The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. TUESDAY, DEC. 4, 1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2559, 4 December 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

TUESDAY, DEC. 4, 1888.

Equal and exact lustice to all men, . Of whatsoever state or jmrsuasion, religious or political. _

Tiie controversy over the appointment of Sir H. A. Bbike to the governorship of Queensland, and the claim set up by that and other colonies to a participating voice in the choice of a governor, giving rise to many issues affecting the prerogative of the Crown, has set people thinking on the duiation of the .British power. It may appear that these conflicts between the colonies and Mother Country on questions of constitutional privileges and rights portend an ultimate severance of the former by a continual weakening of the ties that bind them to the parent land. It is thought, therefore, that by the loss of her present colonial empire the might, majesty and supremacy of Great Britain would wane, and she would speedily decay into a very inferior power. Without entering upon the truth ov merits of these phases of the question, or whether the colonies consider themselves sufficiently strong to stand alone without England's aid, or whether even, if they were to become independent States, their secession would bring political dis- | aster on the British Empire, it may be interesting to tako a glance at the work England is now doing in other parts of the world, and see for ourselves whether there is any contraction in the immense scope of her destiny, or if it can be conceded that she has yet readied the zenith of lier career. When, more than a century ago, England lost almost the whole of her richest foreign possessions, at a time when she was exhausted and drained very low by a succession of terrible wars, the serious loss of territory did not lower her power or prestige. Though America was politically lost to her England his retained her

commercial supremacy in the trade with her old colonies, whilst a new empire sprang into being in another and distant quarter of the Globe to compensate her people and Crown for the defection of the other. As time has passed on even this new empire is said to he of arwagc when it can separate from parental control and become enrolled amongst the sovereign nations of the earth. We do not for a moment believe such a thing vvillcometopass, but that on the contrary, unification in a general scheme of Confederation will ensue. Still, for the sake of argument we may suppose such an event as separation taking place. We would then Cud yet atiolh'T Empire under the meteor ll:>g of Great Britain succeeding the present colonial possessions. Putting aside the Canadian dominion and the recent enormous extension of territory in North America and other annexations, Kngland has been quietly laying clown the foundations ot a magnificent empire in Africa, which will equal, if not surpass, many of her old and present, dominions in wealth

and importance as it becomes developed under tlie enterprise and indomitable perseverance of her people. If the colonics of the Antipodes cut themselves off from the British Empire, the talent of British statesmen mid the attention of the British Government will be turned to new tields with new and valuable interests, which recent immense acquisitions and triumphs have placed in their hands. It is known how British influence has grown in the land of Egypt, from the time Napoleon T. contested with England for the control of this highway to the East clown to the rebellion of A rabi Pasha and the revolt of the Mahdi. Despite the operations of party factions in the Imperial Parliament that would either lessen or withdraw altogether British interference in the valley of the Nile,

there appears to tie mi unseen influence directing the policy of her statesman to maintain for Great Britain the supreme control in the afl'airs of the East. Let the disruption of European Turkey come when it may, England's voice will lie heard to 'dominate in the Levant and her grip of Egypt will grow (inter. For many years past Britain has devoted the blood of her chivalry and her treasure in carryin" on extensive explorations in the interior of the Dark Continent, in the suppression ot tho hortime traffic in human beings and in carrying to the savage inhabitants a knowledge of the Gospel and its civilising effects. Amongst a host of noble nieti who have sacrificed their time and lives in the work of subjugation and c^s " corery, the names of Baker, Grant, Livingstone, Gordon, Stanley are emblazoned in the galaxy. British enterprise has lieen establishing trade ami c&qjwew along

tin- Kiistirn '''oast, and in the int Tior where lie tin; vast hikes and magnificent watershed of noble rivers. I'lie advent of British rule has ilms itself lifo.ii preparing surely and steiulilv. linnieiise, acquisitions of country have lienn uiailo From tin; Delta the, Nile to the Soudan mill Upper ifigypt and Kordofan, then to the regions of tlie great lakes, AMitjrt Nyanza, Victoria Nyanzn., Lake Tanganyika, the Zambesi and Lake Nyassa, clown to Cape Colony, presenting a stretch of territory r>f unbouncli-d resources, fertility and dense population nearly four thousand miles in length, from the Red Sea, broken only by the Kingdom of Abyssinia, the British annexations take in the vast country of the Som.ilis, a, considerable portion o£ the Zanzibar coast with the country inter vening between I hat and the great hike districts, a portion of the Mozambique coast to Zululand and thence to the Cape of Good Hope. Fully five thousand miles of coast line have, by these additions to her possessions, fallen under the control of the British race. Stations have been established, affording new outlets for British manufactures and the extension of British trade. Routes have been opened to the rich provinces in the interior, and British steamers are plying between the shores of the great lakes. Railways are being projected that, when successfully constructed, will enormously develop the trade and commerce of the British people and flag. There is a glorious destiny before Great Britain in the work she has to do in moulding this new and vast empire of magnificent proportions, when her linn but beneficial sway has become solidly erected throughout these regions, when the horrors of the slave trade have been suppressed as suttee and juggernaut were abolished in India, when the hordes of African population have been moulded into peaceful and happy subjection to her rule and use, and the illimitable resources of the country have been brought under the magic touch of British progress. There is a superb structure in Africa for Britain to erect that will shed greater lustre on her fame and engage all her political and economic energies, expand her : already vast mercantile supremacy and enrich her people, long after Australasia shall have become detached from the British Empire, if that latter event should be ever determined upon.