The Western Star. (PUBLISHED BI-WEEKLY.) WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1885.

Western Star, Issue 931, 18 March 1885, Page 2

The Western Star. (PUBLISHED 81-WEEKLY.) WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1885.

Without in the slightest degree committing ourselves to a general support of the present Ministry in New Zealand, we find ourselves compelled to an approval of their prudence in declining to press an offer to send men as volunteers for the army in the Soudan. Tnere is much to be said in favor of it, but su'd more to be said a tr inst it. We know perfectly well that New South Wales, the oldest of the Australasian colonies, has set us the example and has gained much alory for her patriotism in consequence, gut that does not at all of necessity decide the matter for ns. Many things raav be expected of a strong, middle-aged man, which no one would ask of one who is young and rather sickl; than otherwise. Then, too, we ,, t unco that if our country and *. demand our for the defence of (Treat Britain at any time it is our duty to show that we ar> n ot mean enough, or selfish enough, to consider that the tie between us and the Horae country is always to be one of which the advantage is all on one b le. On the contrary, we believe it is o ily a matter of common ju tice iL t s' we have long received tie p.otec ioti of tfndaod, and hr, become comparatively prosperous

through the immunity from danger ] which her protection affords, we, on the other hand, should do our duty to our clan and its head, and join in the defence of the commonwealth. But that is not by any means the question at present. The war in the Soudan is a purely aggressive war, and one which, though it may he justifiable, is not certainly so. We believe the Mahdi, as he is called, to be a rank imposter, animated by no high principle, but merely by a desire to bold fast to all the property he can lay bis bands on,—that property consisting in the Soudan of the most objectionable kind of all, namely, property in human flesh and blood ; and that for every bombastic harangue he utters on belndf of his religion, there are two words for Mohammed and one for slavery. But do wo certainly know this? It is a plain fact which cannot be disputed that thousands cm thousands of the people in his country believe in him, follow his standard, and will fight for him to the death. On the other hand it is almost equally certain that our own allies, who are determined, if possible, to crush him, are for the most part a cowardly despicable horde of savages, to say the least, of no higher type than their opponents. But we understand very little as to the real facts of the dispute at issue, and all the “ experts ” who do know the country and have lived there, say that we are greatly in the dark about it, and its people, and its institutions, and government. But granting that it is a most just war that England is waging against the mongrel Arabs of Hie African deserts—is it advisable that New Zealand colonists should go there to join in an offensive war ? It seems to be a very extravagant thing to do. Our volunteers would probably be strong, hardy, intelligent men, superior to the average of British soldiers, recruited as those often are from the lowest ranks of society. But as an economic fact, it is the truth that the New Zealand colonist eats a good deal, and is not backward in drinking, and therefore would be an expensive allv or contingent. The old Swiss chronicler of the fifteenth century speaking of onr ancestors, said : “Give them plenty of beef and beer and *hey will fight like devils.” But if they have neither the beef nor the beer, we are afraid that their fighting qualities even might be open to question. Anyhow the colonists would be expensive fighting material, and £. s. d. have to he considered in the case, with a penurious Gladstone at the head of affairs. Besides that also, by sending soldiers away to the Soudan to fight, we are getting rid of acclimatised men whose passage out to New Zealand has already cost about £2O per head at least, before they could acquire their present knowledgc of this particular colonv, and that knowledge ivould all be thrown away in the African desert. Should we not be offering to England the most expensive kind of assistance she could have if wo sent her men of New Zealand colonial •exnerienee. but men | expecting to live pretty mneh as they have lived in New Zealand ? The English generals in the Soudan profess to welcome the idea of a colonial contingent to their army, but it is probable they w’onhl welcome still more enthusiastically a quantity of colonial money, and it is very likelv that we could send the latter with less real loss in the long mn. Taking all'the circumstances of the case into account, and the great doubt that exists whether the British armv in Africa is fighting for any definite object at al', or even whether it is not fighting in the wrong direction, we believe the Government here have acted rightly in doing nothing for the present until thev can see their way in me clea-ly. Lord Wolseley, Lord Berea Ford, General Stewart, and the rest of the heroes of the Soudan army are in the direct employment of the Qnoon, and they have only to do their duty as soldiers without reference to Hie policy of the war; but in New Zealand every man is supposed to consider what he ought to do as a citizen, and therefore ought not knowingly to M t on what may perhaps be the wrong side.