The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1885. A Tory Government

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 113, 10 March 1885, Page 2

The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1885. A Tory Government

The common cry of the Liberals, or more properly speaking the followers of Mr Gladstone is, that in the event of the Tories or Conservatives ousting the Gladstone painty, sundry and various European complications will be evolved, which may end in the troops of Great Britain being seen on European battle fields, and the Colonies with foreign aggressors of the filibuster type in their harbors. To our minds these prospective evils are far better than the actual harm which has resulted from the weak policy of the Gladstone Government. Much better for British troops to have a chance of gaining honor against a strong foe, than the defeat and disgrace which was only too apparent in the Boer or Zulu wars, where their adversaries were accounted but half civilized whites or untamed blacks, but who were able to almost exterminate regiments com- ; posed of men who were estimated to be the bravest troops in the world. If we make an aggregate of the number of men slain in " little wars " which could have been avoided by prompt action or even an appearance of vigor on the part of the Gladstone Government, we believe it would be found iar to exceed that of the blundering Crimean war, where thousands of valuable lives were wasted by a Government " without a backbone." A Government which is armed for the fight is always certain of peace. A contemporary says that if the Tories get in, the New Zealand Government should lose no time in fortifying our harbors and coaling stations, and in bringing the volunteers up to a state of efficiency. In our opinion the Tories are less likely to bring on a European war than the Liberals, and while we admit the necessity which is daily becoming greater for the Colonies to erect defences, and for the warlike training of the Colonists capable of bearing arms in the protection of their homes, yet we do not think that changing the Ministry of England will be productive of such dire disaster as is foreshadowed. There is one probable ally who would come to our assistance in the South Seas, whose name is seldom or never mentioned in connection with a great European war. We mean America. Her sympathies are strong with the Australian Colonies, for in them she recognises not only a polyglot people like her own, but a great factor in the commerce of the United States. The President has declared that his policy will be to avoid alliance with other Powers. But " blood is thicker than water," and American men-of-war would assist our Colonial fleet as readily as they did the British at Alexandria. Since the Colonies have sent troops to assist the Mother Country at Soudan, the Great Powers of the world have learned to respect these ramifications of a mighty Empire, and to know that a people so ready to strike for the old flag would be fierce in the defence of their adopted homes in the antipodes. We object in toto to Jingoism, in whatever form it may appear, but we still maintain the belief that as England has fought and held her own against the whole world in " the old time before," she can do so again. Recent battles have shown that there is no deterioration in she breed of her sons, and under Whig or Tory they may suffer death and extermination, but never dishonor.