THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2045, 24 July 1875, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1875.

We heard some short time ago that the war cloud which threatened the peace of Europe had for the present been dispersed, and a-careful digest of the very scanty materials supplied by the* Thames Mechanics' Institute for considering the question gives us some glimmering of the " whys " and " wherefores " of the said dispersion. Of course England takes great credit to itself for having acted with succew the role of the King in the

mediaeval tournaments and thrown down its sceptre, to part France and Germany on hostilo thoughts intent. The pleasing my Hi of the lion roaring and the other beasts of the forest quailing before its roar is again indulged in, and Lord Derby plumes himself on big success in having avertedj at least for a time, what would be doubtlessly a great continental catastrophe. Itussia also, and perhaps with more reason, is looked upon as a general pacificator ; and Alexander 11. bears the same lsad of praise, as did his predecessor Nicholas of blame. The real facts, however, seem to be that war at present would not be acceptable to any one of the great powers. France, though no doubt burning for the strife, is still prudent enough to know that it must bide its time, and cannot with exhausted coffers and disorganised soldiery, and a factious cabinet, hope sueI cessfully. to avenge. Sedan. Germany, though quite willing, we may well believe, to crush the reviving strength of France in the bud, cannot shut its eyes to the fact that the Eussian policy of to • day is different from the Russian policy of fifty -years ago; that Russia is no longer contented to stand aloof and push its boundaries eastward; and Prince Bismarck can readily see that the only power he need at present dread claims to make its voice distinctly heard in the councils which are to regulate the affairs of Europe. War to the othpr powers which be, would simply bo war -with all its evils and with rone of those prospective advantages which are supposed to accrue from what is termed (heaven gave the mark) a " just war." England, of course, is in dread of it; she would have everything to lose, and nothing to gain ; and it would be hard to see, if battles were again to be fought on the banks of the lihine, how England could prevent taking her part therein. It must be remembered that thing 3 are changed now since 1870, and Germany, with Metz and its chain of fortresses on the French frontier, could pour any amount of troops in a short time into France ; while it is difficult to see how France could possibly enter Germany, except by way of Belgium on the north, or Switzerland on the south ; and were she to take either of these courses, the neutrality of either Kingdom would necessarily be destroyed, and —at any rate in the case pf Belgium—England would be bound to interfere, and take her part in a war in which she must suffer much loss, with very little prospect of any gain. Austria is glad to be quiet, and Eussia as long as things are as they are at present, has quite enough to do with advancing „its own domestic policy in its vast; area/ without desiring war simply for the sake of war. Thus things seem to be at present, and peace exists because no one as yet either can or will disturb peace. How long this state of things may exist is, of course, a matter of speculation, but its continuance for. any length of time, must, to say little, be a matter of great question. Germany indeed, jealous of France, proposed, with her usual policy of keeping | up appearances, that a general disarming of nations should take place, but Prince Gortschakoff immediately pointed out that Germany had everything to gain and nothing to lose by such'an arrangement, for, whereas other powers by disbanding their armies would actually be incapable of declaring sudden war, Germany with her admirably constituted military system, and Landwehr would virtually be as much prepared for war as she is now. So the affair stands. The storm has indeed not broken yet, but those weather wise in these matters may notice with uneasy suspicion this break in the clouds.

"A member-of a Friendly Society" addressed a letter to us the other day on the subject of Judge Williams' remarks 03a the case of the defaulting treasurer of an Odd Fellows' lodge at Christchurch. Our correspondent asked for certain information regarding the law of the case, and wherein its defectiveness to mete out punishment for defalcations on the part of officers of friendly societies lay. We confess that we were unable to answer our correspondent's queries, but we may say that we do not think the position of societies is affected by registration. Z. If the rules of a society are. certified to by the Revising Officer under the Friendly Societies Act, we presume that members may rest satisfied that they arc at least complying with the requirements of tho Act. The defect appears to be. on the fact that the responsibilities of officers of societies who arc entrusted . with tho. financial business are not sufficiently clearly defined, nor is there any provision, for the infliction of punishment in case of such officers betraying their trust. An alteration of the law will probably be effected during the current session; but it seems to us that with a little caution any society could protect its interests. No treasurer, or secretary, or other officer handling the funds of a society should be allowed to retain in hand any moniesover and above the amount actually necessary for the due performance of his duties. If this were insisted upon, there would be very few cases liko that which occurred at Christchurch, and it could not. be possible for any officer to abuse his trust or to defraud 'the society of anything more than a nominal sum. We shall endeavour to ascertain and publish the alterations proposed to be made in the existing law as soon as possible.

Wb are inclined to the belief that the chances of seeing the Thames Valley Railway included in the list of public works proposed to be undertaken are very remote. In answer to a question from Mr Chas. O'Neill, the Minister of Public Works has stated that no further action has been taken in the matter since Jasfc session. This statement, coupled with the

further statement published some days ago,'-to the effect that the Government did not intend entering upon the construction of any new lines of railway until the lines in course of making were completed, affords little hope that our pet scheme will bo entertained. But if we cannot have a railway, perhaps some concession could be obtained in the way of a grant in aid towards the formation of a good road from Waikato to the Thames.. The Waikato Swamp Company have done a great deal under the terms of their agreement; and at the present time we believe the road is passable from Hamilton to the Piako. It would not thex'efore entail any very large expenditure to complete : the communication to the Thames, and so connect the auriferous districts of Hauraki with the agricultural settlements ,of Waikato. The people of the latter have, we consider, been very remiss in not taking energetic action to second the representations from the Thames. But we are scarcely surprised at this, when we hear that tho inhabitants are so dead to their cwn interests that for supplies which they should produce in abundance they have frequently to fall back upon other markets. If they cannot produce enough for their own requirements, they could scarcely be expected to supply the gold.fields community, ancTthe railway would be useless. If they have refrained from producing certain articles because they 1 have no market," then-i^he argument would be appropriate to use in favor of the railway being constructed, which there appears to be little hope of under present auspices.