THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 1909. THE VITAL PROBLEM OF IMPERIALISM.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3217, 15 June 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 1909. THE VITAL PROBLEM OF IMPERIALISM.

It is time to recognise that the problem which is to be discussed in detail particularity by the delegates attending the forthcoming Naval and Military Conference, convened by the British Government, is no less than that of devising some common phn by which the continued existence °f the British Empire may be assured. Since tte opening of the twentieth century history has been made rapidly. Events i/i the regions known.as the Par East an 3 the Near East have succeeded each other with bewildering rapidity, ani it is made clear to the dullest mind that the old~re>ime of peaceful progress within the Britfsh Empire cannot go on much longer undisturbed by the powerful, ambitious, and well-organised nations that regard Britain's possessions with ill-concealed covetousness, and Britain's claim to sea supremacy as "an intolerable assumption of superiority." Effective steps, in short, must be promptly taken to keep the British Empire together. Otherwise there is a grave risk that it may go to pieces under the shock of collision with the mighty forces that are being ranged against it. In the face of the peril that confronts every part of the Empire alike, it is natural that spokesmen from every self-governing dependency should meet at the heart of the Empire to consult together as to the b:st means of defence against a danger not intangible, visionary, and remote, but clear, actual, <jnd pressing. Thfi problem to be solved is complicated by the necessity of safeguarding the particular interests of each dependency which clings to its individual rights with a fervour that ignores the larger issue involved. It will be for the clear-thinkers at the approaching conference to prove to those who are dominated by purely local patriotism that there can be no security without sacrifices, and that insistence upon the right to nay next to nothing ( for Imperial defence while taxing those imports from Britain that must find markets if Britain is to remain financially competent to maintain her navy, is the way that leads not to safety but to destruction.

TOPICAL READING.

THE GAMING ACT. "The Gaining ai?d Lotteries Act of last session/' said Mr G. V. Pearce (Patea) in the House of Representatives on Saturday last, "was supposed to reduce the amount of gambling. But what has it done? It has increased it very much." Some time ago, he added, he had been at a race meeting where two or three bookmakers were nearly killed by the crowd. If such things" were allowed to go on there would in time be murder done. He thought anyone who knew anything about racing would confirm what he said.

SIR JOSEPH'S PREDICAMENT.

Sir Joseph Ward's predicament continues to provide matter "for amusing specuiation, remarks the "Citizen." Despite the plteuus picture he draws of the discomforts of travelling first class round the world, the public have made up their minds that Sir Joseph is as desperately anxious to be off to the latest Imperial picnic as he is mortally afraid of the country discovering during his absence that his services are not indispensable. The Opposition Press, with that remarkable unanimity which characterises it on such occasions, have decided that it would.be a shocking dereliction of duty for the Prime Minister to leave Mew Zealand at present.

GOVERNMENT ECONOMICS.

So long as Ministers are making a genuine and impartial effort to effect economies objections sh<%ld not be raised without excellent reasons. If favouritism is shown it will be a difficult matter, but at present there seetrs to be no reason to suspect this. The administative departments have become overgrown, and a remedy is necessary. Its application will be unpleasant, and possibly in some cases there will be a certain amount of hardship, but Ministsrs may be depanded upon to reduce this to a minimum. The displacement of a considerable number of Civil servants may take some time to overcome, but, says the Taranaki "Herald," the condition of the Dominion as a whole will be infinitely better for the purging after the first effect has subsided.