THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1882. THE PANAMA CANAL.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2455, 17 February 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1882. THE PANAMA CANAL.

It is satisfactory to notice that the English Government are taking up a firm position -with regard to the Panama Canal. They have taken their stand on the Clayton-Bnlwer treaty, and are apparently determined not to be driven from that vantage point. It now appears that Secretary Blaine, who issued tho objoctionable, circular to which we adverted

last November, did bo more or less on his own account, and without obtaining the thorongh sanction of his colleagues or the President. He evidently held extreme views on the powers and obligations of the United States. He carried the Munroe doctrine to an extreme point, so that even his countrymen have been forced to acknowledge that his views were untenable. He, moreover, attempted, to create a sort of confederacy of the American Republics in order to carry out the views of his Government, at the same time that he was, with singular inconsistency, interfering in the free settlement of the difficulty between Chili and Peru. However, Secretary Blaine has disappeared off the scene, having been compelled to resign, and it is difficult to understand at present the true position. On the one hand we find the English. Government declaring that it abides by the Clayton-Bulwer treaty; on the other hand we find that the American Government has not absolutely withdrawn its claim to the supreme control over the Canal. It is satisfactory that the aggressive attitude of the United States in this matter has been abandoned, but it would be more satisfactory still i£ we could gain some assurance that the feeling in the country at large was adverse to the monstrous claims lately set np by Secretary Blaine. The ultimate decision will lay with Congress, and in the meantime it is to be trusted that the English Government will make it clear that they are determined to maintain their position at all hazards. The importance of the whole question to the interests of Australia and New Zealand can hardly be exaggerated. By the retirement of Secretary Blaine one great point has been gained. The further development of the question will be watched with the greatest interest. THE NAVAL DEFENCES OP THE EMPIRE.

The position of the British Empire in case of a general war breaking out is a matter npon which opinions vary very extensively. The enormous extent and the scattered description of the British possessions render them in many respects extremely vulnerable, although, if satisfactory arrangements were adopted, this very extension of empire might prove of ultimate advantage. But the advantage would solely hinge on the establishment of strong naval positions in various parts of the world. It is evident that the cruizers of other nations would be greatly crippled if their powers of re-fitting and re-coaling were small in comparison with those enjoyed by British cruizers. The large men of war consume enormous quantities of coal when going at a high rate of speed, and without a full supply of the necessary fuel their offensive power is reduced most considerably. Consequently, if the English men-of-war had stations where they would be able to get everything they needed, they would be at an enormous advantage in out of the way parts of the world. The fact is being recognised by statesmen in England, and a number of speeches have of late been made with the object of calling strong attention to the position. Now, the geographical position of New Zealand renders it eminently suitable as the locale of one of these stations. There is abundant coal of the best quality in the island, and several of the harbors could very easily be defended. For instance, Lyttelton harbor might, with but little difficulty, be made almost impregnable. H.M. surveying schooner Lark has just arrived in Auckland to make a survey of the harbor and water approaches. This looks as if the Home authorities are beginning to wake up as to the necessity of bestirring themselves in the matter of Imperial naval defence. The scare that occurred a few years back called particular attention to the whole question, and a Royal Commission was appointed, but since then the matter has dropped into the background. A renewal in the interest taken in the subject is satisfactory to note. PROVISION FOR A HEREAFTER. It is not very long since that it was the common custom in India for the head wife of a deceased Hindoo to voluntarily sacrifice herself on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband. It was supposed that her company would be agreeable in another world to the gentleman who had just shufiled off this mortal coil. It is possible to conceive cases in which the head wife might be mistaken, but at all events the intention was laudable. The friends of the Red Indian brave slaughtered his horse in order that he might have it to ride in the Happy Hunting Grounds. And the same idea may be traced in the customs of a large number of other nations. Such utensils as were thought might be of use on the re-awakening in another sphere were laid beside the body of the dead man in order that he might immediately have them to hand. This very material view of another world has been compatible with a comparatively high level of civilisation. Some of the most advanced nations of antiquity held it. Wiremu Kingi, the great Maori chief, who died not so long back, was very moderate in his ideas of the needful that he would require in the next world. He had a hundred sovereigns in his whare, fifty of which he distributed among his relations, and the other fifty he kept for the purpose of carrying him on his journey into the Land of Shades. However, he had not implicit trust in the good faith of his relatives, for the £SO for the next world he carefully " planted," so that only his disembodied spirit might know where they were to bo found. "Wiremu Kingi's ideas as to what would be wanted elsewhere wtra evidently modest in the extreme. He may possibly have deeply studied the question, and have come to the conclusion that his requirements would after all be but small.