NERVES OF THE EMPIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 219, 21 October 1909, Page 2

NERVES OF THE EMPIRE.

- "•-> *•»*' xuu JLAiriltU. An <?lo<iuent and impressive appeal for <1 Suite-owned cable service for tile EniI' 11 ' '"'en made in the London press •'-V J lr- Henniker Heaton, ir.P., the champion of cheap communications. Incidentally it is intcn-stiiijr'io us in Xe<v Zealand for the tribute that is paid to the i'rinie Minister of this Domniinn. and for the view taken by so keen anil , able an Imperial statesman as Mr. Heaton of our Premier's recent visit 10 tliu Defence Conference. '-The fate of our Empire, the future of our race," the member for Canterbury writes, "may depend on the decisions of the Unitw} Imperial Defence delegates. The great consultation just concluded in the capital of the Empire represents the critical opportunity oj a century, and will be memorable for good or ill in our onnals. On a recent Sunday morning the first invader reached Dover in an aeroplane—all event wliic'b, Lord Roberts holds,

miiv revolutionise the art uf war, On the fullowiug Jloiidav fate I»r«u«iit tkI'niiiß Minister of New Zealand, sir ■lciscpli Ward, also to Dover, and we saw Miiiietliiug belter than Jour Ilritiv* Dreadnoughts rise to view. With his

I ;in'iviil a ml that of the other rulers lrom our oversea dominions every British statesman felt tlmt a greater element of strength, tlie unity of our liri•'m' 1 !, 1 ' I ™,' constant ami inviiici no. 1 he question of Imperial security, ill safeguarding the dominions from f'ofoes, tile writer goes on to point out, is only one part of our duties. It

is of far greater importance to d everything in our power to secure th solidarity of the .Empire. We have a Empire of stupendous magnitude am boundless resources, but divided into isc latcd and comparatively helpless frag ments liv the ocean. In tile central is lands of' Great Britain and Ireland tli lullest provision is made for the inter communication of the various classes o the population, so that a man in Middle sex may conduct his business with an othe r resident in Donegal or Sutherland shire with practically as much certainty speed, itnd economy as if the two wer living Bve miles apart. On the ot'ne hand, if we look from these tiny islet to the outer bulk of the Imperial fram we see that weeks or months arc requit cd for social intercourse. "The cabl lings have built up a system with eon stimulate cleverness on lines whicl should make it a monopoly in perpelu ity. 'This monopoly is vested in a com pany which, like a huge octopus, ha fastened its tentacles upon almost ever part of the British Empire. By estal: lishing prohibitive rates this tclcgrap ; I system is devoted almost exclusively t I the service of the well-to-do. Ever British emigrant (200,000 leave us ar nually) is cast oft" from the,.Mothc Country as if his patriotism and love c k'iiuiWii and home had no value. A a moment when envious rivals are 100 l ing for a joint in our armor, when db solving forces are actually at work i the Umpire itself, not an' effort slioul lie spared to strengthen and utilise th 'precious sentiment of brotherhood whic nature has planted in the great Angh Saxon race. It is an inspiring concei lion to complete the nerve.eystem of 111 imperial organism by securing for ou countrymen instantaneous cheap an perfect communication by telegrap with all parts of the great body fi'Oi the brain, or, if you like the phras bettor, from London, the heart of th Empire. My arguments'may be sun med up thus.: The Empire as a whoi profits by, and should, therefore, pay Ut and work, every mile of cable and ever wireless station. A pennv rate is th inevitable corollary of this propositioi It is not easy for me to project m, thought into the political world. Bu one may safely assume that so long a 1 merely appeal to the reason, or eve the patriotism, ofooru r rulers, I will h baffled. Our work is ever to edueat the ])ublic up to the point of claimin its birthright—the freest, swiftes! cheapest possible means of communica tion, whether to Vancouver or New Zex land, We want another Mr. Chambei lain to fire the train." Then follow an appeal to Sir Joseph Ward to tak the initiative. "The l'rcmier of Net Zealand," says Mr. Hcnniker Heaton, 'i the Imperial Man of the Hour, and h has many of Mi\ Chamberlain's distim tive qualities. What a splendid and op portunc service he might render the Em pire at this moment if he would otficial ly recommend the proposal for Statt owned cables and wireless communion tions. The conception is worthy of th most illustrious sponsor; so grand, s simple, so near to absolute free and in stantaneous mental intercourse through out his Majesty's dominions! For thi very reason it is bound to revolt th bureaucratic instinct. One can imagin the alarm of petty official intellects a the idea of awakening so tremendou and uncontrollable a force, of rnassin, the public opinion of 300 millions. Wh can foresee the effect of the change o; business—the transfer of intcrnationa correspondence to the wire, the multipli cation of turn-overs, the annexation air opening of markets. And what man o kindly heart can think unmoved of th tide of happiness that would swell up t the very doors of the poor! It is thi long interval between the letter an reply, often one, two or three month, which slowly but surely saps family al lection and brings about forgetfulncsi coldness, estrangement. Without ela; trical intercourse,at a nominal rate ou ties with the colonies require the con stant stimulus of the press, or even o imminent danger, to maintain them; ou Imperial solidarity is a phrase only. A valued friend writes to me as follows; 'Fifty years ago my uncle took his fam iiy to New Zealand. 1 have never heart a word about him since. I have a brother and three nephews in Canaia and a niece, a medical missionary, in the Indian jungle. They arc gradually fading out of my consciousness, like the characters in my favorite romances. 1 .... Th e Lords of Silence are the Cable Kings. How long are we to be under their subjection? The present generation can hardly be expected to male full use of cheap en bus or wireless converse until the sixty Governments of the Empire unite their forces. Then the 300 millions of people will assuredly be tound consulting, bargaining, discussing, planning, even gossiping together by electrical agency from one end of the Empire to the other, and without the slightest regard to meridians and other maginary bars. We are asked to renembcr the Lord of Silence, the Cable lung, a director in Old Broad street, /union. Certainly, he is entitled to air dealing, and we may even treat urn with a generosity which he has not ilways evinced in his transactions. But >e lias shown himself unlit to control iiiy longer our vital means of communialion. [fc is a danger to the Empire, nd. must be pensioned off like an effete rtiltnn or Shah. The cable system must ie nationalised, and at once.'"