The Waipawa Mail. Published Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays. Thursday, May 28, 1885. THE SOUDAN.

Waipawa Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 782, 28 May 1885, Page 2

The Waipawa Mail . Published Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays. Thursday, May 28, 1885. THE SOUDAN.

But a few months ago a portion of the British army was engaged, with all the pomp of war, in putting a band of savages to rout. That at least was the object of the expedition to the territory of which Khartoum is the central feature. To-day we find ourselves retreating from the field; not triumphant; our objects not accomplished. The question that now remains to bo solved is, why are we leaving the Soudan ? The Lyttelton Times asks:—ls the withdrawal from the Soudan a confession of defeat ? After the retreat from Gubat, and the return of the expedition which had marched up the Nile under General Earle to chastise the murderers of Colonel Stewart—that is the reason now given officially for the detachment of General Earle’s force— Lord Wolseley issued a general order. That order announced an autumnal march on Khartoum. The Government sent a force to capture Berber in the meanwhile, and confirmed the General’s proclamation in the most emphatic and substantial manner. The leading facts are the presence of General Graham’s army at Suakin, the contract with Messrs Lucas for the railway to Berber, a contract published in all the papers, and the reply to various Australian offers of troops, which explicitly stated that in the autumn there would be plenty of work for them. In the face of this expressed determination to take Khartoum, of the committal of that task to the best troops in the Imperial army, and the pick of its officers, to say nothing of the soldiers of the Indian army ; in spite of the elaborate and costly preparations of all kinds, and the professions of a dutiful desire to revenge Gordon, establish a strong Government, and develope the resources of the Soudan by giving it a railway ; in spite of votes of credit, and Parliamentary struggles barely won, the Soudan expedition is abandoned. The troops are leaving Suakin, the army of Lord Wolseley is about to start for Lower Egypt, the Mudir of Dongola is to be left to his fate with his Cross of St Michael and St. George to protect him against the Dragon known as the Mahdi, and the Khedive is nqt to have sway further south than Wady Haifa. Is this because we have discovered that the task we undertook is beyond our power ? Our flanking party cut off at Ilasheen, and rescued only by the march of a strong force, all lines in possession of the enemy, our Indian infantry unsteady, onr troops harassed by constant convoy duty under stress of Arab enterprise, the enemy keeping out of attacking distance, the hot weather coming on apace, transport animals dwindling in numbers, the positions getting daily more unhealthy by reason of neighbourhood of unburied bodies of men, and carcasses of animals —all these difficulties have proved to us (Ist) that the Suakin route is not what the critics call it, “ a delightful military promenade before the summer season,” and (2nd) that discretion is the better part of valor. Is this the real meaning of the abandonment of the expedition ? Whether it be so or not, to whatever other cause the abandonment may he due, there is enough of significance in the fact itself, and in the circumstances preceding it, to lead the Oriental mind to infer that in spite of tho heroism of the Queen’s soldiers and the wealth in tho Queen’s coffers, the Mahdi and his energetic lieutenant have remained masters of the field. After the Queen’s General and the Queen’s Ministers had said in the most emphatic way that they would take Khartoum and de-

stroy the power of the Mahdi, they have attempted and abandoned tho enterprise. That is the fact; what its effect will be on the Oriental mind, remains to bo seen. Many prophets have united to say that the effect on that mind will be disastrous to the prestige of Great Britain “ as a Mahoinedan power.” That theory is now to be most abundantly put to tho test.

It is proposed to establish a Building Society in Woodville. lias it ever occurred to the promoters, that Woodville might take advantage of the already prosperous Building Society that exists in Waipawa? The Waipawa Society has been well patronised, and is situated in a district that is so central as to command capital from all parts of the province. The most necessary adjunct in concerns of this description is an unlimited supply of money. Investments can always be found on the favorable terms that Building Societies offer, and the difficulty that usually has to be fixed is the command of capital for investment. Now from what we know of the hush districts, of which the Woodville society would be centre, wo are inclined to believe that the demand for money on mortgage would far exceed tho supplies that the society would have at its disposal. The result of this would be the crippling of its exertions, and the consequent decrease in profits. Now there is no reason why the two towns of Woodville and Waipawa should not combine together for their mutual advantage. Although, up to the present time the Waipawa Building Society has, from all accounts, found a ready demand for its surplus capital, still tho income increases so rapidly that it will be well able to receive proposals from the country districts. Again, there would be no dilficulty in getting a large number of depositors, in the event of the demand for money on mortgage being greater than the capital available for the society’s use. We should recommend that those of tho Woodville settlers who purpose making use of such a concern, should forward their applica lions to Waipawa, when we have no doubt they will soon discover the advantages that arise from dealing with a society that already has a good footing, and one that has almost unlimited funds at its disposal.