EMPIRE—NOT ENGLAND

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1889, 18 October 1913, Page 5

EMPIRE—NOT ENGLAND

MB, AMY'S TOUR,

'tioußiNALiara v/ew of imperial QUEG|TIONB.| ; „ I. INTERVIEW, - L-f— Mr. L. C. My ''0. Amery, Unionist member for Bflrpingliam South, and an English journalist of eminence, arrived in Wellingtcflj; in. continuation of hiß policy to sy/3 as much as possible of those countries ho has novor before p-7/V' s i| a world's tour'with ■n i Parliamentary party. It will be, remembered that this party of quiok- fnppers dashed through the North l island in a few hours about a month ago, and their impressions of the torri- « covered must be almost as ©vanas the small boy's after a picture mow. Mr. Amery was not amongst tho record-breakers. Ho camo out via tlie Cape, and mot the party at Sydney, and was with them during tho little bi£ oi oountrv touring they did in Now xr a ' es and Victoria.Mr. Amery iB better known to tho ~r y , wo , rl . d as the editor of tho Vr • m . fls ,, History of tho Boor War."tie ]oiued tho "Times" staff in 1899 aner a tour of'the Near East, and, as colonial editor of tho "Thunderer," organised its service in South Africa during the war. In 1900 ho commenced thq compilation of tho "History," and in tho following nine years completed w.e seven volumes. During the next tjroe years ho published three other ij. j? n Il "P° r , ial questions, and contested four Parliamentary elections, fin--191 ing l >ar^ame at unopposed iv Salvation In Dry Farming. Tho little I saw of interior AustraJia—and really it was not the real intenor—when, travelling through the A\ or thorn Rivorina distriot," said Mr. Ainory to a Dominion reporter, "con- ■ yinccd mo that tho progress of Australia laigely depends on tho development or dry-farming, and the pushing of the railways into those big areas that are oenig found to be amenable to dryf[F"' ul 6- Australia should, not bo bunded by the successive good seasons she has had—she should remember tlio droughts of tlio past, and try to jnako tho bost provision to combat them by perfecting dry-farming methods and couipletmg her. system of railroads, in order that stock may bo readily shifted over tho long distances from the drought districts to those where food and water are available." "Tho case of Australia and Canada."' continued Mr. Amery, "is not so very' much unlike—the groat difference, of courso, is , a climatio one. Whereas Australia has to provide against drought, and has found that she has vast areas of land which at one time wore considered good for nothing,, Uinada liad to fight tlio severe winters, " nt ! find out how she could' bring into truitfulness the great lands of the north-west that- were at one time deemed just as hopeless as tho Malfeo Country of Western Victoria, which is turning out so well. The Canadianshad to find out the right kind of see£ ! wheat, exactly the time when to put 1 it into tho ground, so that it would' mature before tho first frosts of late' autumn. Their season) is a short one, but {hey have managed to make it & fruitful one."

Australian Defenoo. Mr. Amery confessed that ho JmS Been very much impressed with the significance of tho event that ushered in an Australian Navy tho other day in Sydney. It was no doubt an occasion of tremendous importance to 'the people of Australia, ana ho believed it would stimulate in them a deeper and more direct interest in tho Navy now they not only had their own ships, but liad to help in tho manning and building of them. Ho felt that Australia had committed itself to a policy ■that ' would expand steadily as the years go on, the necessity of pursuing a policy" of naval expansion would be that' the Commonwealth would havo to inter-, est itself in securing a large addition j to tho number of taxpayer®. They must realise that every man brought into the country who found tho conditions to his liking becomes a taxpayer, and liis children the defenders—m prospect—of t)io oountry.

"When in Molbourno," oontinued Mr... Amery, "we gained a slight insight as to what Australia was doing in regard) to defence. Standing on the stops of tho House of Parliament I saw a parade ' of about 19,000 cadets, and I must confess I was profoundly impressed witli : tho sight. I wished then that I had, the wholo of the British House of Commons there on tlioso steps to wit-i ness the sight. I believo that- if I, could 1 havo got the Commons there it' would not be very long before we would j havo compulsory training at Home. At' present wo have a cadet -system, audi j the Boy Scout movement is very healthy, but wo haven't reached com-l pulsory training . yet. Many people nave strong prejudices on tho question, considering it to bo inimical to traditional British freedom. At_ the same time Lord Roberta's campaign of last year was very successful, and the seed, then sown may yet bear fruit. "To malco the system thoroughly effi-/ cient in Australia they must havo the* means of getting and keeping a fltaffl of- joally capablo officers, and in thatyj regard 1 must say that I was twucaij impressed with the Duntroon: Military j ■ College. Tho wholo thing_ seems to hava ' been organised in the right way, and the training of tho oadet officers iB attended to in a splendid way, As long as Now Zealand Jws no military college of her own, she could, not send her young men anywhere in tho Empire • wheTO they could get a better training ; ..than at Duntroon. ' Cheaper Press Gables. Chatting about tho Panama Canil, i Mr. Amery said he did not think it . would benefit the trado between Australasia and England very much, if at all, but it would bring our ports mucli closer to the eastern const of America— not only to New York, but the British ports'of St. John'B, Halifax, and Montreal. Ho was glad to learn of tho . growing trado between New Zealand • and Western Canada, and said that tlia two countries could coniplimcnt ono another on their seasons fitting in so well. What was going to malco a bigger differenpo than the Panama Canal 'in the Australasian-United Kingdom trade was tho completion of the new "All-Red route" to Blacksod Harbour, in Ireland, with an express dispatch across the Irish Sea. That, with tho faster boats that would bo placed on tho Pacific run (with the development of ' tho trado) was going to cut the time down by two or tlireo days. "More important than faster boats," said Mr. Amery, "aro cheaper cables— Press cables.' More news of what was ■ going on in tho Ovorsoas Dominions was needed. In former' years the papers did not notice colonial happenings to any extent, but a change had como ovor the sceno. It was vory sol- , dom that tlioro was no Australian oi Now Zoalaud news in the columns of the 'Times' ■—there were items nearly every day of tho week, and frequently articles of intorost bearing on colonial \ questions. Whon Mr. Bordou, tho ' Canadian Promior, made _ his naval policy speech, it appeared in most of : tho big English'-papers verbatim, just > as though it had been delivered at Bir- ' mingbam. If the cable' rates wore ; cheapened, tho papers would find plenty of . room for any nows of tho slightest I Importance—it is Empire now, not Bug- - Joudl'l