PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3334, 6 February 1918, Page 57

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

WHAT OF THE FUTURE? There are so many topics oiie can write about, and all having great educational value. JSome are transitory in importance, and some permanent. I had made- a memo, of several headings, each of •which ■would do for a Chat, but when I sat down to write I jettisoned the lot for the one that flashed across my mind. You see, it admits almost anything, so I can wander at -will. Several events helped me to crystalise my heading. We did not will this war, and went as far as we could to avoid it; our indecision, or the indecision resulting from party government, however, helped to bring it on, for Liberalism is not associated with war—except that other nations having ambitions for colonial expansion have, time and again, become aggressive when a Liberal Government has held oflice. Then, not having willed war, but being driven to it to defend a scrap of paper, the tearing up of which not only crushed Belgium, but, as we now know," aimed at crippling France, 'at consolidating Central Europe for further a-ggressiye action; aimed at a Berlin to Bagdad railway, which would give Germany and her creatures an hitherto undreamt-of _ power, in addition to furthering a Germanic India and a stupendous strength in Africa; had in view of the ultimate subjection of the British Empire and of the American; in fact, aimed at a domination which was to expand with each success until it became world-wide. Well, Pan-Germanism was one of the factors that led me to say in my mind ''What of the Future?" But here are two or three others of many. As a welldeserved punishment inflicted on a criminal, just as a judge may sentence a man to death for murder, and as a protection for our own oversees possessions, we had to take possession of Germany's colonies, and now she cries ' 'No annexations," though annexing all she can in Europe; and we have people .imbecile enough to say "Never mind the past; let us shake hands and make a fresh start." Well, we cannot do that, for we have a duty to perform to civilisation, to Christianity,; and to those who have been oppressed in Europe and in the German colonies. Again, there are the resolutions passed by the massed. Labour unions recently in England which say there must be no annexation; and' further, as far as my present purpose is concerned, there is the statesmanlike speech recently made by General Smuts, in which he places before the world the view of a colonial statesman;: and finally, we have Germany's avowed : intention of having colonies which are to be consolidated and to be self-sup-porting in war and in peace, with" Germans at the head of all organisations, and all the conquered peoples denied representation and reduced to the condition of helots. Must we submit to these conditions before we have crushed, this military autocracy threatening the whole world ? The Pacifists of Britain and the trades unions there passing the. resolutions recently must take a larger outlook before saying there must be no annexations. The Dominions beyond the seas have given material aid to the Homeland, and without any constitutional representation Avhatever, or the slightest' constitutional right of the Mother Country to enforce it. The population of the Homeland is comparatively stationary, while that of the Dominions is steadily increasing, and potentially can support many times the population of the Motherland, and have untold of possibilities in the production of wealth. Are, then, the narrow outlooks of the Pacifist and of the Trade Unionist at Home to fetter us in perpetuity, or until another war breaks out and frees us-from the pressure of, or binds us closer to, a military neighbour bent upon world conquest? The Empire outlook, and not the narrower outlook of the Little Englander, must prevail if the Empire is to hold together. Perhaps, however, Pacifists and Little Ehglanders look forward to a disintegration of the Empire. But these are not the days of disintegration and isolation. Our first duty is unity in the face of the common enmity and internal reforms after. "IN GERMAN GAOLS." Last week I read a book just out, "In German Gaols," which tells of the cruel and humiliating experiences of men and women mainly, but also of children, taken prisoners or interned by the Germans in German East Africa. Some day I may give a Chat upon it, but just now I am concerned with the last chapter, "The Future of 'German' East Africa," which deals with what is going to happen there after the war, and as what this representative of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, known as the U.M.C.A., has to say of the German colony he is most interested in is applicable to all German colonies, I am going to give an outline of his reasoning. He asks the question : "What is going to happen to the colony after the war?" and his answer reads something like this.: Here we are met with a .striking unanimity of opinion . on the part of all Britishers who have any real claim to be heard in the matter—"the soldiers, who have fought to free the country from the German yoke, and who, in the course of a long campaign," have had some experience of how the Germans have acted towards their native subjects; the administrators, who have lived long in the neighbouring' lands; the settlers, who have suffered German oppression; the missionaries, whose first care has been, and is, the true welfare of the native population. AH are agreed In saying with one voice, though speaking from different points of view, that the 'accursed flag' (as one of our South African generals has stigmatised the German tricolour) • must

never again fly in the land which Germain have so cruelly oppressed." He then gives three reasons why th«German colonies —he is speaking of German East Africa and of German West Africa —should not be handed back, 'reasons which "are all three worthy of very serious consideration by all lovers of truth and justice." They are "(1) British prestige, which would suffer a severe blow if the country were to be handed back to Germany; (2) the cause of Christian missions; (3) the welfare of the natives." After discussing these he gives the three arguments used by those who advocate restoration. These are: (1) Germany must have opportunity for expansion; (2) on the ground of abstract justice Germany must not be deprived of her colonies; (3) we must show ourselves magnanimous to a fallen foe. But here I must stop. Next week I'll take these reasons for and against, and then let my readers themselves answer the question, ""What of the Future?"