ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. (Via Brindisi.) (FORM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 359, 13 April 1889, Page 5

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. (Via Brindisi.) (FORM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

London March 1. SIR JOHN HALL ON FEDERATIONBy the way, I see the "Pall MallGazolte" / has been interviewing tlie ex-Premier of New Zealand on this subject. (Sir John Hall's opi'iions are very definite. He ap proves of iederation for defensive purposes such as is now being enteied upon, and deplores Queensland's obstinacy in declining to join the league. If England were to become involved in war Sir John thinks the colonies would act loyally, i.e., unless the quarrel arose out of a purely European question. Then they might possibly feel the burden of war over a matter in which they Avere in no way concerned a grievance. Sir John thinks the colonies would not care about a Parliament oi Agents-General in London and dismisses the possibility of fiscal federation as a dream. " You musb," he said, "leave the colonies an entirely free hand in the matter of their own Customs tariffs. In New Zealand we are, as regards manufactures, in the same position as England was one hundred years ago. Then England's policy was protectionist ; when we arrive at something like the manufactvuing skill and experience ol the England of to-day, we may think of free trade. In the firet place we must raise a considerable revenue by means of our Customs, and secondly we want to develop New Zealand manufactures. 1 " As the Yankees say, you want to protect your infant industiies ?" " Certainly. It is all very well for people in England to argue the suitability of free trade from the present English point of view, but if you lived in New Zealand you would admit the absolute necessity for considerable Customs duties under our circumstances." ' ' New South Wales is a free • trading colony ?" " Yes, but it will not remain so. I think it is chiefly the great personal influence of Sir H, Parkes that makes New South Wales cling to free trade. It is not a grain-exporting colony. In some seasons wo send corn from New Zealand to Now South Wales, and so I believe do Victoria and South Australia. But Now Zealand is 1,200 miles from the continent of Australia, and our policy and theirs are not necessarily alike. We differ very much in climate, in position, and, what is of no little importance, in having a more constant and general supply of water than the Australian colonies." "Talking of the resources of New Zealand, Sir John, what do you think of Mr Froude's forebodings ? He says you are over-borrowing, and that your young men will not go out into the country, but cling to the towns where public works are going on," Sir John laughed heartily. "I have in my library put Mr Froude's ' Oceana,' among the works of fiction. He landed at Auckland, went a few miles into the country, saw the pink and white terraces, spent a little time with Sir George Grey, a gentleman of peculiar and very extreme views, and upon the strength of this he gave a general desenption of New Zealand. He reminds me of the Frenchman who landed ,at Torquay, fiom a ship driven there by stress of weather. He saw several visitors there (invalids) weating respiiators, and then, returning to France, wrote, a description of the British Isles, in which he announced that the inhabitants were such a savage race that they had to go about with their muzzles on. Yes," laughed Sir John, "Mr Froude's book is a most absurd account of New Zealand, and indeed I may say a mischievous and misleading representation. He never saw the p;reat pastoral or grain-growing distiicts of the colony. As 1 told you, we export grain to Australia. As for our loans, it is true that they are very heavy, but they have been employed to build railways and roads and harbours — all useful expenditure. Of course the roads are not direct sources of revenue as the railways are, but a young colony needs such expenditure to develop its resources, and indirectly it is largely productive." " And as to emigration ?" "As far as emigration goes we continue to receive spontaneous emigration, but State-supported emigration might cause diiHculties. As Lord Derby A r ery wisely said the other day, 'In the colonies the working man is nuster, and the working man naturally objects to too much competition.' " " What do you think of the question which has arisen as to whether the colonies should be consulted in the appointment of Governor ? ' "The Governor should certainly be appointed from Home. The Colonial Secietary should make it hi& business to know something of the feeling in the colonies and to know whether a particular Governor would be persona grata, but if the colonies were consulted officially it would mean that the Government of the colony for the time being would have the appointment of Governor, and the Governor would not be able to bold tho balance quite impartially between the two parties. It wa.s said that New Zealand was agreeing with Queensland in this matter, but from the New Zealand papeis to hand I see that it is nothing of the sort." As our representative loft, Sir John's last words were of the importance of the question of federation, and the necessity tor proceeding with the utmost care, watching for opportunities to draw closer the bonds between the colonies and the mother country, but never forcing any measure, however desirable it might seem. "An excellent suggestion," added Sir John, " is that in both colonies and the mother country a small Customs duty, say two or three per cent., should be charged on all foreign goods in excess of what might be charged on similar goods from the mother country and colonies respectively. The proceeds of this extra duty, which would be a large sum, could be applied to increase the defences of the Empire generally. It would be ample for the purpose. 1 should like to bee this plan adopted, but I presume there is no hope of it so long as the English people continue their worship of absolute free trade." "IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS." Mr Philip Mennell's "In Australian Wilds " only made its appearance on the | bookstalls to-day, but several thousands have during the week been sold to the bier wholesale houses. It is certainly one, of the best shillings or ths of fiction wo have had this year, and admirably got up in every respect. Type and paper are good, while the cover is unusually well designed, j Of the tales, I like Chambers's " TheNe'erdo Weel : " and '• In a" Thirsty Land " best, buY New Zealanders will probably give the preference to Mr Mariiott Watson's story of the Waitiri George, " The Hand of God." Lovers of chit - chat about literary folk will very possibly find (as I did) more entertainment in the facts contained in Mr Mennell's introduction than in llio subsequent fiction. It 'is news to me, though, that "Vogol and Farjcon were associated in the proprietorship of the

.' Otigd Daily Times. 5 " I fancied was merely on the staff of a Dunedin paper. The well-known story of young Cham bore's ambitions boyhood and resolve to succeed ; of his plucky gourney home; and arrival in London with nothing more marketable than f a quill pen in his pockeb ; 'of the long, 'hard and gearing struggle which followed, and of the ultimate triumph, often, let us hope, to be renewed. —all this Mennell tells sym- , pathetically nnd well. He also penetrates the secret of " Tasrna's ' norn deplume, and gives an appreciative sketch of the imaginative young" author of "Marabuna.!' Altogether, the introduction is, as I havo said, interesting, and would sell the book, of itself. Farjeon's contribution, I ought perhap3 to add, is pure Farjepn, i.c, Dickens-cum - Henry-Kingsley-and - water. A good deal of water ! ■