The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING,

us all only too painfully the inefficient state to which
our land forces had been reduced. The Italian war
of NAPOLEON indicated, on the other hand, the
extraordinary state of efficiency arrived at by the
greatest of all the military nations of the con'inent.
The in lifference as to our military defences, conse-
quent upon a prolonged peace, terminated almost
abruptly. England suddenly awoke to the recogni-
tion of the imperative need there was of some com-
plete reorganization of her forces both by land and by
sea. The navy has been transformed. The army has
been transfortnel. The militia has been increased
and multiplied. A National Guard, never dreamt of
but a very few years ago, has, with astounding
rapidity, sprung into existence. Barristers and mer-
chants, shopkeepers and artizans, clerks and work-
men, have volunteered their services as defenders, in
case of need, of their houses an I altars ; hive donned
their uniforms ; have allowed themselyes to be labo-
riously drilled, and have sedulously cultivated their
capabilities in the skilled handling of their rips.
The result being, as we have said, that England is
not to-day what she entirely was in a manner yes-
terday, to all intents and purposes,defenceless. WEL-
LINGTON could say seriously, in 1847, that there
was no reason why forty thousand Frenchmen could
not be landed any day quite easily on our shores, and
marched straight upon the unguarded metropolis.
WELLINGTON would never dream, were he still
amongst us, of making any similar assertion nowa-
days, under existing :circumstances. We have the
forces now that were then required. All that is
wanted at the present moment in regard to them is a
better system of systematization. Numberless propo-
sitions to this end are being perpetually brought for-
ward both within and without the walls of the imperia
Parliament. Very recently appeared some exceedingly
thoughtful, and for the most part thoroughly well-eon-
sidered suggestions for the better organisation of our
military forces, in the pages of Blackwood's Magazine
—papers which have since been published separately
with their author's name, that of the present Sir
ARCHIBALD ALISON, duly announced upon the title-
page. Only last evening, again, a number of other
equally thoughtful and not less thoroughly well-con-
sidered suggestions of a similar character were brought
by Lord Erato under the consideration of the House
of Commons. Consequent upon the speech then de-
livered by Lord Esau) an interesting discussion en-
sued, a discussion in which Colonel Nonni, Colonel
GILPIN, Colonel WILSON PATIEN, Capt. VIVIAN, and
Col. Lovo LINDSAY severally participated--the late
Secretary for War, Sir Jots PAKINGTON, and the
present Secretary fur l\ ar, the Right lion. EDWARD
CARDWF.I.L, more or less candidly avowing their
opinions also, as being, or as having been, responsible
Ministers of the Crown, in regard to the more urge t
requirements of the time upon the vital subject of
our Army of Reserve. Remembering that retrench-
meat is just now the order of the day, the moment
seems hardly propitious for any costly suggestions as
to the better organisation of our land forces, whether
in the matter of the Royal Army, of the Militia, of
the Yeomanry, or of the Volunteers. 111rre particu-
larly bearing in mind that there is no especial urgency
at this mo-nent i❑ the shape of any revival of the old
panics as to the possibility, not to say the probability,
of an invasion. As matters now are, already,
we are as a people tolerably well prepared for
any emergency. This being said in no boast-
fulness, but simply as the recognition of an
indisputable fact. There is, moreover, a conscious-
ness on the part of the community that our national
defences are materially strengthened by the simple
fact of the extension of our railway and eleetro-tele-
graphic systems. Aided by those two great system,
the troops of the line, the militia, the yeomanry, and
the volunteers could, now, with the greatest facility
and rapidity, be concentrated upon any given
point according to the requirements of any sud-
denly reallsc.l emergency. Nothing, as ain titer
of course came, or apparently was iateuded to come,
of the debate provoked last. evening in the House of
Commons by the motion brought forward by Lord
ELcuo, a motion coznintarted upon by so many
speakers both on the side of the Opposition and on
the side of the Government, only, however, to be
eventually withdrawn—as having served its purpose,
namely, the ventilation, once more, within the walls
of the Legislature of the vitally important theme of
our national defences.

THE New Zealdnd despatch by which Earl GRAN-
VILLE has already in a way made himself famous
may be regarded as the official announcement of that
great change in our colonial policy which has been
in process for some years past. The issue between
the Colonial Office and the New Zealand authorities
involves the great question of where colonial self-
government and self-defence shall begin and
where Imperial intervention shall end. The
difficulties in which the colonists are involved with
the Maories will require a sum of not less than
£1,400,000, distributed over seven years, for their
ultimate settlement. To raise such an amount out
of taxation is hopeless. A loan is deemed necessary,
and the New Zealand Government has applied
to the Colonial Office for the assistance in the shape
of an Imperial guarantee on a loan of a million
and a half. Their agent in London argues that the
credit of the colony is not good enough to raise this
loan except at a high rate, and that the relations
between the mother country and its distant depen-
dency are such that England is fairly under the
obligation. It is true, says Mr. FITZHEHBERT, the
New Zealand agent, that the colonists have under-

taken the duties and responsibilities of self-govern-
ment, and that British aid in financial matters
cannot as a rule be looked for. But these troubles
with the Maories began before the transfer of autho-
rity was made. The Colonial Office handed over its
authority and the Maori embroglio together.
In order to make a fair beginning the colonists
plead that Great Britain is under a moral
obligation to help them through this costly business,
and then for the future the infant hopes that it,will
be able to walk alone. Earl GRANVILLE takes quite
the opposite view. Very truly he remarks that the
colony was governed from the first for its own
benefit ; not the slightest advantage was derived by
England from the connection. The colonists took
the work of government at their own request. Even
after the transfer of " the reins" a. large military
force was kept in the islands to protect the settlers.
The total cost of forming, governing, and defending
the colony has been more than sufficient to purchase
the entire territory. Why, then, asks the COLONIAL
SECRETARY, should this expenditurebe continued? So
far from the mother country owing her offspring
anything more, the colony is already under large
obligations for past help. It might be argued that
a guarantee does not involve much ; but it is ex-
tremely probable—almcst certain—that the colony
Earl Avcil
s Would not be able to pay, and the Imperial Govern-
mo be called
upon.
Ndecision is perfectly sound.
Englishmen cannot fail to feel the liveliest interest
in the future of the colonies, and the most sincere
wishes for their prcsi-Trity. Their population are in
great part immediate relations of the generation
now living ; their advancement must be England's
triumph. But our friendship for the colonies ought
not to be regarded as a pretext for saddling us with
their pecuniary liabilities.. We have paid too much
on their behalf already. It is clearly absurd that the
hard-pressed taxpayer of East London should be
asked to contribute for theprotection and government
of colonists whose situation, as a rule, is better than
his own. The - proposed guarantee amounts

to nothing less than this. For a guaran-
tee in itself implies a liability to pay, and
in this case the chance of our being called

upon to refund part of the million and a half
is very considerable. Let the colonists but consider
our position, and they-will see the unfairness of
looking for more assistance to a country which can
hardly well support its own paupers. We
have in times past freely accorded assistance
in money and protection by land and sea to the
colonies which were in need ; and of these New Zea-
land has been the chief. What has England
received in return ? As a rule not only has
the English nation paid its money to its offspring
unconditionally, and without recompence, but as fast
as the colonies have grown to maturity they have
evinced their gratitude by adopting protective tariffs
and closing their ports against us. It is wholly a mis-
take to suppose that the wealth of England is to be attri-
buted to the facts that her empire is the most magnifi-
cent the world has yet seen, and that on the QUEEN'S
dominions the sun never sets. England's greatness
is not measured by the number of svare miles over
which her authority extends. The size of the
British Empire is the effect, not the cause,
of British prosperity. India, which is not
a colony, is a direct source of wealth ;
but the colonies mper contribute nothing except in
the ordinary con K; of trade, and there is no proof
that our trade with them would be smaller if they
were independent. Their independence, in fact, is a
continency to which Englishmen look forward
with no apprehension whatever. In Austra-
lia and New Zealand the colonial Government
is rapidly growing more and more powerful, and
more independent of home control. When these
vigorous young States arrive at full maturity,
England cannot prevent their shaking off Imperial •
rule altogether, nor can she have any wish to do so.
It might be asked : If Britain's connection with
the colonies is for the future to be so restricted, and
if they are, when possible, to be self-supporting,
what is the use of continuing the alliance at home ?
The question admits of a very definite reply. Many
of the colonies are wholly unfit to take care of them-
selves. To leave Barbadoes, Jamaica, or even Cape
Colony to their fate, would simply be to abandon
them to the sovereignty of some other Power, or to
hopeless internal dissensions. All the minor colonies
, have everything to lose and nothing to gain by their
independence. They have no differences of
moment with the Home Government. Some of
them, it has been ascertained, will not take
the trouble , to elect a local assembly.
The number of men competent to do duty as legis-
lators and governors is very small. It is only in the
case of two or three of the most important colonies
that independence can be thought of. The New
Zealanders must admit that, even under these more
restricted conditions, even on the terms that they
raise their own funds, and pay their own troops,
the connection with England is of great advantage
to them. Two hundred thousand people are not
sufficient to form a State. We supply them with a
governor, and so save them a political turmoil for
which they have not the slightest desire. England will
not protect them at the cost of the British taxpayer, but
they may have any needful force by paying a reason-
able sum—a sum which is much smaller than that
required for a colonial levy. It is, however, useless
to enter into detail; for the colonists have seen the
value of English connection since they demanded
and obtained a Legislature of their own, a pro-
ceeding which is now admitted to bo premature.
As to the more populous British colonies, the inde-
pendence of New South Wales and Victoria is a
question merely of time and convenience. Canada
is very loyal. She needs time to consolidate
the new Confederation, and she needs still more
protection against possible encroachment from the
South. The Dominion is prosperous at present ;
jealousies, necessarily arising from the welding of
so many provinces into one State, are disappearing,
and there is no ground for the belief that
much future trouble can arise from this source.
It is not easy to unite small provinces, but it is still
less easy to dissever them when the union has once
been formed. When the Dominion has gained
strength, it will be quite at the choice of its inhabi-
tants whether an independent State be formed,
or whether they will join their great neighbour.
England can suffer nothing by the transfer. So long
as her prosperity lasts it will not be diminished by
the severance of colonial connections. When it
decays the many empires founded in different parts
of the world will secure to the Anglo-Saxon race the
glory of having contributed more than any other to
the happiness and civilization of the world.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—This Day.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

EVENING A MUSEMENT.—Margaret Welstead and Mary
Ann Moody, two low-looking young women, living in
Seven Dials, were charged before Xr. Tyrwhitt with the
following disorderly conduct.
From thelevidence it:appearel thlt the prisoneis bad
amused themselves of an evening for some time past by
throwing red ochre and flour over tradesmen in and pass-
ing through Tower-street, and their ccnduct had at length
become so intolerable that last night they were given into
custody by a coffeehouse-keeper in Totter-street.
say to the charge Wel-
stead lhnasked V
fainted,
nted, wh
at a
sthey a t
carried d
outo of
court.
Subsequently Mr Tyrwhitt, after cautioning the pri-
soners as to their future conduct, fined them ss. each.