SHALL ' ENGLANd"LET THE COLONIES OO?

Timaru Herald, Volume L, Issue 4868, 13 June 1890, Page 4

SHALL ' ENGLAND LET THE COLONIES GO?

Some one writes to the London Daily Clironicle as follows : — There seems to be a good doal of menaco m tho minds, if not the language, of our fellow subjects m some of the colonies. They are all agog to shift for themselves and to escape from the tutelage of Downing-street. Well, tho question is not, as it seems to me (and there is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh both m Canada and Australia, a» well as m th» United States), whether we wish them to go, bat rather are they ready to go ? Have they become fitted for all that is implied m self-government? Do they feel their feet so surely that they can take npon themselves self-protection, for ? They are our children, come of a sturdy and independent stock, and our duty to them has been done if thsy have had the protection duo to them m their nonage and the education to fit them for the battle of life m the spots they have cuostn for themselves, or we, m the exercise of a judgment half selfish, half benevolent, have chosen for them, but m which, however it came about, tbeir lot is now cast. Tho aDalogy of a family will not mislead us if we wisely follow it. Some of the children of our big family hire stayed at home, either because they loved the old homestead too well to leave it, or because they looked m dne course of time to Bucceed us m the heritage. Others have gone away m a huff, as it may be, and perhaps at tho time againat our will ; and though having a lingering and a strong love for the old home and all that the words imply, yet nursing m their hearts a feeling of anger at our interference with them when they made up their minds to set up for themselves. Yet others have seen that the old house is not big enough for them all, and have put their shoulders to the wheel far away, with the pluck and self-reliance of their ancestors, and now believe they have no longer any need of thoas leading strings of which theywere glad cDough for a while, those counsels of prudence which were seldom given selfishly and usually with a real wish to do the best for those who, after all, are as fond of us as we are of them. If they think they can do better m business for themselves instead of remaining as the outlying agencies of the old house, or, better still, entering upon a new deed of partnership and becoming outlyiog branches instead of agencies, it is for them to decide. If they are net capable of the decision, if they are •' letting ' I dare not * wait upon ' I would,' " if they believe that we have any desire to keep them for selfish reasons, they have m the first place eadly degenerated, and m the second have contracted a moral obliquity which they did not inherit from, at any rate, the existing generation of home-stayers. In some points of view it might be well for us if they uhould elect to go. At present, while educating them to protect themselves, we pay for their protection, some more some le!>. If Canada should decide to set up wholly for herself we should save the men we now Bend to look after the guns of Quebec and Halifax, and we should have no need to keep so many ships as we do on the North American station, for the protection of which ships not a penny is recoupd tons directly or indirectly, since Canada does not admit any of our products without charging the tame rates of daty that are imposed on the pro ducts of other countries— indeed, it may be doubted if we even stand on the footing of the mart favoured nation, if all that is fiuid is true. Then what have we to lose if Canada " cuts the painter " ? Her tariff is as hostile to us aj is that of the United States iteelf. The writer deals with the case of Canada at come length and then discusses the case of Australia : If we now turn to Australia we shall find the leason that m quietness and oonfld;>nco is our strength no less strongly marked. Every Australian colony except New Bouth Wales is protectionist, and that exception is not from any desire to please or benefit üb, but on principle hitherto. It is to be feared, as one of your correspondents m Sydney pointed out the other day, that the mother colony ia on the point of following the bad example of her neighbours and daughters. In any case, if Australian Federation is effected, the majority that has hitherto existed m favour of free trade will be voted down by the majority that m the other colouies has been iv favour of protection. A tariff not improbably based on the present tariff of Victoria wi',l then come into force, and this tanu no more than the Canadian one roases any distinction m favour of the old land. Indeed, m the course of the laßt few weeks it has been increased, m what way even the Agent-General here is not yet fully- informed, but, broadly speaking, m respect of furniture and soft goode. Ten pounds duty on adogcartmay not seem much, but £50 on a brougham and £40 on an omnibus strikes the mind at once. A pound per 1,000 ia charged for firebricks, and, 2s 91 a pair for boota and shoes will seem to Leicester very hard measure for its principal industry. Dress hats pay a duty of 4s each, whe'her they are made m London, Paris, or Berlin. Silk umbrellas and parasols are charged half-a-erown each. Nearly everything eatablo pays 2d a pound, except where it paya 3d, and sait pays £1 a ton. Twenty to 30 per cent ad valorem appears to be the ruling principle of the rates of the Victorian tariff, but on aome things it rnna up much higher. Where then, to use a vulgarism of of American origin, does our pull come m to recompense us for the amount we are spending yearly on the squadron at present commanded by Bear-Admiral Lord Charles Scott, who plensed the Australians mnch more than he gratified his own ducal house by some year ago taking an Australian wife of Irish origin ? The cine vessels we usually keep ia those waters cost a pretty penny, and are at least twice as numerous as they would be if wo wero not bound to protect the shores and harbours of the Fifth Continent. Now the Australians have just begun to undertake the doty of policing their own waters, but for many a day to come they must have our help, unless they are willing to spend a good deal more money than (hey have m their minds now, and which they must find if they carry out the muttered menaces that come to us from the Australian cities. If is plain, then, that the colonies have much more to pain than we have by the continuance of the existing relations. And they may be well assured that no statesman of any school m this country will raise a finger m any other way than one of warning to hinder any self- governing colony from cutting the imperial connection. At the same time the colonists should be given to understand that nobody wants them to go. Ihey can please themselves about it. But there is a deep feeling m this country, far deeper than has jefc found expression m Parliament or even generally m the Press, that separation is a sorry business for either party to think of.