The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1886. PROSPECTS OF WAR.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1555, 11 September 1886, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1886. PROSPECTS OF WAR.

The most serious item of news we have received for a long time is that which is contained in a cablegram we publish ibis morning, which is to the effect thai some of the natives of India are exhibiting a disposition to rebel against British authority. In itself this would have been a most serious matter. The story of the Indian mutiny gives us an Men of what a rebellion in the vast Empire of India may mean, It would mean fearful atrocities and bloodshed 5 but taken together with other complications its import is still more alarming. It is only a few months since the British arms conquered Burmah ; tbey hold possession of that territory at present by main force, and the Burmese are by no meanß satisfied. In fact, it is not long pince it was reported that the country was in state of rebellion, and that the troops keeping th 9 inhabitants

in subjection would have to be greatly increased, i'here can, therefore, be no doubt but that the Burmese will embrace any opportunity that offers to free their country from lhe yoke of the invader Then the boundary of the Afghan frontier question is still unsettled, and tha Russians show no desiro to come to any amngeruent about it. Panjaub, the province of India in which the rebellion is threatened, borders on Afghanistan, and, if the truth were kuown, we feel certain that Russia has had something to do with the affair, Frequently it has been asserted that In<iia has been infested by Russian emissaries, who are doing all in their power to induce the Indian Princes to rebel. As Punjaub is on the borderland adjoining Afghanistan, there can be no doubt but that Russia has had something to do in fomenting the discord amongst Her Majesty's subjects in India. There is, too, very little room to doubt that the Indians would, if tbey saw a fair opportunity offer itself, rebel against British authority in their native country. Tbey are anything but satisfied with the way in which they have been treated. A year or two ago several of their newspapers were preaohingopen rebellion, and more than one paper was suppressed and their editors sent to gaol. Tbe Marquis of Ripon, when Viceroy, did all in his power to appease the discordant elements in the Indian Empire, and in furtherance of his policy he extended the liberties and privileges of the natives. This, however, was quite unsatisfactory to the British residents in India. Like Englishmen all over the world, they were very loyal while they had everything their own way, but the moment the Marquis of Ripon curtailed their privileges, and extended those of the subject races, they murmured loudly against his rule, with the result that he had to resign his position. All this goes to prove the uncertainty of the native Indian loyalty. It appears to us capable of bursting into rebellion at any moment, and, with Russian duplicity and treachery employed in urging it on, tbe aspect of the subject becomes more serious.

The Bulgarian question, too, is still unsettled. That wears an aspect on which England cannot look unconcerned. Passing over the fact that Prince Alexander is a brother of the Queen's son-in-law, Prince Henry of Battenburg, the Berlin Treaty is still involved. That treaty has been broken, and, if true to the traditions of Toryism, Lord Salisbury is bound to know the reason why. Lord Salisbury was Lord Beaconsfield's colleague at the conference which agreed to the Berlin Treaty ; that treaty has been pulverised into atoms, and British prestige requires most undoubtedly that cognisance shall be taken of it. Here, again, Russian treachery has been at work. And this is not all. The New Hebrides question and the French r&sidivistfs still continue to create unpleasant relations between France and England. We colonistß have something to do in this matter; we have been contributing to the complexity of the question by the urgency with which we have been pushing our claims on England to protect us from French criminals. And in this respect we have been playing the part of arrant humbugs ; we hare been putting on airs of moral superiority over our neighbors ; we are too good, too pious, and too wellconditioned altogether to be subjected to the annoyance of knowing that French criminals exist in New Caledonia. This is humbug, pure and simple, and it may work much mischief yet. Let France fling her filth into .New Caledonia, why need we care ? If any one of them visit our shores, and misbehaves himself, we know how to deal with him ; but let him be what he may he canuot exercise any corrupting influence over colonists. They know just as much as he can teach them, whether such knowledge be exercised for good or evil. Our agitation must embarrass British stateßrnen, and if war breaks out it will render us much more liable to be involved in it, The best thing we could do is to mind our own business and not to interfere in such matters at all, and if we did so it is more than likely that we would be allowed to enjoy that immunity from foreign troubles which a policy of nonintervention secures to America. There is but one question involved in all this agitation : we do not like to see any other power securing a footing in the Southern Hemisphere. Stripped of humbug that is the moaning of all the agitation, and it would be more manly to say so boldy than to dress ourselves in moral garments which we pretend contact with recidivists would soil. It would have been most desirable if we could keep all foreign nations from getting any footing south of the line, but so little remains for them that we think it is not worth quarrelling over what is left. On these grounds we think that the agitation about the New Hebrides and some more opportune time. The Bigns of the times portend difficulties which may put all the sagacity and all the military genius of England to the test, and it would be unwise for us colonists to embarrass British statesmen at present with an agitation which is little better than childish. Instead of being a trouble to England in the hour of hor need we ought to be a tower of strength to her, but so long as we continue.to strain her relations with France we must continue to contribute to her embarrassment.