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Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1800, 3 June 1891, Page 2

Tuapeka Times

AND QOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1891.

" MEASURES, NOT MEN."

M @> T M M*

The history of the Empire for very many years past is in great part made up of a succession of little wars, none of them of any great significance only so far as they show the world-wide range of our dominion, and the varied and complex character of our interests and responsibilities. The latest incident illustrative of these truths was furnished by the Manipur revolt, on the origin of which the cable never attempted any explanation. The Manipurs, we learn from late Home papers, are the semi-independent inhabitants of one of the numerous small native states under British rule in India. Mauipur itself consists principally of an immense valley 650 square miles in size, and situated in the heart of a mountainous region, stretching between Assam, Burmah, and Ohittagong. The population of the State is estimated at about 150,000 persons, of whom half are hillmen, and the other half Manipurs. Their troubles are mainly in connection with the choice and selection of a ruler, and British official interference is very frequently needed to assist in patching up their quarrels and prevent perpetual bloodshed and disorder. It was while engaged in a mission of this nature that the murder of a number of Englishmen recently took place. According to the account supplied by the " Times of India," a revolution broke out in Manipur towards the close of last year, when the Maharajah, who is said to be an imbecile, was compelled to abdicate. The reigning Maharajah, is regarded as friendly to British rule, and on one memorable occasion is said to have by forced marches at the head of 2000 native troops arrived just in time to save the lives of a beleagured British garrison. His rule has been marked by a succession of conspiracies and revolts on the part of other discontented members of his family ; but British aid was always forthcoming, and his power always upheld. On the last attempt to depose him he appealed for assistance as usual to the Indian authorities, and , the Chief Commissioner of Assam, with a detachment of Ghoorkas, was despatched for his protection. The cable has. since briefly told the story of the expedition : native cunning and treachery proved too much for the caution of the Englishmen, and they allowed themselves to be trapped and mercilessly butchered. The moment the tragic incident became known, reinforcements were, of course, at once despatched for the relief of the expedition and the punishment of the murderers, and this accomplished, the possibilities are that the state will be formally annexed, and an end put to the causes that demand the almost incessant intervention of the Indian authorities. The details of all these "little wars" are almost exactly alike. Each forms an incident in the history of our Eastern rule, and one incident is almost a reproduction of its predecessor. We have not for many years — since our terrible experiences in the Crimea — been engaged in any war that in any degree tried our resources, the sagacity of our officers, or the mettle of our soldiers, though on the last point we need no assurance. Our Egyptian and Afghanistan and Ashantee affairs were little more than mere outpost encounters on the confines of the Empire. Nevertheless, they are regrettable, as they cause much suffering among the unfortunate people who fling themselves against our disciplined and wellequipped troops, to say nothing of the many valuable lives on our side that pay forfeit either to native treachery or to the deadly influences of climate.

The employment of special trains and other expensive and luxurious modes of travelling have, strangely enough, been always a weakness — a weakness almost exclusively their own, too— of Liberal statesmen in this colony. We can readily enough understand a natural association existing between this kind of extravagant display and the high. Toryism which is said to exjsfcisomewhere oi' other in the colony. But $»at it should be a prominent feature of our intensely Badical Government, and find a practical exponent in the Hon. Mr Seddon, of all men in the world, is something that quite astounds us. Travelling by special coach and special train is a form of pleasure that can only be adequately i

appreciated by those who have never been much accustomed to it. This lordly style of locomotion must possess an almost irresistible fascination for a man who when it suits his purpose can boast to the unemployed of having " humped his swag for a hundred miles in search of work." His present extravagant freaks remind us forcibly of the sailor or the digger who unexpectedly comes in for a fortune. He drives about merely to see what such a thing is like, and because he has it in his power to do so. It appears to be something very much, the same with Mr Seddon. He tore out of Dunedin by special train less than a week ago, and since then he has been tearing up and down the wilds of Otago at break-neck speed, with just about as definite an object as the digger or the sailor just referred to. He was whirled into Lawrence at topspeed on Saturday evening, was looked at and inspected by curious crowds during the night, with just as much awe as if he had been the white Czar or a Turkish, pasha moving about among his people. And almost before the Sabbath dawn, had broken next morning the community was warned by the familiar noises that accompany the preparation of a special train on great occasions that the royal pilgrim was once more on the wing, breaking the record by special train; and carrying out in some mysterious manner the Radical programme. We are not, of course, aware how he put in the time in other places that he honoured with a visit; but from what we saw during his stay here, we have no hesitation in characterising this Ministerial tour as a sham, and an imposition on the country which, of course, has to pay the piper. Mr Seddon had a deputation or two here, it is true ; even went the length of running his eye down the right hand column of a balancesheet, told how things were down on the West Coast, and amused the deputation with an incident or two of his travels, and then closed the show. As for the people or their needs or condition, or the district and its resources and industries, of these matters he has learned nothing as the result of his visit. But these, apparently, are only small matters to Mr Seddon; and any concern about them would, besides, have the effect of interfering with the pleasures of the trip.