The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1889. AN AUSTRALIAN DOMINION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2273, 6 November 1889, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1889. AN AUSTRALIAN DOMINION.

Though the establishment of an Australian Federal Council some three years ago was, m New Zealand at anyrate, regarded as premature, and although the refusal of New South Wales to give m her adherence has prevented the Oonnoil from assuming any political importance, there can be no doubt that the federal idea, of which it was the outcome, is rapidly growing towards praotical shape, and that Australian Federation is looming m the near future and must speedily be accounted as a prominent feature m practical politics. The annexations recently so extensively made m the Pacific by foreign powers, the threatening aspect of the armed peace of Europe, the sending of a regiment cf " cornstalks" to the Bondan to fight beside the Imperial troops, the naval partnership entered into between the colonies and the Mother Country, and lastly the visit of and the views propounded •by Major-General Edwards, have all played their part m developing the federal idea, from which the establishment of an Australian or Australasian Dominion must ere long come by a natural process of evolution. Probably this great result will be attained by stages, the first of which will be an organisation for mutual defence by the creation of a Federal Army. General Edwards scheme is that New South Wales and Victoria should each furnish three brigades, and South Australia and Queensland one each, under a Lieutenant-General, whose duties would be to inspect the force m time of peace, and to oommand m it time of war. The brigades, he considers, should be stationed so as to protect the coast line from Brisbane to Adelaide. Asa matter ot course it follows that this force must be to some extent paid, and that the rules of the service would be more stringent than obtain amongst volunteers — and it also follows that the item " defence" will be represented by considerably larger figureß m colonial budgets than at present. But there is we fear no avoiding this, and the taxpayers will have to comfort themselves, with the reflection that the cost of insurance against an outside foe implies the existence of wealth which it is necessary to protect. If New Zealand can anyhow afford it she ought to be included m this mutual defence scheme, but the condition prepedent will necessarily be the maintenance of a mobilisable brigade as her contingent of the Federal army. Not improbably it will be the general opinion that for the present the occasion has not arrived for this, but so far a& the Australian continent is concerned, the time appears to be ripe for tho carrying out of this the first Btep towards a federation which, commencing with a combination for mutual defence, will assuredly grow until, complete m all its parts, wo shall behold a federal union of all the colonies of the main land (probably including Tasmania also) with a federal Government and, a federal legislature— -in a word the consolidation of a great Dominion of Australia.