The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1900. IMPERIAL FEDERATION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 210, 4 September 1900, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1900. IMPERIAL FEDERATION.

For t&8 csuso that laois assistance, For Iho ■oTong that needs resistaneo, For the raters ia the distanco, And tha good tiiat we can do.

The consummation of the Australian Commonwealth, and the strengthening of the bonds uniting Mother Country and Colonies, due to the present war, have given a fillip to the consideration of the possibility of the nearer realisation of a Grand Imperial Federation. This, the dream of many great far-seeing politicians, and the over-ridden hobby of many more, has been newly discussed throughout all English-speaking countries. The very discussion in itself, and the earnestness of "many leading men, make it seem as if John Blight's "splendid dream"' may not, after all, be a remote and unrealisable politician's fancy. Wise men .at the head of the nation's affairs, content to watch the progress of the mighty movement instead of attempting with puny efforts to direct its course, have at least done much to accelerate its speed by clearing the path of obstacles, and by the cultivation of intimate intercourse and reciprocal confidence. At present prominence is given to unity in a scheme of Imperial defence as a first definite step in the desired direction. Kecently Mr George Wyndliam, from the Government benches, said that he anticipated that some mutual arrangement would be come to upon prearranged lines, having as its object the placing of the colonial troops at the service of the War Office. Sir Charles Dilke, speaking from the Opposition side of the House, felt "it was certain that the colonies* would ]£>in England in any future threat war." Just about this time the Congress of the Chambers of Commerce, a gathering adequately representative of the Empire, and presided over by Earl Selborne, TJnder-Secretary for the Colonies, passed a resolution that "it is desirable to form an Imperial Consultative Council, representing the Motherland and the Colonies, for the purpose of considering and advising upon Imperial-Colonial questions." Mr. Lowther, M.P., indiscreetly anxious to facilitate matters, suggests an Imperial defence tax as a bond of union. The "Scotsman," stigmatising the proposal as "foolish talk/ probably fairly accurately estimates the temper of colonial -feeling aright when it says, "Not only should no new exercise of Imperial authority be attempted, by the British Parliament, but British statesmen will do well rather to be on the watch for and to welcome and encourage spontaneous colonial movements 0 towards closer union and more active co-operation than to attempt to initiate such movements/ The Melbourne "Age" also voices an opinion against an ImperialColonial War Union in the following sentences: "Thatthey"(the colonies) "may be compelled for their own benefit to take part in any wars into which Great Britain may drift goes without saying, but whether they will feel any obligations to co-oper-ate with her in an aggressive policy in which'they have no common interest is a matter for serious consideration before they consent to it." Lord Eosebery, one of the most capable of present-day leaders, sees very clearly the grave danger of British politicians at the present juncture urging the welding, under their own direction, of fettering bonds. Speaking at the Edinburgh Unity of the Empire Association, he is reported as expressing the opinion that "any anxiety ■ for federation should come rather from those'partsof the Empire which, were outside these islands than those within the United Kingdom itself." Concluding an excellent 'speech, he said: "They were ready to do all that in them lay to promote the xuiity of the Empire. They should watch, foster, and encourage any symptom which might justify them in Roping that before long they might see the Empire united, not merely in senti- ; ment, but in constitution and in fact." ... Various factors have contributed to removing ■ the subject from the region of chimerical speculation, and to-day Imperial Federation is at least a possibility. It cannot fairly be said to have entered the arena of practical politics, for the adoption of arbitrary measures for its accompli sliment would jeopardise what has already been attained. But it rests with us all to assist in the strengthening of the bond and facilitating its transition from the senti- 1

mental to the practical, so that Imperial Federation may in the not remote future be achieved "in constitution and in fact."