The Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1868.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 190, 21 December 1868, Page 2

The Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1868.

P&~ : " — A. few days ago we gave a telegraphic summary of a letter addressed by Mr FitzQ-erald to the editor of the Wellington Independent. 'The letter itself has now baeri published by our morning contemporaries. Mr Fitz Gerald's] advice to his fellow-colonists may bef summed up in a very few words— \ Don't ask for Imperial troops in the present crisis ; rely on yourselves, but jask England for money and arms. S The above is really the sum and substance of the letter, and we are bound to say that we have never seen anything more illogical or unsatisfactory. It is precisely the same as if Bill Sfcokea said to Ned Loafer — Ned, my boy, you shouldn't ask your father to send his men to clear away the weeds from your farm. Do it yourself, my boy, but tell your father it is his duty to give you what money and tools you require for the job. Don't ask your father for men to do the work, but insist on getting his money, so that you may hire men yourself. And this is self-reliance ! Is ifc possible — we ask this question in all seriousness — for any man of ordinary common sense to, reconcile the two 'Statements made by Mr FitzGerald? Sending for British troops is wo£ selfreliance, he says ; seuding for British money to pay for troops i? self-reliance. We are unable to see how the one can be what the other is not, or to see the slightest difference, so far as selfreliance is concerned, between men and the money to pay for them. And, till this is explained, we must decline to consider the matter further. Of one thing we are convinced— real selfreliance has been abandoned, if ifc was ever entertained, by one of its moat ardent admirers.