SIR FREDERICK YOUNG.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 878, 26 July 1910, Page 8

SIR FREDERICK YOUNG.

A VETERAN IMPERIALIST'S REMINISCENCES. CHAT WITH A WONDERFUL OLD MAN. On June 21, 1817, there was born in Limehouse, London, the son of Mr. George Frederick Young, a boy who was destined to exercise incalculable influence upon the lives of countless people; who was to become, through a career of consistent ideals and unceasing effort, a leader of thought in the development of our colonies; and who is able, on the threshold of his 94th-year, not only to look back upon a record of deliuife achievement, but also to tako his active share in the advance towards that fuller realisation of national responsibility of which he dreams. ■ •

Sir Frederick Young, K.C.M.G., is a wonderful man. As we sat and chatted about the past in the Koyal Colonial Institute, 1 ,found it difficult (writes a representative of the "Daily News") to believe thai this alert old 'gentleman,, with the spare framo, the grizzled white moustache, and the keen blue eyes,;was indeed within seven"years ol being a centenarian. "They tell mo," said Sir Frederick, "that my vigour and vitality are extraordinary' for a man of my. years. Well, 1 have had my opportunities, 1. have done my best, and, when 1 am called I am ready to go." Thus tranquilly, secure in the know-' ledge that others will carry on the work he has striven to perform, ho unfolded his vision of the future. It is the vision of an intellectual worker who has lived in six reigns; who lemembera tho three days' travel on tho a<p'ol a coach to Newcastle when his fatuer was elected. M.l', for Tynemouth; wlm was present in Westminster Abbey at tho coronation of William IV on September 8, 1831; who treasures the recollection of a delightful meeting _ with Garibaldi at the house- of, Mrs. Seeley, mother of tho present Major Seeley, and who has arrived, a little feeble, perhaps, and conscious of the weight of .years, but still active, and with his enthusiasms undimmed, at tho era of the Hying machine.! Here is one example of Sir Frederick's tremendous bridging of tho years. He was present—"l recollect it as clearly as though it wero yesterday," lie told me—at the banquet in September, 1839, to tho principal colonists, who went out in four ships to do the spade work in New Zealand. The Duke of Sussex, son of George 111, was in the chair, and Sir Frederick recalled tho black skull cap which the' Duke wore.

The Maoris, Then and Now. ■" "At the time when we were beginning to colonise New Zealand in 1839," Sir Frederick observed, "the Maoris were cannibals. At this moment there are 16 or 18 'Maori chiefs sitting iff Parliament. Well, now, to have seen that happen in a single lifetime is a wonderful thing. ;It has been possible because—whatever tho mistakes made by individuals—our civilisation has been undertaken by the right sort of people." You. will find that wherever Sir Frederick snesks of-"the right sort of people," ho" has in his mind thoso. who seek to move according .to the theories of Edward Gibbon :Wakefiold. He was' a very young man when he met the great' founder of South Australia and New Zealand,, and fell at once under Wakefield's fascination. "I used to go and stay with him at Reigato," he said, "and I have never forgotten the lessons in colonisation which ho taught me. ' Wakefield's first principle was that every aero of land used for the purpose of colonisation should contribute, from the price paid for it,, a certain amount towards 'tho cost of sending men out. There was thus'provision fqr the distinct purpose of planting population upon the land. . "When the sell'governing -colonies were subsequently given their waste lands absolutely, without control from tho Mother Country, it suited them," said Sir Frederick, to repudiate Wakefield's- system, which he regarded as . fundamental, and to use" the land, fund derived from their sale for other purposes; and they only appropriated certain portions of the colonial revenue, as it occasionally suited them, to the importation of labour by means of assisted emigration. 'I confess that many years of study, reflection, and .experience have led mo moro than ever to tho conclusion that the main features of Wakefield's system wero sound; and.in my opinion it has been an unfortunate thing that they wore ever repudiated and abandoned, as well for the colonies, a-s for the Mother Country." • No Apostle of the "Big Stick." Sir Frederick is no apostle of the "hi" stick" in colonisation.. "There aro two°words in the English tongue," he says, "of extraordinary force. Ono' of them ought to bo stamped in letters of gold on every human heart. The other should be eradicated from our thoughts. The words 'are 'sympathy' and 'prejudice.' " And in his own use of the word "Imperialism"' ho dislikes tho warlike significance : which, it has obtained. "I prefer the word 'nationalism,'". he told me, "because it- expresses far moro tho federation of tho empire which I hope the world will sec." Ho has tho same hopes for South Africa as ho had for New Zealand; and, though he admits that personally ho might have been inclined to wait a littlo longer, he is delighted with the granting of Homo Rule and particularly enthusiastic about Botha's appointment as Premier. One of his memories is his meeting witli Krugcr, some years, before the war, when he told Oom Paul that ho. looked forward to the timo when railroads would penetrate the whole of that great country. The rugged old Boer statesman smiled inscrutably and said nothing. For Mr. Roosevelt, Sir Frederick has great.respect; butt he insists upon tho value of what is called sentimentalism in colonising work. "I am very fond of saying," ho remarked, "that sentiment is of great value and a great factor in'ruling the world, but it requires to be fortified and. braced by something in addition. The nationalist spirit should be respected as far as possible." .''„,,..,- In this connection Sir I' redonck recalls how he was once invited to become a member of tho Parnell party in Parliament. "In my first book, which I called 'Imperial Federation,' .published in' 1876,". ho explained, "I said that to earrv out mv idea wc should require local Parliaments for England, Ireland, and Scotland. Thereupon 1 had a visit from Mr. Finncgan, one of Parnell's chief supporters, -who said they wero very anxious to bring me into Parliament. I told him I felt complimented; but that in my view his party stood for disintegration and not federation. My plan would have given the local Parliament power over local affairs in Ireland, but with the Supremo Parliament paramount." It came as a shock to find that Sir Frederick contemplated the possibility that London may not always be tho capital of tho Empire. "I want the whole Empire," he said, "to be united politically, and that is my creed at the present day.' I want a great Imperial Parliament, with meetings in whatever city' may be tho centre of the Empire. There are the strongest of reasons, of course, why' it should bo London ; but Canada, for instanco,_ is very go-ahead, and it is not impossible, that Canada should produce somo day our greatest city. Or it; may be Australia. I have seen things 'move.'so marvellously that Willing may. happen."