Lord Rosebery on Tuesday made an amusing speech on the
affairs of Heligoland, a colony which he described as a place where formerly there was a gaming-table, and where last year the island was nearly destroyed by rabbits. Heligoland was ceded to Britain in 1807 by the King of Denmark, as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and the people were, he believed (erroneously), guaranteed their liberties. In 1864 a Constitution was granted, which worked so well that the inhabitants paid no taxes, and still reduced their National Debt of £750 by £159, a much better state of pecuniary affairs than this country enjoyed. In 1866, however, the Duke of Buckingham, then Colonial Secretary, turned up in a man-of-war and a full suit of uniform, and in the most " Cromwellian manner" abolished the Constitution. He wanted papers to tell him why that was done. Lord Carnarvon promised extracts from the papers, the originals containing irritating matter, but observed that the Constitution was abolished because the Legislature sanctioned a gaming- table and nobody could collect his debts. Heligoland was now a Crown colony, and very happy and contented, though its people can neither gamble nor indulge in practices too like wrecking. The explanation of all this little discussion is that Hamburg wants its watering-place to have a gaming-table, and that the Heligolanders miss their old exemption from taxes, and so German newspapers ask what has be- come of English freedom. Why should we give Constitutions to everybody except our few German subjects ? The criticism might be just, if we ever gave " freedom " to a military or naval station, but we do not. Heligoland is no more fettered than Gibraltar or Malta.
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