy made an attempt to follow the other nations in colonising, but has lamentably failed. At the present time the United States has committed itself to a colonial policy. The Hawaiian Islands, Cuba, Isle of Pines, Porto Rico, and possibly the Philippines, make a, very respectable beginning But to hark back for a moment or two. Though Britain is behind in area annexed, | that doesn't mean she is losing ground. ', Before 1872 Germany hadn't a single I colony ; she has expanded colonially to the I extent of over a million square miles ; but | in the whole of that area 1 doubt whether j there are as many Germans as there are British in Dunedin ; and if the whole of her colonial possessions Avere put up by auction ! to-morrow, " they might well be knocked down for an old song." Judged by her liresent colonies, Germany will never be a colonial power, for her possessions are nearly all tropical, and doomed never to be the seat of a German population. And what of France? In Nigeria she has a fine possession, not in any Avay the superior, if the equal, of Hausaland and the neighbouring states. Tunis, too, is an im- j portant acquisition, especially as it gives France Biserta, the best harbour on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, a harbour she has fortified in defiance 'of an express agreement not to do so. ' It is said to be impregnable from the seaside, and as it is a counterpoise for Malta and brings her near Egypt, its value is apparent. In Tonquin, France has a fine expanse, particularly as it paA r es the Avay for an adA r anee into Southern China, a corner Britain wishes to tap by a railway up through Burmah. But so far Tonquin has been a graveyard for regiments, and a sink for millions of money. She has other possessions, too, and valuable ones ; but from a colonial empire point of vieAV she is extremely unfortunate. She has acquired territory, but beyond a convict settlement here and there- has no colony. As for Russia, her foreign possessions are nil. She hasn't a detached part which cannot be reached from the mainland in a rowing boat. " Her peculiarity is that all her empire can be included in the one ring fence. She pushes the fence on, and that is all." She is dioav pushing that fence on, and at contract speed, into the Chinese Empire. Russia's solidity is her strength and Britain's scattered possessions her Aveakness ; hence the unwillingness of Salisbury to engage in a Avar Avith Russia, when he knows she has France and perhaps Germany and Turkey as tools to work Avith. Russia seems noAV m the eve of a very considerable expansion in China ; and her past increase of 11 per cent, would have been larger if she had not sold Alaska to the United States. She didn't Icroav that Alaska had gold possibilities unsurpassed by any knoAvn field, or she certainly Avould not have been so Avilling to cede it. Russia can orly expand southwards, and that being so she must come into conflict sooner or later Avith the Great Powers. At prebend in Central Asia it is " Halt !" iov the Cossack of the Tzar is faco to face Avith the sepoy of India's Empress ; but there is Persia and Asia Minor and Turkey in Europe where diplomacy and cunning may secure tdyanc© step by step without committing any;

act which Avill of itself be deemed sufficiently proA'ocative of Avar, though a series of such acts will accomplish all that Russia wants.

Now, I didn't intend to AA'rite so much on this topic ; but there it is.

3}ii(ltciUes nml Millionaires.

To one followng the industrial development! of a nation, the events of the past feAV years are full of interest. The growth of millionaires and multi-millionaires, of syndicates and of joint-stock companies Avith immense nominal or Avorking capital, is dividing the civilised countries of tho world into tffo armed camps ; the capital passaging and us>ing clashes on the one side, and the manual workers on the other, Avith a large proportion oi undefined humanity in bctAveen the tAvo and at the mercy of both. On the one side Aye have industries oi" a like kind massed under one management, crushing out all opposition and either paying or attempting to pay large profits on an inordinately large capital, real or nominal. We have % Hooley, a Leiter, or an Armour, a Vanderbilt, a Gould, oi an Astor, and goodness knows how many more, making corners in this, that, and the other thing, and scooping in or losing millions by their deals. But is this Avhat Aye exist for? These Avrinyj as much as they can oufc of producer and consumer ; and to counteract the greed of capitalists and speculators avc have various unions established, originally in .self-defence, but copying sharp practices they try in many instances not to uphold the dignity of labour and do the honest thing, but to get as much as possible, often for as little as possibla, not caring who suffer in the process. Take the coahniners at Home. Mining is an industry men should be Avell paid in ; but a compact Avith the OAvners gave a sliding scale by Avhich wages Avent up as the coal OAYiiers were able to raise the "prices, Avitli the result that a coal ring raised prices unduly on consumers. Neither miners nor owners concerned themselves Avhat Arere fair remuneration for capital and labour ; it Avas simply What can Aye get? Others Avere not tlfoughli of. The same armed forces came into p'*y in the engineers' strike ; but in this case, it seems to me, the masters Avere fighting directly for existence, and indirectly doing their best to prevent the loss of national supremacy, already imperilled, in the iron and machinery industries, ing. It is said that many of the union leaders are doing Avhat they can to throAV the control of industries into the hands of the workers, as a step toAvards the State ta.king them over ; and it is also said that the consolidation of kindred industries under tbecontrol of a master mind, or a syndicate or a joint-scock company, is only a step making; it the easier for the State to assume control in the near future. In other Avords, the present trend is toAvards the State control of industries. And Avhy not? some Avill say. Well, supposing it were advisable to gefc rid of the men. of brains vrho at present control our industries, to Avhat extent ib is advisable to do so in one country, Avhen other countries keep up the competitive system? The question is a large one, and you "will be called upon to help to solve the problem. Have any of you read " The Final War," by Louis Tracey? In the article I referred, to last week, Britain was considered as a sea poAver, her land forces hardly being considered ; but in " The Final War " Britain's land forces play as prbminnent a part as her fleets — indeed, more so. France .'Hid Germany are invaded, and sending an army from Quetta to Moscoav via the Caspian Sea is talked of as an act as simple as it was daring. Perhaps, I may give you an outlineof it soon.

— A lighthouse of bamboo lias just been built in J apan. It is said to have greater poAver of resisting the Avaves than any other kind of wood, aad does not rot like ordinary wood. — Jayson and the grocer had been talking of the probability of -war. "Well, said the grocer, " I flatter myself that if I had to go to the front I would distinguish myself in more than one charge." And then he Avinked at himself as he addec? a few items to Jayson's bill. l

A angle banyan tree has been known to shelter 7000 men at one time.

— United States military cyclists are said to b» enthusiastic at the chance of showing .what they can do in actual warfare. The bicycla was not used for war purposes in America until 1892, when General Nelson A. Miles, at present commanding the XJnit*d States Army, mad* v*« of them. H« was bo plcawcl with the result of hii experiment that he 1 va been an enthusiastic adrocat* of their use ore) 1 biuca

—An American possesses a unique collection of pieces of blotting paper, each of which bears reversed the signature of a President of the Republic.

—In the Franco-German War, the indemnity paid by France to tho victorious Germans amounted to £200,000,000, which, considering ther« wer« clos« upon 1,000,000 Germans engaged, works out at about £7 per man per ir^k during the irholft time the war lasUd, or £1600 for erery German soldier who met lua death.

tiEItJIANY. Sq. railfs. [572 208,000 (SUo 1,231,000 in increase of 492 p. c. Russia. Sq. miles. 1572 7,776,000 LS9I> 8,644,000 An incieaseof lip. c.

Great Britain. Sq. mil*p. 1872 ? 6-0,000 18BS 12,620,000 . An increase of 65 p. c. France. Sq. mile 3. 1872 . ... 814,000 l 189 d 2,700,01 0 f An increase of 232 p. c. I