THE LAST OF THE FLEET.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 434, 10 September 1908, Page 2

THE LAST OF THE FLEET.

Commenting on the recent visit of the United States Fleet to these shores the Hawke’s Bay Herald says: —The Fleet has gone, and we shall soon have heard the last of the eloquence and sentiment which has flowed so uninterruptedly during the last month. We' cannot deny that we shall be glad of it. In common with most of our fellow-colonists we were glad to welcome our American friends, and we are glad to learn that they have enjoyed their visit to the Southern seas. But we regret that the public men, both here and in Australia, haw seemed to lose their heads under the strain of the celebrations and to talk more nonsense to the minute than we suppose has ever been heard on a similar occasion. We suppose our visitors have had many a quiet chuckle at the strain of so much of the oratory to which they have been treated. The national sense of humour must have been mightily tickled, even if the national sense of importance was pleasantly flattered at the same time. It is pretty obvious that the visit was turned to account by all kinds of politicians with an object to gain. Mr Deakin enthused over it with a view to his new defence policy, and to support his ideas about the exclusion of Asiatics. With these ends he worked the tour of the fleet for all it was worth. Cardinal Moran used it to point out once more the grievances of Ireland, and the brutal conduct of the hated Saxon in the days that are now rapidly vanishing into a dim past. And the natural impression which the visitors would draw from such outpourings was that Australia was a country longing to s,ever its connection with the Empire and to set up housekeeping on its own account. We know that this was the moral that some American newspapers drew from the festivities and the accompanying speechifying. We do not believe that this was the impression intended to be conveyed. But it was conveyed, and that should be a warning to responsible politicians to set a guard over their exuberance on occasions of this sort.