The Hastings Standard Published Daily FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1897. THE POSING PREMIERS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 374, 16 July 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1897. THE POSING PREMIERS.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, Vor the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

The wandering,garrulous and banquetbaited Colonial Premiers have had, to use a significant phrase, " a high old time," and have packed in a few weeks a round of pleasure and feasting and of posing too numerous to particularise. The high expectations that were held of the good results that were to result from the visit to London of the Australian Premiers have not been realised. At the outset the speeches of the Colonials were vigorous and healthy, with a strain of pure Imperialism running through them ; but when the critical moment came to materialise sentiment, to give evidence of the reality, the Australian contingent sunk to the level of mere parochial politicans. They were afraid to risk the displeasure of that loathsome element in the democracy, the labor agitator. On the question of the subsidy of the Auxiliary Squadron the attitude taken by the Colonial Premiers was idiotic and contemptible, while that of South Africa was a pleasing contrast. "We do not so much refer to the gift of a warship by Cape Colony. The circumstances of the Cape are far different from ours and she can afford the outlay ; furthermore, as Mrßeid very properly pointed out, the Cape has used the services of British soldiers an! sailors rather freely of late, and the gift, handsome though it is, is but an inadequate set off to the expenses that have been incurred by Great Britain on account of her African colonies. There is no call for us to follow the example ; indeed we could not if we would, for the simple reason that we are not in a position to find the money. It is on the question of controlling the auxiliary squadron that the Premiers have shown a huckstering spirit which compares very badly with the grand Imperial attitude exhibited by South Africa. Not only did the Australian contingent decline to allow the Admiralty a free hand, but with Colonial impudence demanded a better class of vessels and refused to increase the naval subsidy. The Premier of South Australia went so far as to say that the colonies could apply the subsidy to better uses. There is something intensely mean and despicable in this. Fortunately for us we have not needed the services of British bluejackets ; but the time is not far distant when we shall discover that behind the logic of a British gunboat lies our safety. Even now we can see in the entanglements of Japan, the United States and Hawaii the possibilities of danger. The Oriental Kingdom has made formidable strides and is now a lirst-class power ; at any rate events show that she is not afraid to assert herself even at the risk of collision with the United States. And the Yankees do not undervalue the maritime power of Japan, a fact which has been made very clear by the anxiety of the Cabinet at Washington. The growth of Japan added to the increased powjr of Russia in Eastern waters has forced upou Her Majesty's Government the necessity of materially stren gtheni ng the China squadron. And we interpret the appeal made by the First Lord of the Admiralty to the Colonial Premiers foe an increased subsidy as meaning

that it is necesary that the Australian squadron should be strengthened. We are as a matter of fact already promised that the Orlando shall be relieved by one of the new first-class cruisers. The increase of the Australian squadron is either necessary or unnecessary; the evidence points to the fact that it is necessary, and from the attitude of Mr Goschen there are apparently good grounds for believing this. Therefore is it right or prudent that the colonies should withhold support to the necessary increase, or endeavor to hamper the movements of the fleet ? The Australian colonies, as Mr Reid very truly stated, have not caused England much trouble in recent years; but the colonies have built up an important over-sea trade—important, for it is upon the success of this trade that the whole fabric of our successful colonisation rests. The total trade for 1898, according to the figures of Mr T. A. Cogulan, the New South Wales statistician, of the colonies of Australasia is as under : New South Wales... J543.571,859 Victoria ... ... 28,75:5,855 Queensland ... 14,598,997 South Australia ... 15,017,152 Western Australia 8,143,788 Tasmania ... ... 2,688,987 New Zealand ... 16,458,425 £129,230,558 The bulk of this trade is carried by sea, and for the most part to and from Great Britain. Considering the enormous distance and the magnitude of the trade, the supremacy of British Naval power, not merely in Australian waters, but on all trade routes is, to us of very great importance. Cut off our trade with the United Kingdom, hamper it to any serious extent, and we should have under the Southern Cross seven insolvent colonies instead of as we are now seven progressive states. We must look upon the subsidising of the British navy as a premium paid for insuring the safety of our sea-borne trade, and instead of bargaining with and brow-beating the underwriter, who is of course equally as interested in the matter as we are, we ought to under the circumstances pay a fair thing. The present subsidy is inadequate, and Mr Goschen gave the Premiers to understand that fact although he afterwards partially withdrew his statement or modified it by certain explanations ; and if the subsidy is insufficient we ought in all honesty to hasten to make it sufficient. The Premiers probably would like to do so but are afraid of that crowd of blatant democrats who swarm in all the colonies and who with the cry of " jingoism " are able to sway the masses and make a legitimate expenditure appear criminal. Some day when a shipload of colonial produce is sent to the bottom of the deep blue sea by some hostile cruiser we shall probably realise the importance of a strong navy.