The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1878.

Waikato Times, Volume XII, Issue 1002, 23 November 1878, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1878.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. *'* » * * Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by hxfuiflncfl and taibribed by gain.

Prom the calograms published today it would seem that Lord Beaconsfield holds the opinion that, threatening as matters may appear in India there is certainly no immediate, and probably no real danger, or he "would scarcely have declined to receive the deputation which waited upon him to urge the. necessity of calling Parliament together in the face of the Afghan difficulty. And in his dealing with the European complications, through which he has steered with honor to the nation and credit to himself as a diplomatist, Lord Bea cousßeld has given ample guarantee that the people may lean with safety on the confidence which he feels in a peaceful solution of the difficulty. Most people thought a month ago, or less, that war with Russia was inevitable. That country evinced a decided determination to break through the terms of the treaty of Berlin; but Lord Beaconsfied was prepared for such a contingency, and just as, shortly after the Berlin Conference, the public was astonished by the master-stroke effected by the Anglo-Turkish convention, so, quite recently, have they been surprised by the masterly manner in which the Czar's advance in Ronmelia, professedly for the security of the Christian population from violence, was met. Then for the first time it became known that foreseing such a contingency a secret treaty had been made between Austria and Great Britain to compel the observance of the Berlin Treaty, and the Czar was checkmated by the declaration of Greit Britain and Austria, that they WGald undertake this duty themselves. It may be that, in the case of the Indian difficulty, Lord Beaconsfield knows himself able to give check to the Russian King should a movement hostile to Britain be made in India, and the chief element of danger in the Afghan difficulty is really that of Russian complicity in the quarrel.

Tiieiie is little use in crying over spilt milk, yet we cannot but express a feeling of regret that Great Britain should have left the Sanioan Islands to be annexed to and colonised by Germany. The calogram which we recently published that a Berlin telegram stated that Germany had determined to occupy die whole of the Samoau Group, has doubtlfiss been acted upon before now, anil Samoa, like New Calodonia to the French,vwill occupy in future times the position of an advauecd German outpost amongstthe A nglo-Australian countries in the Pacific. It is less, however, as an advanced post in (times of war, than as a producer of rwatfiy valuable articles of commerce thai. tUe tozfl will bo most felt, for undoubted'! v vhorn is much truth in the adage Tirade follows the iJag, and it is but. due w i'lies#i7Ja£.e<jfc

of colonial statesmen to put on record the fact that in season and out of season he has persistently urged upon tho Government of Great Britain and the desirability o( a:>nnx'Tiig these'islands. Evon so late as in the speech delivered before the CJolopial Institute, in March lust, tliia step was forcibly urged and many excellent reasons were adduced in favor of it. *' It was a wise step," said Sir 'Julius Vogel, "of the British Govern inont to take possession of Fiji. Wiser still would it be to take possession of Hie Samoa and New Hebrides Groups." But the tdvico has been urged in vain, and just as tho British Government neglected to avail themselves of the strong represcntations mado by Sir George Grey in the case of New Caledonia, before the French took possession of it, so have t ey now acted in that of the Samoan Islands. If wa refer to the paper read on the occasion above alluded to, we shall find that even at the present time the trade of Samoa is something considerable, though of course the mere germ of what it will' grow to when the islands corte to be colonised by Europeans. The chief product is the copra or dried cocoanut, and of this product we find Samoa exported in 1875 £IOI,OOO worth. We have a copra mill at work in Auckland for the extract of the oil, and the refuse or copra cake has already found its way into Waikato and proved itself of considerable | value as food for stock. The greater part of the copra produced not only at the Samoau but at other South l Sealslands finds its way to Germany, I where an unlimited demand exists for it, and to secure and devolop this trade has doubtless moreimmediately | led to the annexation of Samoa by that country. In 1875, the imports and exports of Samoa were double those of Fiji of a year later, the imports of the latter being £112,000 as against .£241,000 of the former, ! and the exports of Fiji £107,000, as against £227,000 of Samoa. It is not difficult therefore to understood why, if it was wise to annex Fiji, it would have been wiser still to have annexed Samoa. The islands yield many valuable indigenous products and are suitable for the growth of coffee, sugar, cotton, tobacco, arrowroot, indiarubber, maize and various other tropical and semi-tropical productions.