LONDON TIMES AND NEW ZEALAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 19 August 1907, Page 4

LONDON TIMES AND NEW ZEALAND.

I Says ibe London Times of the oth 'July:— The announcement that the i Home (ioverniient have consented, on tlie receipt of a resolution from the co- f lonial Parliament, to advise the King I to raise the status of New Zealand to j that of a Dominion is an indication of i, the growth of Imperialism in another of our great colonies The motives which I have induced New Zealand to desire a change are sufficiently obvious. At one i period it seemed possible that the collony might be enrolled among the States of the Australian Commonwealth; and although she has stood aloof from federation schemes for some years before the proposal for the formation of the Commonwealth took definite shape Tn 181111, she was at that time still desirous that provi>: n -houM Im* made in the Com-mc'.-vealth Act for her eventual admission on the same terms as the original States.. Since then, however, the progress of ?Tew Zealand has been rapid, and the powerful argument supplied by the thousand miles of ocean which -''liars te her from the Australian Continent has been reinforced by growing confidence in her power to stand alone and to hold her own as a separate and an independent member of the Imperial family. The change in her designation is an overt recognition of the justice of her claim to be regarded as holding a position among the self-governing States similar to that of Canada and Australia, and, we hope, In the near future, of South Africa. Neither her area nor her

population is such as can give her quite the same importance as those vast continents or sub-contients, but her resources and the energy anil strong Imperial sentiment of her population arc unmistakeable indications of the in-

creasingly important role she is destined to play." For the position she has so rapidly attained New Zealand is in large measure indebted to the immense energy of the late Mr Seddon, and in her present Premier she appears to have found for him no unworthy successor. The part played with both firmness and selfrestraint by Sir Joseph Ward at the Conference showed him to be a staunch and enlightened champion of the cause of Imperial unity. Under his leadership we have no doubt that New Zealand will continue to make swift progress and that her future development will fully justify the change of status recommended by the Imperial Government.