PAKIHI LITERARY SOCIETY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2692, 31 July 1894, Page 3

PAKIHI LITERARY SOCIETY.

The fifth meeting of this society was held on Wednesday evening last, the attendance, as usual, being very good. Mr W. Oadwallader carried out the onerous duties of chairman in a very satisfactory manner. Miss Borrie read the story, entitled “ The Silent Soldier,” which was a sketch of the life of General Grant. Miss B. Taylor gave a brief summary of the newspaper events, containing an account of the general strikes of theworld at the present time, the earthquakes in Turkey, the Anarchists, Coolgardie mines, the. probable war with China and Japan, and several smaller events. The fact that Mr Maslin had been instrumental in getting the express to stop at Bangitata station was received with applause. A paper was read by one of the members, entitled New Zealand in the next great war. It was not an original production. The writer explained that the paper was not written in the spirit of an alarmist, but it was his intention to give, as far as it is possible, the present status of the respective navies of Europe; to draw attention to the possible hostility that might occur between ourselves and the Dual Alliance (France and Russia); to illustrate that in the event of such a war being forced upon us the English navy would be inadequate to prevent the combined navies of our enemies making raids upon the most vulnerable points of the British Empire —her colonies. Nothing was more certain than in the case of the Mother Country unhappily becoming involved in a war with either Russia or France that New Zealand would have to fight for her own existence, for the object of these Powers was to secure New Zealand and make it the basis of their naval operations to extend their conquests in the Pacific. It was shown that our colony contains upwards of 600,000 inhabitants, but the main defence is a force of 5,821 volunteers, the best equipped portions of which force appears to be, at present, the garrison bands. We have also, on an average, only one gunboat and a-half to defend our coast when the other Australian colonies have been provided for. The writer argued that it was high time some step was taken to place on a more adequate footing the defences of our colony, and suggested wajs and means of doing so. The paper, which was rather lengthy, did not prove monotonous, owing to its being interspersed wth appropriate music, songs, and recitations, and the audience listened with marked attention. Songs were rendered by Miss B, Taylor and Mr Irwin, and recitations were given by Misses Borrie and M. Irwin, and Messrs Buck and Rainey. Mr W. Gadwallader played a selection of airs on the violin. The usual votes of thanks closed the meeting. The debate for next meeting will be : “ Is war a necessity.”