WHO IS RIGHT?

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 12759, 12 January 1905, Page 4

WHO IS RIGHT?

Very amusing are tie efforts of leaidtng Australian politicians ! . to speak on behalf of the. people in) connecitioii' with .the; fiscal qfuestian. Up to data Mr G. Reid has said nyidh; Mr Watson has added not a little, Mr Dealdn has spoken considerably, and at the present time, what with heat, and the flics, and the busfh fires, a«d; the selection of an Australian team, : tho< average Australian haivily kuo\vs where lie is. ' To' make mattcifi worsen aMe Qvalngev, ; an A^eiit-Goncml or. sbinething, has been xinburdeniug himself of rcmanks which has caused Mi- i Rei'd to state loudly that the Ominger talk is the silliest that has ever • eta'anate'd from an Agent -General, arftl to unkindly and gratuitously adrt that that is saying a great deal. Mr Chamberlain has been told that Australia is "soxmd- on/ tiie goose,'"' while Sir Henry Campbell-Baanerman, and other Free Traders, have- been as;-

sured with niucli vehemence that Australia does not want Chamberlainism and is rciidy to -sell its c'lotihes or anything else it possesses to prevent tho caraying into ciYect of Ms policy. In tJie meantime 9UI) in eveiy thousanid of Australia's population do not know anything much about Mr Chaiujberlain or his proposals, and are avincdng no thirst for . knowledge. Also, meanwhile, Great Britain's pcojple, . or the hulk of them, have not thofaght mfuoh, about the subject, and 'why wild Australian statesmen shoiuld be woriking themselves up to a state of excitement, and" calling; each other! names, is a mystery to anyone who Woes not know that the Australian statesman is easily excited. Jtfhen Great Britain decides what it wants it will be for Australia, New Zealand, and. Canada to say whethtjr they are agreeable to fell into line, and in tho interim all tihis , beating of the air, and blatant oratory ' arid hurling of epithets, not to mention the waste on cable messages, is only foolery that might ■be pardoned in a, plain politician, but is not so easily forgiven ia a sober, sapient statesman. All the talk about the "Dear Old Motherland" and '^drawing tighter tho bonds" (in bortfowing colonies there always seems to be a lot of talk about bonds) does not gull auybody ; colonials will not enter into any liscal arrangement that- docs not- mean an advantage to them.