NOTES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 1242, 12 September 1878, Page 2

NOTES.

We trust that the testimonial to Mr Woollcombe, who has just retired from the Timaru Bench after presiding on it for a score of years, will be presentedpublicly, for there are few indeed with whom he ha 3 come m contact, either m an official or private capacity, who are not desirous of showing by their presence on such an occasion, their hearty appreciation of his many good qualities. It rarely falls to the lot of any public officer to remain m one place for as long a time as Mr Woollcombe has m Timaru. He arrived here when nought but a few poorly built weatherboard houses and cob shanties marked the site of the future flourishing township, and no person has been more thoroughly identified with its history than lie has. Let, therefore, all be allowed an opportunity of witnessing the conveyance to him of the substantial mark of esteem with which the people of the district intend to present him. Although Mr Woollcombe now retires into private life, we have little doubt that he will remain a prominent citizen for many years to come. Whatever opinions may be held as to the wisdom of private parties starting for New Guinea on gold-seeking or other expeditions, there can be little doubt that it would be sound policy on the part of Great Britain to annex the Island, or at any rate so much of it as is not already lawfully under the sceptre of the King of the Netherlands. We are the only genuine colonising people upon the face of the globe, and as the area of un-appro-priated land surface becomes more and more circumscribed, it brings home to us the absolute necessity which exists for planting the flag of St. George on the distant Isles of the Sea. The peculiar attributes of the Anglo-Saxon race make it imperative that they should have a wide scope for exercising their pushing and colonising proclivities. A time must eventually come when there will be no more territory to occupy, and it is incumbent upon us to get, before that time arrives, as large a share of the world by peaceful annexation and settlement, as possible. Looking at the past arid present position of the ruling races of the earth, it needs no stretch of the imagination to foresee that, if this planet only holds together long enough, the Anglo-Saxons wuTultimately possess half — probably more — of its whole habitable surface ; and that the English language will be spoken m all countries. New Guinea is one of the few portions of the worjd which are not claimed by any civilised nation ; and chimerical as some of the schemes for its settlement may appear, it is to the very spirit which animates the propounders of these schemes that the mighty power of Great Britain is due. What Englishmen will do when there is no more unexplored territory to rove through we cannot say, but not many generations will elapse before that event takes place. Besides, the annexation of New Guinea is a matter of political urgency as far as the Australian Colonies are concerned, for it would be a very unpleasant thing if a powerful foreign nation were to occupy it, and thus be enabled to threaten us at any moment. We should not be at all surprised if the visit to England of the High Commissioner of Polynesia, Sir Arthur Gordon, results m the Imperial Government planting the English flag on the Island without further loss of time. Once thie is done, the colonisation question will soon settle itself.