THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1911. NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10527, 15 January 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1911. NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA

The Labour Conference \vliidh sat at Robart last week" and Sylhich, was attended by the MiiiiEtei' of the Common wealth and representative politicians of the respective States,/.Displayed quite a keen, if not an altogether intelligent interest in the affairs of New Zealand. The carrying of a resolution in favour of the Federation of New Zealand with the; Commonwealth States may be taken as an. uidioatioii of a desire to. assist the. workers of this Dominion in securing adequate representation in thle Councils of State. It is quite true, as was pointed out 'by the Hon. A. Fisher, th'at in some Tespects. tlie interests of New Zealand are identical wit hthose of Australia. Li the matter of defence, for instance, it may 'be assumed that there is a common interest throughout the whole of the Pacific islands. In respect to the ■mercantile marine and the preservation of a white population it may also be said "taiat the aspirations of the various iStates are identical. Whether these interests could be more effectively conserved under a Federal GoI vernment, however, is open to seri'ous doubt. Tihe late Mr Seddun, when approached in the matter of federation, fought shy,of it on several important and well-defined lines. TfbJe wisdom of his action has never ■been dlotilbted, and it is safe -to say that public sentiment in this Dominion is more strongjly opposed to Federation, to-day than it was ten.years I ago. The experience of Australia xuider the Common wealth Government iias not been happy. The policies of the State Bar laments have been anything''but identical, and the fiscal issue, has created continuous heartburnings. The "tight little island" of- Tasmania has been reduced to a condition of impoverishment fhirough its federation with the larger States, and Queensland has'for years been anxious to relieve itself of the millstone which has mmg about its neck. At the present moment New Zealand would have all to lose, and very little,to gain oy federation with

the Gomimonwealth. Even, in the matter of defence it is not by any means sure that the Dominion would derive a very distinct advantage by joining itself to a Continent which Inas millions of acres of unoccupied territory, and thousands of miles of coast-lino to he protected against the I i Asiatic. New Zealand has contrived [ during the last seventy years to manage its own affairs, with the assistance of the British money-lender, and there is no reason why it should continue to work out its own destiny.* At the same time, tlhere is an abundance of room for improved..commetrcaal' relations between New Zealand and the Commonwealth. The tariffs-, of tiki two countries are at .present fulil of anomalies Which are embarras- ] sing to trade. There is no apparent- ' ly good reason, why there should not j be a free exchange of commodities as . between the Dominion and Australia. j This would at least tend to protect hthe consumer against the abnormal ' conditions occasionally experienced. I If-the Commonweaatb Government is genuinely diesiirous of closer commercial irelations with New Zoa'land, it will talc© the initiative in bringing about a reciprocal tariff. There would, j wie .feel suTe, be a ready response on the. part of this Dominion. Any movement in the direction cf federa- j tion wouM.be futile, for the reason] "that New Zealand has never had''as- j I pirations in that direction-, and is not likely to have so long as its condition Lremains prosperous. |