THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2397, 8 February 1900, Page 37

THE WEEK.

•' Sonqnam »iiud nature, nciuo sapienlia dixit."— Juvbnal. fl Good jmcuifi ttQd gooti scnge niudc ever join.**— Pore*

Once again the eyes of the world are turned

upon Ladypmith ; once again The Progress we hear 'in imagination the of thunder of the artillery fire The War. as the relieving army, which we assume to be by this time once more advancing wp on the beleaguered town, is confronted by the enemy. We should have been at Ladysmith ere this 'if the hopes of General Sir Redvers Buller, as he is alleged to have expressed them to General Sir Charles Warren's forces, had been reolissd. But our news from Natal has been po misleading that it will not be surprising if we learn later on that General Buller made no such reckless statement as that in which he is alleged to have prophesied that he would be in Ladysmith by Monday last. The one thing certain is that he will make a determined effort to get there. The attempt to pierce the enemy's lines via Spion Kop failed, apparently because it was discovered too late that it could not be successfully made from that quarter. One wonders what explanation the Intelligence department, or whoever is responsible, will have to offer for the mistake which led to the disappointing blunder that resulted in the sacrifice of so many valuable lives on that hill. Spion Kop, we were assured, was the key of the position. It was captured by General Warren, •who subsequently was driven from it because it was untenable, or else abandoned it because it was not worth holding. In either event it was worse than a fruitless expedition that he made, for it involved serious loss of life. It must not be overlooked that all this happened in Britain's own colony, with the physical features of which our generals should have been made fully acquainted. And then, when the survivors of General Warren's force recrossed the Tugela after a retreat which must be unparalleled in the world's history, for although they were well within range of the enemy's rifle fire they were absolutely unmolested, we were informed that the relieving army still held the key of the road to Ladysmith — and that apparently on the enemy's left instead of on their right, which had been attacked. It is all very mystifying. Meanwhile, however, the garrison at Ladysmith, disheartened though it must have been by the failure of the relief columns to break through the enemy's lines from the southwest, is reported to be in buoyant spirits. JQmberley, too, is safe, arc! likely to continue so, although General Lord Metlmen and his army are cooped up at the Modder River, and "Colonel Bo den-Powell's plucky and spirited defence of Mafeking leaves^ no room for anxiety on his account. The forces under Generals French and Gatacre, with General Kelly-Kenny now close at hand, are giving a good account of themselves, 100, on the frontio." of Cape Colony.

Events have marched swiftly in Dunedin since our last issue. In the Wliut Can beginning of last week a We Do? public meeting of citizens re-

solved that their efforts should be directed towards the despatching of remounts to the members of the first New Zealand Contingent in South Africa, and of the second, now on their way thither. In view of the handsome manner in which the people of Otago and Southland had responded to the appeal for subscriptions to the Patriotic Fund it was felt that it would be unreasonable to ask them to contribute such a sum — nearly JB4OO0 — as would enable them to supply to the third contingent, noAV in course of formation, such a representation of men and horses as would do credit to this portion of the colony. And, in any case, the opinion was widely held that the necessity for supplying horses was more pressing than that for supplying men. This opinion was, however, not shared by the Premier. There was, he declared, when he was in Dunedin last week, no necessity to send remounts to South Africa, inasmuch as, he said, Major Robin had stated in his last report to him that the first contingent had 30 remounts available. Besides this, the second contingent had taken spare horses with them. There was no one in a position to contradict the Premier, and his assertion placed the whole question, in the eyes of a great many people, in. an entirely new light. We are not among those who consider that Mr Seddon's statement disposed of the necessity for sending remounts to our young soldiers in the war. We believe that fresh liorses are very badly required. Our information tells us that, however many spare horses the first contingent niay have, they are not in a serviceable condition. The private letters that have been received in the colony from members of the contingent leave no room for doubt on that point. The Premier's statement to the contrary weighed, however, with the community. And there w.is a certain feeling of soreness caused by the prospect of Otago and Southland being enthely unrepresented in the third contingent. These circumstances operated to produce a division of opinion where none had existed at the public meeting. That the movement might be a success, however, it was indispensable that the community should be united. And at this juncture a scheme was suggested which, without involving any change of front on the part of the committee that had been entrusted with the duty of raising funds for the despatch of remounts, has had the fortunate result of giving all sections of the people a common object for which to work.

As the details of the scheme are given in

the report in another portion "Pay, of this issue of the meeting * Pny, of the Patriotic Fund CornPay.*' mittee, which was held on Thursday night last, we need not state them here. In a sentence, it was represented by the authors of the proposal that a means could be devised whereby it would be possible to send a contingent of 100 men and liorses from Otago and Southland, along with remounts, at a cost not 'greatly in excess of that which it would talcs to send remounts alone. This scheme depended upon transport being provided for the men and horses from New Zealand to South Africa, free of cost to the committee, just as it had been provided for the Australian Bushmen's Contingent. This was made a condition of the offer of the contingent. The free tran&port has since been granted, and it only remains for the local committees to organise and equip the men and to supply the liorses. We do notdoubt that the public will rise nobly to the occasion. It would have been preferable if the Government had recognised that it was its duty to send the third and the fourth contingents at the expense of the colony as a whole. There is something very "mean and veiy poor in the spectacle of a Government which, while it realises that the very existence of the Empire to which it belongs" is attacked, demands that private subscription shall bear the cost of organising and equipping a contingent of soldiers for service on behalf of the Empire. Nor is the position which the Government has taken up to be justified on the charitable plea that the colonial Treasury has been depleted of funds. On the contrary, Mr Seddon boasted at Wyndham last week that he had no les3 than a quarter of a million at his command. Notwithstanding this, he declined to commit the State to -a penny of the cost of despatching the third contingent. It is an improper stand for him to take, but we recognise that it is an extremely difficult, if not impossible, thing to induce him to change his mind when there are no votes trembling in the balance, and consequently as the State will •nod" do its duty, we hope to see private firms and individuals shouldering the responsibility. They can assist in kind as well as in money. There are many of our farmers who, we nre satisfied, will only be too glad to contribute gifts of produce for the benefit of the volunteers for service while they are in the training camp. Already there has been a very liberal response to the appeal for cash subscriptions and for horses, and the movement has been so influentially supported that little apprehension need be felt lest a sufficient amount to equip tho minimum number of 100 troopers 'should not be raised. The public will "freely give of their substance for such a purpose. Even, however, if there was less eagerness to assist in the proposal than there is, there would have been no justification for encroaching upon the Patriotic Fund. It was for the relief of the Aveeping widow and the "little things" that the British soldier has left behind him that the Patriotic Fund was opened. It would be a distinct breach of trust if any of the Patriotic Fund were diverted into another channel.

The banquet at which he was entertained i at Invercargill last week was Tho Clean a flattering compliment to Slate. Mr J. G. Ward. It was the outward and visible proof of what is a well-iecognised fact — that Mr Ward is as great a power, politically, if nob commercially, as he ever was in Southland. He is a man who has very jii <.my friends wid fewer enemies thaa h«

supposes. And there is no one who is not heartily gl<id of his political rehabilitation. The opponents of the Government are not less pleased than are its supporters to see Mr Ward back in the Ministry. They recognise that he is a strong man, and that his accession to the Ministry strengthens it. But they believe, rightly or wrongly, that his influence in the Ministry will be exercised in the direction of keeping Mr Seddon .straight, and that the country, as a whole, will benefit in consequence. Oppositionists, as well as Ministerialists, in {Southland were, therefore, glad to avail themselves of»the opportunity last week to honour Mr Ward, or rather they would have been if the banquet had not been turned into a "Liberal demonstration. For this Mr Seddon was apparently responsible. He seems to have concluded that the opportunity of delivering a party speech was too good to be lost, and he was guilty of the bad taste of " stonewalling," as it were, the toast of the evening, by detaining the company with one of his iisual party harangues in which self -laudation and misrepresentation of his opponents, lofty expressions of devotion to the Empire, and disingenuous attempts to disgui&e the unpreparedness of the colony to meet possible attack, were curiously 'mingled. What makes 'it inexplicable that the Premier should have bored the Invevcargill banqueters with this long speech is that he must have known that, if they read the newspapers, there was very littie in it that was new to them. It was one of those speeches of Mr Seddon' s which justify the description of them recently given' by Mr Scobie Mackenzie in an article m an Atislvalian periodical — the " matter, like the balance of an account, is carried over from one year to another, until it has become stale and wearisome." We have had ad nauseam the fiction that none of the charges levelled against the Government had been proved : we have had ad nauseam the Premier's highest attempt at joking — the pleasantry lespecting the increased population of the colony which, uttered in the presence of a modest woman, would bring a blush to her cheeks; we have had ad nauseam the glorification of the Government's labour and social legislation. It has served its purpose at the elections, which, Mr Seddon alleges, gave the Government a clean slate. May we beg ol him in that case to drop the wretched stuff with which, in his speeches in the past, he has> surfeited the country, and to prepare something fresh for its edification? May we 'suggest also that Mr Ward and he should cease" to complain that the former's misfortunes were brought about in any sense by circumstances outside his own control? Mr Seddon had the assurance to say at Invercargill that the whole " persecution " (sic) of Mr Ward " had arisen from a desire to bring down 'the member for Awarua for the "purpose of crippling the Liberal party. 1 ' Mr Ward himself said very much the same thing. He, at all events, should know better.

No exception whatever can be taken to the manner in which Mr The Waikaka Seddon dealt with the WaiS l iid g« kaka. sludge channel question Channel. "when it was brought under his notice by a deputation at Gore last week. He explained the position of the Government regarding it very fully, and the proposals he indicated for iis settlement can only be regarded as perfectly fair. As to the auriferous character of the Waikoka district there can be no doubt. Its adaptability to gold dredging is also unquestionable. Sensational returns might not be received from it, but there is good reason to believe that capital invested in the dredging industry in it would earn a substantial rate of interest. While, under these circumstances, it is desirable that the development of mining in the district should be encouraged in every way possible., there are other interests whicn must be respected. It is gratifying to observe that the deputation of miners who discussed the matter with Mr Scddon took up a very reasonable attitude. Although they wish assistance from the Government they ask for no favours. They do not want anything, they said through their spokesman, but what can be done with fairness to all parties. And in his treatment of the questions Mr Seddon is evidently determined, however much his sympathies may naturally go with the miners, thai the interests of the farmers shall not suffer. In the inarch of the miner through the land the farmer must not be rudely swept aside. Where, however, there are conflicting interests in "a district the paramount must, in the ordinary course of events, prevail, unless some arrangement can be devised to provide for their harmonious co-existence. The policy which Mr Seddon has outlined seems calculated to produce a settlement that will be satisfactory to both interests. What he proposes is the appointment of three commissioners— one representing each interest and the third being the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands, — who shall report regarding the extent to which the mining and farming industries ore respectively affected, and place the Government in the possession of such reliable information as will enable it to settle the question. In Mr Seddon's view there are two ways in which the Government may then proceed — either by payment to the landowner of compensation for the loss of his riparian rights or by the resumption by the State of the land at a price to be fixed by arbitration. In either alternative the State's outlay would be inconsiderable. It would not be imreasonable in the former contingency to require, as Mr Seddon suggests, that the local bodies which would benefit from the mining revenue, or the mining investors themselves, should bear some proportion of the expen.se of buying out the riparian rights, and in the latter case it would probably turn out in the majority of instances that the interest upon the amount sunk in the resumption of ti?e land ■« ould be more than recouped by the rentals subsequently received from the soil upon its being let subject to the prosecution of mining enterprise, and by the new revenue the State would derive directly and indirectly fioni the existence of the dredging industry in the district. The Question is not one which belongs to the

Waikaka district exclusively. The same conflict between the miner and the landowner will have to be settled in other portions of Otago and Southland and on the West Coast. As Mr Seddon observes, it will be necessary for Parliament to legislate upon the subject, as it affects all the districts that are interested, and a very fair settlement of the difficulty is foreshadowed in the views he has expressed.