PERSPICACIOUS PEREGRINO.

NZ Truth, Issue 101, 25 May 1907, Page 8

PERSPICACIOUS PEREGRINO.

KING . LEWANIKA'S REPRESENTATIVE, n

Sounds John Norton's Praises;

And Badly Belabors Boer-Baiters.

A Pigmented Portuguese Patriot's Pronouncement,

The repatriation of Australians stranded m South Africa is as popular m South Africa as it is alleged to be m Australia itself. It is a sad and sinister thing that Australians are not liked m South Africa. The reason of •' this lack of affection for Australians m the land of the Boer and the black man is that, amon.ep those who went from Australia to the war m the south of Africa were • many— very many— of a very low class. The consequence is that there are newspapers N in South Africa that do not hesitate to express the utmost delight at the prospect of -^getting rid of their Australian nffifcWbors.'

Among the newspapers that have most unhesitatingly expressed their joy at the approaching departure of many Australians is the ••"South Alri can Spectator, ' ' whioh is -described as a "cosmopolitan newspaper," and is apparently the champion, of the 'black- aboriginal inhabitants .pf Africa against those who would -oppress the black, man m his own country. The paper, • which is m its third volume, is edited by F. Z. S. Peregrino, who ; declares himself- the "special representative of King Lewanik'a, and agent for the Barotse National Council." Ttie fact is that ' . ■■.

„ THERE IS AN AWAKENING among the black peoples of Africa, and they are not only learning to read, but are reading the history ortheir own sufferings. One book that is very popular' among the black Africans is "The History of the;'; Black Map' from Slavery to Citizen--: ship.'.'. This bcok; costs from 12s Gd. m ' cloth to 13s 6d m morocco, and : is thus rather expensive ; but,, inspile of ihe cost, it appears to have a considerable circulation. The move-: ment to the ; black men is really de-> serving of all sympathy. v^Africa' : is not like Australia/, a land, containing; an absurdly small number of black men, who show no tendency to become industrious or to acquire culture! It has a very lai'ge population of peoples of the highest negro type, many '"of whom are brave. It is emphatically a black man's country, •and tha white man. has no right there except as a -.teacher of, <r as a cooperator with, the exceedingly numerous black natives. The tilacts of Africa are quite as much -jus blued m. raising- iho cry of a Black Africa as we arc m declaring for, and insisting upon a White 1 Australia. Indeed, they would be rendering a service to the white race m doing so, for the emigration of "colonists" is one of the nieans, by which the capitalists of Europe hope" to' stave ,ofi fundamental economic changes, rlf the Ethiopians, qi\ any other school or

; PARTY OF BLACKi PATRIOTS could,, at. once .put a stop .to white en%.i.KJ:a4JQ4i^lf,ftca.^Eiir6pe; .or any other part of the world, to' Africa, they . would hastfiTi the dawn of economic' justice m the countries inhabited by . the white peoples, as well as- benefit themselves. As long as the covetous capitalist can get rid of -r-to Africa or elsewhere— the most energetic and restless spirits among the dissatisfied elements m the community he is content, and Ms reign is likely to last longer than ..would otherwise be th-3 case.

The perspicacious Peregrino— the name has a Portuguese sburfd,' and probably- means v a traveller; we have not a. Portuguese dictionary handy—

captain 1 to have them first oared for. Thus , when one of tbe men attempted to leave, the 'captain ca-ugjb.it him and tore, the shirt -from his back to prevent him ;. he also seized a kind of an axe, and tried to prevent the firemen reaching the 'boat. But it was' every man for himself, and to more attention was paid to the captain than to any other man aboard. The Arctic was a barque-rigged, wooden steamer, built m New York, and was at the time considered as staunch and splendid a vessel as was ever constructed. Her cost of construction was £200,000, and her gross tonmiage 3500. Of more than 400 souls who left Liverpool m the 'illfated ship, full of hope, , gaiety and heal-tb, only -about one-tenth escaped a watery 'grave. Many of these, including a- large number of professional and business men, were returning to America from a European tour of pleasure. The collision happened within 40 miles of Cape Race, the eastern extremity of Newfoundland, m tti© neigh'borli'oor of •> . '

•THE VIRGIN -ROOKS.- V " After striMing the Arctic, the Vesta appeared to foe stoking, but immediately rose again ; yet no hope was en-tertained-of. her'iultimate safety, the passengers and. crew looking, upon the Arctic as. the only chance of saving their lives. One man wis killed and two others seriously injured. Two boats were put over the side, the first of which was sunk ; the second was quickly hoarded by some of the Vesta's crew and passengers, who, heedless dt the captain's order to return, abandoned the vessel. The fog continuing very thick, they lost sight of the Arctic altogether," still hoping that she' would not desert them; By lightening the vessel m the forepart, her bow was thereby c6nsiderably raised, thus greatly stopping the rush of water. Adopting other means and contrivances also, they were enabled to run, under easy steam, for the nearest port, St. k John's, ■ Newfoundland, where she arrived on September 30. For many days the terrible fate of the Arctic, and the many melancholy incidents connected with .it, made a profoundly painful sensation m American . iJnisiness oi roles— everywhere, indeed. The sympathies of the community were especially with Mr Collins, whose misfortune Was a double and overwhelming one— the loss of his family a-ntl "Iris ship at the same time. The Collins line of steamers did more to give character and prestige to the mercantile marine of-Am-erica than can readily .be e-stimatea and the loss of their finest ship was , everywhere regarded as a national calamity.,

is a reader of "Truth," which fact is alone sufficient to demonstrate his perspicacity. Ln his issue of the "South African Spectator" for March 18 he thus refers to the Australians stranded m South Africa whom it is proposed to repatriate, and shows that he has "read, marked, learned, and inwardly digested" some of the writings of -the conductor of "Truth":

"The Spectator has often expressed its suspicion of those gentlemen m South Africa-— or at least Cape Town —who, hailing from the land whereof the inhabitants have adopted as a motto the

CRY OF, WHITE AUSTRALIA.' yet are so anxious for the interests of the colored man here that they invite him- into all sorts of political s schemes. I have seen no cause to change "these views, and shall continue to oppose the advances of all such towards the colored people, leaving; it to the iools^and numbskulls among the people to allow themselves to be used :asw*so many catspaws by these ambitious but much-to-be-watched gentry-.*., Mr John Norton is the editor of Sydney 'Truth,' and

A GREATER PATRIOT or lover of his country it would be impossilWe.to iiord anjrwhere. Mr Norton, who, moreover, m the humble opinion of the writer, has no superior mi n journalism for ability and courage, draws his pen-picture of his countrymen— or, rather,, . shall I Say ,o£-; .the : class ,Av-ho came liere fighting tlie" other -day :— , ..'

." 'Australians live, or rattier loaf, on their loyalty to - the dear old Mother Land*' but they expect ,, the dear old Mother Land to defend .them, for next to -nothing, on sea\ and, when wanted to fight • for ' thedear old Mother Land m Africa, either against the Soudanese rightly struggling to be free,' as Mr Gladstone declared them to be doing, or against the brave and gallant white Christian farmers ; of the Transvaal and Orange Free ; State, they want paying for it, m high wages and liberal allowances, as though they were a lot of trained warriors, instead of

A SCRATCH MOB of miserable mercenaries and 'howling- hooligans— many of them scooting away from domestic,, marital,, filial, and parental duty. Australia -to-day is the most loyal dependency of the British Empire, and therefore one of the most dependent, from a national standpoint.'

'"Those. who witnessed the disgraceful orgies m this city a few years ago, and the cmel destruction of the property of innocent people by the brave (?) hooligans, wfill have no hesitation m accf.pl.inp-. .t.^iq picture as being- fairly true ; ; .tp.flH-e. One newspaper office was .demolished, and the v lives of officials and employees placed m immminent peril ;

WOMEN BEHIND BARS \ were assaulted— yea, and the newspapers, including' the great palladium of the public weal, .were cowardly silent. No, not all ! One little paper was found to do its duty by protesting, and while it incurredtfoe risk of being perhaps snuffed- out 'and received a gentle -warning from the Censor 'to be more careful m the selection of mattex m the future,' ifc went no further. And- thatv'was the 'Spectator.' We lived !..,.: v "Mr Norton continues' : HIS MASTERLY INDICTMENT THUS :— " 'Australians, who have acted thus cruelly and callously towards white Christians, complain • when the colored pagans,- Japanese or Chinese, come to give (hem a .taste of their own sauce, m their own land ? These colored pagans regard as brutal and blasphemous bunkum the-doc-trine of a White Australia; as proclaimed by a. mere handful of white men against the hundreds of millions of Asiatic colored men, m this their own aatu'ral, habitat and hemisphere. There's

A HOT TIME IN STORE for loyal British, Imperial Boerbaiters and champions of a White Australia, now boasting of the British alliance with the Brown Men of Japan.

" 'What a people, - tq 'be sure,, to talk • about National Independence and a White Australia, and, 1 above all, to despise a/nd deprecate the brave, belligerent Little Brown Men of Japan ? Why were Japan to make an armed demonstration against these shores, the wonderful

Sons of the sea, all British born, These boys of the bulldog breed,' would be like

A LOT OF WASHERWOMEN, armed with mops and brooms, confronting trained and disciplined battalions armed with bayonets and repeating rifles.'

"The exigencies of space forbid further comment, and prevent me doing so full . justice to this theme as it deserves. . . . . There is an agitation ; just now ( to. repatriate THE AUSTRALIAN EX-COMBAT-ANTS. A most praiseworthy idea, no matter by whom conceived. Glorious news ! Welcome departure. We will cele I mean mourn their loss— but not m sackcloth and ashes !— P.Z.S.P." . \ •'