THE EMRIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 86

THE EMRIRE LETTER.

By Maomlaxda. July 3. The Bisley jubilee bids' tair to be one of the chief events of the year. Never before have there teen so many representatives from, oversea States. India and South Africa have entered 200 1 mark&men. Canada also is well to the front with 30, including the official team. These have already arrived upon the ground, and axe making excellent practice scores No less tban 1175 marksmen aQre to shoot for the King's Priae, while those who are to be competitors for St. lieorge's and Alexandra^ are almost as numerous. Tke Kißg*sr Frizes is, of. coarse, ike Use nUxm among the events. The winner receives. £250, «rad the fcaghest~ overeetf< eoovet. takes ,the-Stand&rdof Empire prize, i handsome shield, -aad" £21 in cash. This. Bisley meeting is a xtnique gathernigi inasmuch aa such etnriousJy distaut corners of t*» Emptre send forth their representatives to meet for common interest on the home . ground. Another notable circumstance I is that men and teams from north, south, 1 and east of the eeme country here meet for the first time. At home the distance which separates them is: trivial, hut there has be.en no meeting. -So it is often at Bisley that plans are laid for tournament meetings upon the return, and men beet learn to test one another. Here, too,, firm friendehipe are formed: Canadian nighlanders, will fraternise with the Wit-w-aterarand Rifles, th-e Transvaal Cyclists find: long-lost brothers in the Umvoti Mounted Rifle* or the men, from the Kolar goldfields while individuals from, the Malay States sad Ceylon discover kindred spirits in those -whose lot has cast them in Shanghai^ the West Indies, or the Straits iSebfciemenis. The mimic "naval war" has come to a sodden and unexpected end, and the British have triumphed over their "enemies." At the moment no one quite knows where the vast armada of <550 ships is lying. War was declared with realistic sadd-ennass. During the progress of events no aninounoemerrte were made by the Admiralty,, nor w«are reporters allowed aboard. However, Germany secured an excellent ■ accoant of the engagement ( !), and now descriptions are appearing in England. Though, to® Bed fleet (British) claims a victory,' it was pui'ely a yjotory oL force majeure, for the White and Blue fleets effected a union. The elements aided them, for a thick fog descended upon them at the most crucial point. However, a junction was effected 60 miles southwest of SciHy, and the two set out to look for the Reds. Meanwihile ' c Reds •were as eagerly seeking the Whit© and " Blue. When the mkfaught wireless message, giving news of the outbreak of hostilities, had been received, the Beds were steaming in a long fine of 2fK hattleships, with attendant cruisers and destroyers in scouting order. Speed was put on and a sharp look-out k-ent, j and before many hours had elapsed ' * Blues were sighted and a couple .of their minelaying ships put out of action. T>ien a chase was oommenoed, and the. Whites sped after the Bhte from the west coast of Scotland down tbe west- coast of Ireland; but just aa the two fleets met vo. battle array, and the 11 Bhie battleships seemed within the grasp of the Rede, it became necessary to slacken 6peed r as the slowest battleships were so far her hind that a general engagement was impossible. It was at this crucial moment tih/ut the. elements, intervened and fog descended. Shielded by this the White and Blue joined forces, >«nd when the Beds again located them, their problem was more difficult. However, by this tame a goodly number of smaller craxsers, scouts, and torpedoes were bom de combat, but the battle squadrons (with the exception of one vessel on each tide) were still intact. Then, three hours after sunrife, the decisive engagement took place. The White and Blue made a callant attempt to cut oS the Reds? second cruiser division, but in doing so slipped between two fires. The ultimate triumph of the more powerful division was obvious, and the Commander-in-chief signalled the victory of the Beds. The magnificence of the spectacle can be imagined, for the pick of the British navy were in battle • order. t f Of the minor incidente in the campaign one of the most dramatic was th« manner in -which the Blues' 'moat disastrous accidanit turned to her advantage through tbe aid of wireless telegraphy. Five large shipe were almost sacrificed in the effort to locate tihe enemy; one was actually captured, and at the moment of capture succeeded in sending a wireless message giving the whereabouts of the enemy. Once again has Canada's J •Dominion Day" been celebrated throughout the lengtiu and breadth of her domain, and also in tbe great Home centra, where lo\al Canadians and uhoea interested' in j Our Lady of the Snows assembled to talk t of her past and drink to her future. At | tbe banquet there were those presen/t who ' could remember Canada as it bad been 70 years ago, their anecdotes made vivid by the immense strides the country has taken. Few statistics were given, but those were of general interest. It appears that nine years aero the whole of the wheat production of that country was only 47,000.000 bushels, including 17,000,000 from, the North- West. Last year the Dominion produced over 146,000,000, of which 105,000,000 had come from the North-West, w"biah only 35 yeara ago did

> " not produce enough, wheat to supply tEe f people living there. Another fact which 4 • has been commented upon- of late in CanaI dian circles is that t3*e Import trade of . Canada from. Great Britain is practically ■ stationary, and has been so for tthe past > 30 years, though the population has in1 creased by at least 60 per cent. In fche [ same period Canadian imports from the United States have grown from 45,000,000d0l to I69,OQO>OOOd»L This, too, in spite oi the preferential tariff, which favours the British mannifiaoturer to the extent of 33 1-3 per cent. The blame for this state of affairs is laid at the door of Great Britain, wdwok does little or nothing to aid bier mianmtacdairenß. For instance, the United State? has 137 " consul ar agents in the Dominion, wfooae diufcies are almost entirely- commercial. r Great Britain has not one. As a result* f Canada, took 200,0Q0,0Q0d01 woo*h of goods - from America, and considerably lees than : half that amount- fronv Great Britain. 1 The Canadian Government also assists even more ddrectly, and" is doing *As utmost to foster tbe Imperial spirit. For instance ; it recently seat an. official com* 1 'mumoatioai to- C&peto\m, pointing out that the manufaotorers of- the Dominion. . we're interested in fine importation of wtofce maize. At present Hhe Eastern pro- ' vinoes— Montreal and Toronto — all "import large quantities from the Orated States, bat ifcfcexe iraa no vital reason wfiy South Africa, or any other port of the. Empire where white maize was grown> ehouid not secure the tirade. It is not often fhat South Africa comes forward with an innovation, bo* in no other section of the Empire, I beh'eve, is elementary agriculture taugM ia the pnblac schools ; yet this has novr been authorised in Pietmnaritzbarg, .rbers also a Farmers' Apprentices' Bureau has . been estabtesihed by the Minister of Agriculture. The object of this buraaai k, of course,, to encourage young South Africans to setitle upon the land in anticipation, of the closer-settlement oahenres. South Africa, like New Zealand and Australia, bas decided that tihe day of big blocks is past. Yet another fraaovation. in South Africa is the "Mflitairj Society" Just formed in.' Natal. Its object is to secure higher scientific training for all officers serving in the State. Tbe society hopes to organise staff rides, tactical exercises,, war games, and lectures, and to do something towards assimilating the methods of peacetraining pursued by the various forces which would be called u/pon to act in concert in the event of -war. This society is, of oourse, formed of private thought influential individuals. It is not in any way a Government affair any more than is the establishment of tbe new industry, of fibre-ritakdng. This is due to the initiation of a single individual, -who has teen experime».ting> for years, and has at length discovered Kow to use the fifcre irptth banana 'skins ior commercial purposes. From these skins he produces threads varying in fchkfcnesß. Some are as fine as cotton ; othens have the coareeraees of rope strands. It should have a fine fvsture before it this sirbstianoe, which is almost as tough as leather, and can be mode to any solidity or thickness or breadth. Band-.boxes, light cases, binding material, the inside solas of boots — all have already been made from this fibre, while the finer strands can be rtilised in spinning and the coarser for canvas. All this is oatasingr considerable interest in Johuaaetbacg. though many ace yiet eceptioal as to the permanency of the value of the discovery. Meanwhile the farmers of tibe Eastern portion of Gape Colony, the Transvaal, end Orange River Colony ignore both fibre manufacturer and Military Society fouadee. Their interest is in the Chamber of Commerce (East London), which has jurt offered some £500 in prizes for farmers viitb tine best whole dips, the ttu&Kfe* to be- made at two -wool exhibitions, all expenses of •which- mil be borne by the Chamber. In their eyes nothing dee is of much ooasequence, unless it Be the new Scab Ac£ just passed ite second residing in the Bloemfontedn House, the object of which is to reach the Australian standard of a scab-clean comtry.