Beyond The Dominion

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 194, 27 September 1909, Page 3

Beyond The Dominion

AUSTRALIAN All the new.<--j-:»j i.-r? (i.-tails of the Commonweal"h !»■ liill. The "Daily Ma:'." it? article: "Every Australia:. a r ; :j75,0Q0 men and l'l .shipn for ih- Hrr.pire."

The "StanriaH" ??aU-~: "The importance of the- procec-'iinKH of the Imperial Defence Conference to the Empire may be measured by the fruits therefrom." It emphasises the importance of compulsory naval as well as military service.

The "Chronicle" heads its leader with Mr. Joseph Cook's phrase: "Australia should be a buttress, not a burden." It remarks that Imperial defence has hitherto been occasional, spasmodic, and unorganised. Now a new era has been inaugurated, which will make 1909 memorable in the annals of Empire. The Australian Government deserves all credit for the practical shape it has given the patriotic sentiments of the people. The reception of the compulsory principal will be watched with lively interest. The challenge to supremacy to the British Navy, which Ministers disclosed to the country, elicited a spontaneous outburst of colonial zeal. The Defence Conference proved the means of giving it shape, substance, and permanence. The Australian scheme happily combines the principle of nationalism with Imperial cooperation. London, September 22.

The "Daily Graphic" says that the Commonwealth Defence Bill is of so noble a plan, arising from so generous an aspiration, that it is a'most imp -r----tinent to praise it. The "Manchester Guardian" says that the effect of arrangements made at the Colonial Conference in London is to diminish our potential strength bv one cruiser Dreadnought.

The "Manchester Guardian" deprecates Mr Joseph Cook's action in resting his case for the new arrangement partly, at any rate, on the great naval superiority of Japan in the Far East compared with Britain, and remarks, "We should be very sorry to think Australia is going to have a naval bogey of her own and make a Germany of Japan." The "Standard" congratulates the Commonwealth upon its defence proposals. "To Australia," it says, "may yet belong the high credit of having been the first among the States of the Empire to institute compulsory military service Mr Deakin was well advised to plan the organisation, which will be a compromise between the system of maintaining a paid regular army of volunteers and a system of maintaining an immense unpaid force recruited under compulsion. The cost of the dual organisation, as the scheme develops may become very onerous, in that case Australia will consider the advisability of extending the compulsory side of the organisation in order to have an army fit to cope with any troops it may encounter." The "Standard" questions whether the periods of training are adequate relatively to the heavy cost to the population, and the large proportion required to bear arms will indicate the urgent necessity for encouraging immigration and development.

THE QUEENSLAND TRAGEDY. Brisbane, September 22. The girl Proberts, one of the victims of the man Bradshaw, who surrendered to the police at Croydon yesterday, was shot through the thigh and her condition is critical After shooting the two women, Bradshaw awaited Sutherland's return, and shot him. Then he rode to Croydon, and after having breakfast, went to the poilce station and gave himself up. It is supposed that jealousy was the cause of the crime. Bradshaw told the poliec that be did the shooting in a fit of temper. EXPLORER'S WELCOME. New York, September 22. Two thousand members of the Arctic Club and other public bodies abroad an excursion steamer met the steamer by which Dr F. A. Cook returned to New York from Copenhagen. A crowd of 5000 on the pier tumultously mobbed the explorer, whom the police rescued. Hundreds of cars and carriages followed Dr Cook, who motored through five miles of cheering people. Commander Peary also had an enthusiastic reception at Sydney, where he met his wife yesterday.

RUSSIAN OUTRAGES. St. Petersburg, September 22. A band of reactionaries and hooligans yesterday attacked and pillaged the Jews' quarter at Kieff. They killed 29 Jews,seriously wounding 150, and slightly wounding a thousand. The Jews, in self defence, killed three and wounded 18 of their attackers. The police did not attempt to interfere in tbe attack, which continued for three days. During the pillage two Jewish lads were thrown on a bonfire and burned to death. The Governor only summoned the troops in response to the urgent entreaties of a Jewish deputation on the third day. When the soldiery appeared they quickly ended tbe outbreak, and in a few hours all trouble was at an end. No arrests were made either by the police or the military. ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. London, September 23. Captain Scott's staff and crew for hife Antarctic expedition are now complete. Captain Scott has purchased for the Antarctic expedition the Terra Nova, used in 1903 as the relief ship on the Discovery expedition. She is one of the largest and strongest of the old Scottish whalers, and was built in 1884. The Nimrod, with Lieutenant Shackletonf aboard was loudly cheered on passing up the Thames for public view at the Temple Pier.

COLONIAL LOANS. London, September 23. In the House of Commons Mr Hobbouse, Junior Lord of the Treasury, replying to a question said one of the obvious reasons for the weakness of Consols is the enormous amount of Colonial stocks available for trustee investment.