The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. TUESDAY, NOV. 20, 1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2553, 20 November 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. TUESDAY, NOV. 20, 1888.

In the new Melbourne monthly magazine, The Centennial, Mr F. J. Moss, member for Parnell, publishes a paper on Federation written, as he stylos it, from a New Zealand standpoint. It is worthy of note not for its value, which is small, but for the manner in which the writer argues the subject, which assumes an entirely negative side. It is rather ambitious to claim for his views, as expressed in the article, that they are a reflex of the opinions on the question of Federation, eithei Imperial or Australasian, held by the people of New Zealand as a whole It would be more correct and de cidedly less presumptions to entitle the paper, Federation from the standpoint of F. J. Moss. The honourable member enjoys a sing ular reputation for being evei in the minority on all great ques tions ; there is a peculiar fauity that influences his actions and de cisions and is eternally placing hirr. on the losing side. The very firs! sentence with which the artich opens is characteristic of the writer's extraordinary obliquity of vision " The Federation of English-speak-ing people vax an idea attractive in its'grandiur, but it lost that gran deur when it was " whittled " clowr to Imperial Federation ; ri that is the dicturm of Mr Moss. Anglo-Saxon Federation has never lost the gran deur of its conception; it is still within the regions of lofty aspiration and sentiment, and so far from having lost its attractiveness, it has retained its hold on largo minds

both in England and America and, as a distinct, question, is gradually •ncrging from the ideal to tlie st'igo of political practicability. Our telegrams this very day iittbrd an indication of the truth of this .statement, in tin? declaration of America's readiness to defend England in the hour of danger. Imperial Federation, though intimately i.llied to the broader question, has yet a separate existence, grand also in itself and coming much nearer within the range of practical politics. The paper teems with one sentence after the other, in which arguments are adduced on false premises, in which we see the xtiggestio fuhi with and without the suppressio veri, to suit the convenience of the writer and his passion for catchpenny cant, that denote the peculiar lines of thought to which he lias become habituated. Thus in his fanciful enumeration of the virtues of the colonial democratic system, he says they (the colonials) " desire to avoid in any way helping by law to a monopoly of the land and to the creation of a confirmed pauper class." Nevertheless the Legislature, of which Mr Moss has been a member for many years and, therefore, by his help, has assisted the creation of immense estates, bestowed millions of acres on railway companies, and introduced a poor law to provide for the pauper class that has been formed by its reckless policy of the last fifteen years. Again Mr Moss states that " they know well that in order to continue Democratic the masses must not be allowed, by growing up in iguorance, to become the blind tools of other classes." There is a delightful vagueness about this sentence, that sounds like a weak effort at Greyite ratiocination. It can hardly be denied that whether they are

ignorant or not, the masses at this moment possess the preponderance af power and the " other classes " ire their political tools, as Mr Moss ought to know. In fact the masses form that ruling class, though the writer rejoices in the absence of such i class in the colonies, and for the latter reason, he argues, they possess no 11 love of conquest, and no ambition to go forth as a victorious people." raking this statement in the light of recent events, such as the clamour of the colonies for the annexation of New Guinea, New Hebrides and a liosfc of other portions of the Pacific Islands, the isolated demands of New Zealand for the annexation of the Hervey Group, and the ambitious design in the despatch of the Soudan contingent, we cannot help being struck with the suppression of patent facts by the writer. His injonsistency or forgetfulness is apparent also when in another part of iiis paper Mr Moss says that " the jolonies must share, with powerful ind perhaps hereafter hostile countries, the possession of the great jcean." What does that mean if not a prognostication of a development of the spirit of conquest and xmbition to-be victorious over other powers? In arguing against the broad aspect of the question Mr Moss introduces a host of supposititious side issues bearing on the internal domestic affairs of the respective colonies that are quite foreign to the main subject, which jan only comprehend questions that ire entirely Imperial and affect the general well-being and consolidation jf the whole Empire. Mr Moss ;peaks of Federation being only i union of Governments and lot of the people, as though our governing system was an absolute nstead of the purely democraticone t is, No great question could be vecomplished without the consent of Parliament; Parliament is elected >y the people, represents the people ind carries out their will. Therefore ,he union if effected would be i union of the people a;reed to by them through their :hosen Parliaments respectively. This is on a par with Mr Moss' injection to a union on parchment. \s well object to an Act of Parliament or the Constitution itself, >ecause they are embodied indelibly in paper for safe depository in the lational archives; clear written laws, iot oral ones. He lalkes about ' constituencies " electing delegates ,o the Central Parliament, when he ihould know that if Federation jecomes an accomplished fact, the supreme Council, or whatever it nay be termed, would be composed >f members elected not by conitituencies in the sense he uses the mine, but by each colonial Parlianent who are a reflex of the. people. In this connection Mr Moss takes it upon himself to )bject to wealthy men as delegates. He seems to think it a crime for a ;olonist to raise himself from a nimble position by dint of industry md perssverance to a higher sphere nthesocial scale,in which hecanhave gutter and wider opportunities of levoting his abilities and time to the service of his country. It is ever so with the unsuccessful man who ;an never rise even to mediocrity ; lie envies his successful fellowmen ind is always prating about " the masses." The man who forces himself upwards to wealth and position iffoi'ds a noble example to his countrymen and the youth who follow him, and blessed is the land that possesses many such to become its egislators and guides. In his admiration of Mr Gladstone, Mr Moss rorgofc the man who humiliated England in the abject apology he nade to Austria, and scuttled out >f the Transvaal when the blunder md incapacity of his policy endangered his Government and his popuarity. Speaking of New Zealand, md the attitude he advises her to issume in respect to Australasian Federation, Mr Moss displays a 'my high notion of her ability to ■usi.st attack from external enemies, md indulges in mock heroics over ier fighting possibilities. He beieves in the Australian colonies miting and securing a uniformity of ariffs, ifec, but prefers to see this lolony playing a " lone hand. ,. It

would be disastrous to the trade and manufacturers of the colony if it refused to join a confederation of the kind. It, is true the insular position of New Zealand would necessitate special consideration being given, but there, need be no standing aloof from such a movement should it be near accomplishment. The nightmare of coloured labour is only a nightmare raised in the fanciful brains of a small school of politicians. Under no circumstances would New Zealand be in clanger of such an evil within her borders. To put an end to all the tariff rivalries and legislative contentions continually occurring, a ival political union of the scattered parts are a necessity to give solidity to the Empire other than a mere sentimental one. Like the Dominion of Canada, let us see an Australasian and an African Dominion, to become welded together in the greater and grander crowning work of a confederation of the whole of Britain's majestic Empire.