THE DEFENCE CONFERENCE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 522, 1 June 1909, Page 4

THE DEFENCE CONFERENCE.

■ Sir,—Pray, should hot the'public as well as Parliament bo called to answer the two questions you put bo aptly: "Shall, the Prime Minister go ■ to' London P. and. Shall tho sessional arrangement be. upset?" I, for one, answer "No" to each.

Firsts—Bcoause it would involve an irreparablo ilcglect "of our own affairs," when they aro in a most-tangled and critical.condition, ; frhen gi'oat natibnal questions relate ing'to defence, to land laws and settlement, to retrenchment..'and.the Civil Service, to Labour, etc., urgently demand wait for settlement. : ' '- - ' ~ ';

• Second.—Because the work of tho conferorice to military and naval questions upoli which the I'rimo Minister' can tnake' no pretension, to bo* an authority, and no ono else can so regard him, when his rolo as Minister for Defence is so great a fiasco.' Third.—■Becaustf, the most fitting representatives are military and naval authorities, of whom there ato two intimatoly acquainted With - this colony—Sir William • Rufesell,'''' arid Colonel Davics, These, - with\tho High Commissioner, would efiiciohtly and economically represent tjsw^l^y,j'» • > r < . Admiral Charles Beresford,, is no greater- Jiving authority, 'has already laid down the true best line of colonial defence. Zealand, he (kclarcs, will best promote' th<s security 6f the Empire by safeguarding her own—that not DreMnoughts-but orifisers, are needed for tile of isea-bprrio dommorce—these uritl. tlie military dcfence of her own homes.- ■■ ■ ■ -

thisVcolony • is. Bick nigh unto death; sick of : over-government and Compulsion; sick. of. over-indebtedness and Ovfer-borroiying; ; sick , of- over-taxation and' the cost of-living; sick of narroiving, distrustful, unstable land laws; sick of Royal Commissions dilly-dallying -with Native lands and _affairs; sick with gambling races, a.nd idle days j' sick .of tho growingAssaults,; open or insidious, upon liberty, upon' ■ i ßelf-,p,Wnsrship; and.tho Saoredness. of personal .rights..;-Does:not Sir Josoph Wain's share in the reponsibility of.this sickness, this enfeebled and morbid condition,-require that he At least _ shall riot forsake tho bed-side, : that ho remain to tend, relievo, and restore to tho Uttermost of Instability, and to make so: light tho. yoke pf governance, and easy the burdim of taxation and care, and to so trust f?fl develop the nioral - Self-governing power within ..tho .heart. , and Conscience, that throughout this whole colony may spread a quietness and assuranoo that be an everlasting strength?:—l am, .gtC,, 1 „ , ' EDWIN COX , Cambridge, May 29, 1909. ,