THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1908. STRENGTHENING THE SILKEN BONDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9042, 18 March 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1908. STRENGTHENING THE SILKEN BONDS.

Anything that tends to bring the different portions of the Empire into closer friendly touch with each other can only be beneficial to all. One method of securing this end was hit upon by the rranagementof the Overseas edition of the "Daily Mail" last year. It took the form cf an intercolonial rifle-shooting competition which was fired off upon Inter-Colon-ial Empire Day, May 24th, and proved such a success that efforts are being made to secure even better results this year. The idea of getting every part of the Colonial Empire to take part in a contest of the kind is an excellent one, and deserves every encouragement. Not only does it tend to add to the interest taken in the separate parts of tiie scattered possessions of Great Britain, but it gives encouragement to the young men of the various States to practice the art of shooting straight—a great desideratum in countries that must depend upon their citizens to resist foreign aggression. Writing in approval of the "Daily Mail's" movement, Lord Roberts remarks: —"Anything that tends to draw closer the ties that unite the colonies to each other and to the Mother Country , should be encouraged, more especially I a competition like this where the weapon is one the attainment of skill j in the use of which by all good citi-

Zens will do much to strengthen the j defences of the Empire. I wish the competition all success and hope its scope may be enlarged year by year." It is interesting to learn that the project is arousing an extraordinary amount of interest in all parts of the British dominions, and that forty rifle clubs and associations in Canada have already entered for the competition, the chief prize for which is a handsome solid silver cup, valued at fifty guineas. South Africa has so far contributed fourteen entries, embrac- ' ing Cape Colony, Natal, and Rhodesia; and Newfoundland, Brit'sh West Indies, British Honduras, Channel Islands, India, an. 1 , Straits Settlement, have also decided to compete, While already two New Zealand Rifle Clubs have entered — Opaki Rifles (Masterton) and Waikino Rifles (Auckland). It is anticipated that the movement is destined to have farreaching results, and we trust it may have. The match will be shot, under Bialey rules, simultaneously in the several countries competing. All competitors are to be bona fide members of the association under which they shoot; the ranges are 200 yards, 500 yards and 600 yards, seven scoring shots and a sightcr at each range; any position with head to target. Certified score sheets are to be posted to the Over-seas "Daily Mail." In addition to the cup, which may be held tor a year by the president or captain of the winning association or club, a silver star will be presented to each member of the winning team, and bronze medals will go to the several members of the second, third, fourth and fifth teams. There, is thus sufficient inducement for large entries. It is to be hoped that the rifle clubs of the dominion will be strongly represented on the 24th May, and we would specially urge the Wairarapa clubs which have not already entered to nominate at once. A resident of this district has just secured the Champion Belt in connection with the New Zealand Defence Forces' Rifle Association Meeting, and it \vauld be something for our district to be especially proud of if a Wairarapa team won the "Daily Mail'" Cup in an empire-wide competition.

About the beginning of this month we suggested the advisability of regulations being made fixing the time when country may be fired for clearance purposes, and pointing out how settlers could do much to minimise the danger of the spread of fires by clearing spaces around their "burns." Since then the necessity for specific official regulations, and for care on the part of settlers who desire to clear their land by fire> nas been more than once demonstrated. The latest instance reiat&s to the fire which did damage to several holdings at Weraiti last week. The "burn" upon one property spread to others, and much labour was required to stay the further progress of the flames. It is not suggested that anyone'is blamable in the matter, but if the State took the question of "burns" in hand to the extent of deciding when and how they should be effected, the probability is that the damage done through "clearanc3 fires" would be minimised. We again commend the matter to the attention of the authorities.