PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 85

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

THE P.-_RTEfO OF THE WAYS. Porha-ps this is not a reiy goot' heading ; psnhaps *' A Decade of Empire Consolidatian " will suit better,' but, in any case' the heading is only a- pe^ upon wh'ioh to hang a iew re-marks which may. or may net, be vary logically aiTan.gfd. Thf* Ist of Janun-y, 1901/ "-aw the co.i_?oliv!;a>iion. of Aus-traiia iiito a Co"mnicnwfialth with Iho lad_ "Lord Jlopetouu as G'Ovarnor-ljr.r-,;-ral, ami the opcxihig of tills "Fc'de'Aii Parliam-ent by th-s present l'rinoe-" and I'rir.cess of Wals,-:, then the Dulc^ aiui Duchess of \'6rk. -And, in parenthesis — this is for young folk — it -might be renwmh ;rf:<] ihzi. thw l^uke and Lticl)c:-s iravelied abon'u 50,0Qj uiile?., a.r.'d, it I remember 'rigiitly. touched foreign' soli oniv cuce 'iii -the .v.-hois tiiiimphal tour, ai>ci ih'cit w.i? Suez, which many look _pou as myre Britain's than any other nation's. Th-" n car.v> in later years ihe elevation (A Sr.\\~ _ Z*aJ?,nd from the position ot a colony to t__ji.t of "a Dominku*. Tiiis is to b-e foilow^d mxz year by the i»:Jfy_iig of Souiiii Africa, 'which is 'to have only one PasiiameYj", — r,herefore a Union Parliament as ucrsessed by UTeat Britain — to represer-*." 1 Cape -Goloav, Xadal, Ovsngia, and the Transvaal ; in tiiae, I c.uiipo?e,' Rhodesia and Zambesi will also send members. This. Uiiacn PairliK'inent, lik-e the Common---a en Hh' Parliament of -Aiislralia, is to be ops»od by ihe Prince^ and the Princess of Wales. So mcch' foi puliticai -espansiou and coneolidaiioii of.. tha J3rittd?h Empire in th« first decade of the twentieth century. " If' we look at Britain's great rival. Germajay, ar.d read • hp- 'ibistory vre iin<l tha!}* the Seven Years'-'-War, 1756-1767), ' -vviife? 'really 'her birth" "as r .nation, and jumping a century we see tiiaf- bey wars witJi Denmark, Austria, and Fiance con-s.-«i:-daLed 3ier 7 and gave Iver-ibe impetus v. iika has piiib hor in 'ber present position, aaid from her v. r ar with France we might ■dale her uava-i aspiration&. How? Tho iM-anco-Pi-ufsian War oi" 1870-71 -saw France reduced to ruins ir abor.t six inoath-s, Paris in Prussian possession,"" ard en -iKfemmty of £200,000,000 and- the two beaaitiful provinces of Al?-ace an<l Lorraine, with their imir.cnee fortresses. Rtrcusbourg and M^t-/, exact-ed by the -eler.tless cono_j3ior?. F.rance, however, recovered from tht* :.;ii.-l;inp- burden with surprising swiftr.&.-^", ay.d Uc?jnarck. tlic- man of blood and iv^n"; -\\a.s -".-■liJlinig to take ouy pretext to fi o ht hcu- again before '!"-> ■ soul J " heeometoo powe-ifni, at::cl Jii« '.ime. x* he said, he intended wj '-' bioed lior, white.'' Hut "ijrit'&ni st-epped -in, arA hi had to ptay iii< hraid. It- wasn't Britain's army, but her navy, that would have b-een dtath to 'Bi-cnwrck. That is rather % long digression, perhaps ; but, do you know, -one 01 my r?-iders once oaid me the rather left-handed cocuplini-en'o of saying- that my digvet-ions and paa - enthfe~es wore the raost interesting pars .of my Cliais ! -Veil, to resume. Just as ""vars brought mt-o b-sing and consolidated tho German Empire, so the Boer •n ar di<" very much more' than "mtiny ima^ir.e 'in con'olidatnig; the Briti.-'h Empire, though pei'h_,ps,' I should precede this ev-ent by the gathci'isig of colonial Pr-smiers amd colonial troops in London at the time of ,ths Diamond Jubilee in Id3i. - The- Beer -n'ar opened .the Mother Country's eyes to the potentialities of her r-olocros, fa-st developing into Dominions a-rid Commonwealths, and the two cor.fercncGi"; of Premiers in London helped to develop the Empire feeling. . Xow take 1909, and we liave a very distinct, advance. We have had tv. o great conferences — one- of Empire newspaper representatives and another of representatives called together to discuss J-Impsre "defence questions : an Empire Newspapc-i Conference and an Empire Defence Conference. No doubt, the editors and proprietors when they return will, as a result of their conference, bz ready Io advocate certain lines of action in relation to politics, commerce, post and telegraphs, and cables, and those who .took part* in the- Defence Conference will give us details. qT aa-my and navy, schemes, which, while, allowing each unit of -the Empire . independence of action within itfeelf, will, 'by. standardtisi'n'g of arms' and ships and methods o£ mohilisjU. tioji,^ allow. , the . undts^qf Empire defence, on land amd sea to be massed on anj

point when any Empire interests are in danger of being menaced. • - - From 1897, then, to 1910 is a Tery important epoch in om history, though it isn't a "very long one, for we haye — all ' tendin-g to Empire consolidation. — j 1. The massing -of Premiers and troops j in London at the time of the Diamond Jubilee. 2. The Boer wai\ 3. The opening of the Commonwealth Parliament. 4. The two conferences of Premiers since the. war. 4. The Newspaper Confecnence. 5. The Defence Conference. ' And iTbw let me add a sixth, which", in my mind. I ;tm inclined to call "The"; Parting of the Ways."' -And what is that? say you. Well, I'll be alliterative I and call it " The Battle of the British Budget," which appears to be resolving itself into a battle, of the masses "against the clawes, and' upon the result of the baul-e. it appeaav to • me, an important principle depends — that of keeping to Frestrade or abandoning -Freetrade in favour of preferential trade. Just a word or two- upon the question of taxation. . Generally speaking, the Government is imposing a tax on luxuries, particularly baer, and upon .what we call I ■•'".•e-imo-t increments. One - paper in j favour of the. Government proposals "Is j selling penny pamphlets at the" rats oft, over a million a week. I haven't seen [ any of these - pamphlets, but should be ! glad to, and sixpenny j>ampthlets are sell- j ing by tens of thousands. The news- f papers are full of cartoons. ' Let me-j dpscribe one or two. One -s-h"eaded "The 1 Little Bit Off- the Top."-. -It pictures a, j room with the door open, and on' it the j \,« mj , <<-T ,13,,)1 >> . n-r. 4-V,^ foWU *= a inviYO '

shallow dash — -a- milk ""jan, J' The Indnt trial Actij7t^ofg^^C^a^h^nit]|-"^ in ii the mi!lc* * inc"r-eaVed. 'XafijcT values " ; bent over the . -table? is „a .iMn-featured, s'harp-no&ed, 5d5 d man wearing ermine and a duke's coronet — or -I take it jto be that; "in his' 1 hand 'is a icrge~ j'u'-£, '■Unearned Increment" ;- and" wibh hasty movements he is ladling up the cream, " Increased Land Values " : "the little j bit off the .top " ; in the door * is entering • I a -thick-set, scowling working man with a bucket; _ ".The Nation's . -Need.*'-.' You i see, the landowner is pictured as skimI ming off what he had -no right to, and j what, is wanted to pay old-age pensions ; and' otherwise to carry, on the -business" or the- kingdom. Under jfche picture we I read a sentence ,but of one of iiir. Winston"" "Churchill's -speeches : **"" It Jdoes not matter where you look, or the examples "you select, you - will see " that - every form of I enterprise/ eveVy step ~m material progress, is only undertaken after *t_ie land monopolist has skimmed the cream* off for himself." - ' - ' - Perhaps I had better -stop ' here. ,tthls week." "" \ - „ ; -

I —The familiar humming of telegraph wires is a phenomenon '-that has not, yet ; been satisfactorily explained. It is no.* merely caused by wind, for it is heard in perfect calm. It seems probable that the Tsovind is due to changes in temperature, by I which the wires are lobsen-ed or- tightened. | The "beats, ". or long rising' and falling I waves of eoiind, which can -often be noticed i when near a* telegraph post are dive to the ' interference of sound-waves of different ! lengsfch. At regular intervals one is nearly I . quenched by the .others-jus' " as happens if >ne strikes together "two" ,■ consecutive notes on a haimonium differing only by a semi-tone. ' '