MILITARY DEFENCE.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 44, 10 September 1864, Page 3

MILITARY DEFENCE.

•There is no more thankless task than to continue to urge upon a country a course which is not opposed or argued against, but is simpljr passed by from sloth, or neglect,, or indifference. To eat and drink aiid build houses, and to marry and be given in marriage, are the only recognised duties of British colonists in these days. If fighting, has to be. done, let it be done, we Uay, by good, old;;John.Bull, whose long suffering, ;notwithstanding his irritability as to his pocket, is: without limit. It ia true that atr last, stimulated byrthe definite hope of immediate gain, and stung^ to tte quick by the haughty rebukes of the Duke Minister, and the still more euttilg sneers of ; Professor G-oldwin S'miti, we have exhibited symptoms of latent self-reliance, and have been galvanised into a sort of military life in thiß Native war. But beyond that, there is scarcely a man in this' country who has thouglt or care for national defence. Once nore, though in little hope of producing any practical result, we ask the public -of New Zealand to turn their eyes to the present state of Europe, as it may affect oar own prospects. We shall not pretend to describe the rights or wrongs of the present war betpveeen Denmark and Germany, a cause which is argued on both sides with a far from satisfactory result by some of the ablest pens in Europe, in the English Press. :It is sufficient to state that the Duke of Augustenburg lays claim to the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, and is supported by Prussia, Germany, and Austria. The conference of representatives of the great povers, which had been assembled by the icfiueuce of the English Government at London, has broken up without effecting any object whatever. The truce which was agreed to, pending the deliberation of the Conference, has come to an end, and the war has re-commenced. Holstein and Schleswig have been forcibly taken by German arms, and Jutland itself is occupied by Prussian troops as a security for the expenses of the war. In a short tine, Denmark, as a country, must be conpletely conquered and blotted out of the map of Europe, unless some change takes place in the aspect of affairs. Tie struggle between so small a kingdom as Denmark, and three such collossal neighbors as Prussia, Austria, and the txei-man States, cannot be one of very long duration. But whether the rest of Europe will standby and see an ancient monarchy thus destroyed, is another question. Denmark has throughout pursued her own policy, unmoved by the counsels which she has from time to time received from the English Government, that is from the Government of Lord Palmerston, but it remains yet to be seen whether the English people will endorse the advice which Earl Russell has tendered. By our last advices we learn that the moment Lord Palmerston announced that the Conference had failed^ the Opposition gave notice of a motion of censure upon the Government; and the rumor went tint that vote would be carried, and that Lord Palmerston would forthwith dissolve. Never in our memory will so momentous an election have taken place. The question of peace or war will be put distinctly to the people on every hustings in the United Kingdom. We can have little doubt of the result. Whatever may be the abstract right or wrong in the q-iarrel, whatever may be the validity of the claim of the Duke of Augustenburg to the Dukedom, or the right of the Duchies to independence as members of the German family; whatever may be the truth of the assertion that the German population of the Duchies —and a very large part of population are undoubtedly German —have been subjected to oppression at the hands of the Danish Government: whatever, in short, may be said upon that side of the question, the voice of the people, if appealed to, will, we believe, be all the other way. The nature of the appeal that will be made is one affording such elements for awaliing the sympathies of Englishmen, that we cannot but feel it will prevail. Apart from the right of Denmark to enjoy these ancient and hereditary appendages of its Crown, it will be said — '' This is our ancient ally, a small State, but an heroic people. Shall we allow national law to He violated in its person r Are old land marks to be removed merely to gratify the ambition of Prussia to get ports on the North Sea? Denmark is a free State, far more advanced in liberty than Prussia, whose monarch has only just escaped a war with his own subjects by inciting them to commit this outrage on a neighbor. It is a war of liberty against absolutism." All this has been said, and something like this, doubtless, lies at the bottom of the sentiment which is all but universal in England in favor of Denmark. The House of Commons is a very fair pulse of the temper of England, and the burst of applause taken up and repeated again and again, when the news arrived that the Danish fleet had been victorious in the action oft' Heligoland, and was too marked to leave any doubt as to which was the popular side. If, then, the House of Commons is dissolved,-the reply of the people will be —War. And what does war saean in the present aspect of Europe? If England goes to war with Germany, Erance has far too deep an interest in the result to keep out of the struggle. The removal of Lord Palmerstonfrpin office may indeed tend to weaken theErench alliance, were it not that the wily Emperor knows too well to abandon .hisultimate.objects for the sake of personal predilections. Those fair Rhine Provinces, so long the Bath.sb.eba of France, —their time will have come ;at last. Erance will fight again for "an dea,'',.h\it by some unforseen necessity the Rhine 1 provinces will share the fate of Nice and Savoy. - ... ,- „- j -And why will .Italy be quiet?—Aus r tria's extremity is Italy-s opportunity, has been the maxim which has sustained the hope of her stat^menjfor' tq^y j 4 y&tf. li'felicirfrHo^eV^'ihife cfr%gte

be regarded, it , can hardly fail to bebecome a great European war. But the greatest question of all remains, — what will Busssia do ? We have not been able to gather from any indications, which side Russia" may take, or whether she may be involved at all -in-.- this war. That her profoundly sagacious policy, and her un-', erring aggressive instincts will dictate to her that course which will result in he;' aggrandizement, cannot be doubted. /J?he .part. ; which .Eussia. may take in any European struggle is one which becomes every day of increased moment to the Australasian polonies. Ilussia has ever pined for 'maritime power, and she has 1 lavished an empire's resources to overcome the difficulties which Nature has placed in her way. Debarred by the inhospitable climate of the Baltic from the possibility, of becoming a naval power on the Atlantic,' she has turned her eye with _a glance that embraces half the globe to her ports on the coast of the Pacific. . For the last eight or ten years Russia has been rearing up a new Sevastopol within- the Amoor River, and if report speaks true, has been building and fitting out a fleet in that remote region. If these reports speak truly, the Amoor River becomes a point upon Avhich the whole interest of these colonies should be concentrated. If a nation which has no great trade to protect, and no enemies whatever to protect it against, lays out vast riches in creating enormous _ fleets and arsenals, in these remote seas, it can be for no object but that of agression on her neighbors. And if England were to engage in a war with Russia, there can be little doubt but that it is at these colonies the first blow would be struck. We can conceive no colony which could offer such attractions to an enemy as New Zealand at the present moment. Russia knows well what goldfields are to a nation, from her own experience in the Ural Mountains. A rich group of islands, teeming with gold, and entangled in an intestine war, would present a natural object of attack to an enemy having the command of the seas. New Zealand, first conquered, would form an admirable focus from which to attack the cities of Australia ; and her ports ouce seized, and fortified, as they would instantly be by the wise foresight of a military empire, would form a centre from which she could^ command the whole traffic of the Pacific. Shall we be told these are fancies? Who anticipated the present struggle in America? Who foretells any great struggle, or is listened to if he does ? Vet certain it is to us that in any great European struggle Russia will not be long unengaged, and that, if engaged, it will bo against the nations who crippled her power in the Black Sea. Equally clear it. is to us that, in any Russian war, the Australian colonies will be the first point of attack, and of these colonies, New Zealand, because its harbors are most easily seized, and most readily defended. Of such vast importance is this subject that we should deem it a very prudent step if the Government of Australia were to send up a secret envoy to visit and report on the works in the Amoor River. In tho last war, all the ships in the Pacific had been sent round from Europe. It consisted of that small fleet that was engaged at Petropaulowski, had which escaped in a fog and got into the Amoor River. That was in 1555. It was from that time tliat the arsenal was said to have been commenced, and nine years is long enough to have made very vast preparations ; and it is of the utmost importance that we should have reliable intelligence of what those preparations consist. But in the meantime, it is an act of positive insanity —we can find no other word for such predestinated blindness than insanity — to leave such a country as New Zealand comparatively unarmed ; and we should call nothing armed short of some hundred guns and 20,000 or 30,000 stand of rifles. There is a vote for arms put on the Estimates of our Provincial Council annually, but the Government has alway looked upon it as a joke, and has never got the arms. How long is this indifference to continue ? We should fear no armament which could be sent agaiiidt this island being able to hold it against the settlers, if they were properly armed. We cannot make arms, but we can buy them and have them by us in case of need ; and if we are not prepared to pay for this trifling insurance on our national liberty we thoroughly deserve to lose it. — Press.