Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1936. AN IMPERIAL LINK.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 30, 14 November 1936, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1936. AN IMPERIAL LINK.

Of the personal qualifications of Mr Patrick Duncan for the GovernorGeneralship of the Union of South Africa it is impossible to speak, but as a matter of principle interest attaches to the announcement that he is a likely choice for nomination. Some time ago it was suggested that General Smuts would be the next GovernorGeneral, but apparently the suggestion did not emanate from well-informed quarters. Should a local nominee be appointed, the precedent set by Australia in the case of Sir Rufus Isaacs will be followed, and a further breach made in what seemed invariable practice —the choosing as vice-regal representative of a man of some eminence in the Homeland. This departure was the outcome of the declaration by the Imperial Conference of 1926 that the group of selfgoverning communities composing the Empire were ‘ equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown. As a logical sequence to that declaration, each Governor-General became the representative of the Crown in a direct sense. He became * legalised by the change, as The Times expressed the fact, for no longer was he the representative of the British Government and the channel of communication between it and the Government of the Dominion to which he was appointed, but he took in all essential respects the position filled by His Majesty in the Homeland. The conference of 1930 went the next logical step by declaring that in future the choice of a Governor-General would be made on the recommendation to his Majesty by the Government of the Dominion concerned. The question involved in not one of right but of expediency. Nothing in law excludes a native-born citizen from the office, yet the wisdom of so signal an elevation is to be doubted. It is not a matter of qualifications. Status, not accomplishments, must be considered when deciding whether it is well to have, as the complete unique personal representative of the King, a citizen of the country. It is true that the Crown is one and indivisible throughout the Empire,” to quote a maxim often and widely employed by the judicial committee of the Privy Council —but age-long custom associates the Crown with Great Britain particularly. This is sentiment merely, some may be inclined to say: but sentiment is not neecssarily flimsy and useless. It happens to be sound and serviceable m this case, and on it the solidarity of the Empire in some measure depends. Undoubtedly the Crown loses prestige when his Majesty’s official and personal deputy is not one sent abipad by him on a mission but one already in the country and known there familiarly by the ordinary contacts of everyday affairs. Not the slightest reflection on the character and worth of the deputy isvintended. That is beside the point. The sentiment regarding Great Britain as the Homeland requires that, for appropriate representation of his Majesty in fully vice-regal functions, a man from it should be appointed, and this sentiment is violated when a local appointment is made. The visible links of the Empire are few. One of them is the Crown. It should not suffer any liability of being tainished.