The Feilding Star. MONDAY, NOV. 20, 1893. CANAD AND AUSTRALASIA.

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 121, 20 November 1893, Page 2

The Feilding Star. MONDAY, NOV. 20, 1893. CANAD AND AUSTRALASIA.

« Apropos of the suggestion to hold an intercolonial conference, with the view of establishing trade relations on a mutually beneficial basis between Canada and Australasia, the Canadian Commissioner, the Hon. Mr Bowell, expressed the opinion that if the conference included political as well as commercial delegates it would bo a decided advantage. As the matter is almost purely a commercial one the wisdom, as well as the fairness, of this suggestion, should be apparent to any unbiased mind, bufc Sir George R. Dibbs, who by-the-way is a rabid protectionist, disagreed with the idea of this combination, and added that : unless the, political delegates were , members of the Government they could not speak with the requisite authority. Now, thc simple truth lies in a nutshell. The conference must be held in 1 Canada, if it is held at all, because Mr Bowell has returned to that country and political influence will be brought to bear by men who desire to be appointed as delegates, in order that , they may enjoy the " outing," whether they are qualified to fulfil the duties required of them or nofc. Sir George R. Dibbs, formerly a Democrat, but who was converted during a visit to England to Conservative principles by tho presentation of a cigar from thc Prince of Wales (vide Bulletin) and a title, knows perfectly well thafc according to the New Zealand phrase " You can make a politician out of a Chinaman or a broomstick," but it takes years of experience, added to natural shrewdness ancl ability, to make a mercantile man in the accepted meaning of the term. It requires no ' special knowledge to make a politician but it does to make a merchant. . Political delegates would, no doubt, do very well to meet together and gabble ! a lot of nonsense on the "political relations" of tho countries interested , in the conference ; but to discuss matters of commerce practical men, , experts, so -to speak, in their business, 1 are alone capable of coping with the difficulties to be met and overcome before the object of their meeting could be achieved, or the new trade arrangements be put in working order. Politicians, in that narrowminded way peculiar to thcin, look at • trade from a lofty standpoint from which the protectionists among them can only see "customs revenue" while, on the other hand, the mercantile men, from their special knowledge, , see nofc only how the revenues of the I countries they represent would be augmented, but what an impetus 1 commerce generally would receive by 1 the new markets created, and the extended areas for the consumption . of their productions and manufactures. I As to the delegates who were not " members of the Government " not ! having power to "speak with authority" that difficulty is purely imaginary as every delegate could be placed on an , j equal footing by the terms of the ! Commission.