The Club Smoking Room

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLI, Issue 5, 29 July 1908, Page 4

The Club Smoking Room

By

HAVANA

TIIIS is an age,” remarked the dominie, "oi struggles for naval supremacy. The nations are beginning to realise more clearly than ever they did before that if they wish to expand they must colonise, and if they want to colonise they must gain command of the sea. Germany, with its immense army of nearly five million men, is not in nearly such a strong position as Great Britain, with its army of half a million. And the great struggle of the future must undoubtedly be in the Pacific. The Eastern nations are being crowded out ot their own countries, and are looking for fresh fields for expansion. The most promising of the fields are the British colonies, and it may be that we are living somewhat in a fool’s paradise in imagining ourselves to be quite secure. Wc hardly realise the enormous advances that have been made in recent years by the great Asiatic nations.” © © © “ I have just returned from a visit to the East,” replied a local merchant, ” and I have been mueh impressed with the business capacities of the Chinese. The proverbial * ways that arc dark and tricks that arc mean ’ are conspicuously absent in their leading houses. 1 found th men that 1 had dealings with honest, shrewd and reliable. They have probably found that honesty is the best policy. They were prompt in meeting their engagements, and compared favourably with many European firms I have dealt with. In this respect they struck me as being far ahead! of the Japanese. China is immensely rich in natural products. The coalfields are enormous —more than twenty times the extent of those of Great Britain—and they are practically only scratched at present. The mineral wealth is capable of great development, and they are rapidly building railways and making roads to open up the country. If the present agitation for constitutional government succeeds, we may soon see a formidable Chinese navy. I believe that the Chinese would make better sailors than ever the Japs, and we have seen what they can do in this line.” © © © “ I presume,” put in another member, “ that the tour of the American Fleet is not altogether without political significance. The Western nations are beginning to realise that if they wish to preserve the purity of their race they must stick together to avoid Eastern invasion. A few thousands spent in entertaining our visitors may turn out to be one of the best investments we have made as yet. It would! really have been better for us in many ways if Japan had not scored such an easy victory in the war with Russia. The white man was formerly regarded as invincible, nowadays the Astatic regards him as hardly formidable. A big war between China and Japan would help to check things a bit, but 1 fear the Orientals are too cunning to weaken themselves at present by making war on each other.” © © © " The truth is,” answered the professor, “ that we do not understand the Eastern mind. Native races understand no other form of government than government by despotic force. No one Who raally knew India would dream of advo-

eating an absolutely free native Press. The natives mistake leniency for cowardice, and clemency for fear. They can understand and respect a firm, fearless ruler, but they can never be taught to appreciate the many charms of democratic government by the will of the people. All wisdom is said to come from the East, and who knows but what they may be right in their distrust of popular politics? The tortoise, after all, may prove superior to the hare. I feel we incur a very real <J an g er from the very narrow outlook of some of our labour leaders. Men like Keir Hardie do an immens amount of harm by their unpatriotic and inflammatory speeches. We want a few strong rulers and statesmen who can look ahead, and who are not prone to be carried away by every gust of popular opinion. To merely carry out the will of the people is an easy matter, calling for but little skill or ability, but to defy popular clamour for the sake of promoting the best and most lasting interests of the nation calls for a strong man and an able.” © © © “Why, dear professor,” interrupted the cynic, “do please remember that you are not lecturing to your classes. We have no notebooks and pens wherewith to treasure up your words of wisdom. What you say is doubtless very wise and very true, but it is a trifle antiquated. We are on the eve of an election, and at such times we must study the greatest ignorance of the greatest number. You have doubtless read and studied mamy things, you see the broad trend of events as illustrated by the history of the past; you are, I doubt not, fully qualified to express an opinion that is worth having on the larger questions of politics. For this reason it is a serious question whether in a democracy you ought to have a vote at all. You represent the capitalist and privileged classes, and should by rights be banished to some political Bell’s Island. But we mercifully allow you a vote because we feel sure that your superior wisdom will be more than neutralised by the votes of half a dozen bar loafers, who are not in the least likely to share your views or to do anything to dispel the dense cloud of ignorance that we dignify with the name of the will of the people.” © © © “There will soon be no people to have a will,” remarked the schoolmaster, “if the present decrease in the number of children attending school continues. The figures recently given us were absolutely startling. Probably Otago is worse than other districts, but the natural population of the colony is not increasing as it should do. Indeed, the question is rather a perplexing one, as well as a serious one. No country can really thrive without a large population to develop its natural industries and manufactures. Also, a small population is a distinct weakness from the point of view of national defence. The days of large families seem over. The stress of competition, the largely increased cost of living, the difficulty of placing boys in life, all combine to check the natural increase of numbers. The various trade unions are strongly averse to any large scheme of immigration. They say the labour market is overstocked already, and they point to the various demonstrations of

the unemployed in support of their statement. At the same time, we have farmers abandoning their crops owing to the scarcity of hands; we have manufacturers *iimiting their output from lack of labour, amd we have vast tracts of country waiting to be tilled. The problem is none too easy to solve.” © © © “I am afraid,.” answered the padre, “that we do not always get the right class of immigrants. A lot of fellows come out without any capital and without any definite trade or calling. They drift to the towns and exist on chance jobs. Those we really want out here haven’t always the imagination to emigrate, and those who have the imagination are not always suitable as colonists. A carefully considered immigration policy would doubtless do much good, but a lot of the immigrants we get at present are like fish out of water in a new country. A man asked me to get him work on a church newspaper. He seemed surprised when I told him that such church papers as we had were barely able to pay the printer, and certainly could not afford to pay an editor. Several men have asked me to find them work, but they always say that they do not care to leave the town. The right class of men would do well, but we wa«nt good skilled workmen, not the ne’er-do-weels of other lands.” © © © “The probability is,” suggested the stockbroker, “that the immigration agent does not always speak the exact truth. Like a company promoter, with a property to sell, he exaggerates the value a little bit. People attack the Stock Exchange because they say that we hinder the flotation of companies. We never hinder any sound affair, but we feel that we have a duty to the public, as well as to the promoter, and we would not be doing our duty if we did not make some inquiries before granting a quotation. We want to protect all parties, and we ean only do that by doing our best to ensure the bona-fides of all stock in which we deal, and I think that we may fairly claim to have earned the confidence of the public. If we have, not always earned the praise of people who find our methods don’t quite suit their own, that is in itself proof of our usefulness.”