The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATES The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1920. DOMINION AND LEAGUE.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 104, 1 May 1920, Page 6

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

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1920. DOMINION AND LEAGUE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs re-i.lan.-i: for the future in the distance. And the rjood that we can da-

The birth of tbe League of Nations marks a turning point in the history of Britain and her Umpire, and from this time onward the British Dominions may regard the Covenant of the Leaguenot only as a pledge of the joint responsibility of the Powers for the peaceful and ci]iii'-c.blc adjustment of inter-! national relations, but as a charter guaranteeing them for the .first time that national independence which not; even Britain seems yet completely to j have appreciated and recognised. So 1 far as Xew Zealand is concerned our appreciation of the new status thus conferred upon u s has 'been signalized; by our acceptance oi the League's mandate "or the Government of samoa.' In the heat of the controversies that have arisen over such questions as indentured labour in the Pacific and the' revival of German trade, people seem to have overlooked the. extreme importance of this unexpected development, which marks with such emphasis our elevation, in an international sense," to a level of political equality with all the other members o"f tlie League. Perhaps the -true significance of this change can bo better realized by considering briefly the effect produced by this change of status upon public opinion in one of the greatest of the Empire States, the sister Dominion of Canada. Not only are the leading Canadian newspapers congratulating the Canadian people on the formaa recogni-, tion of the Dominion as a first-class!

member of tiio (League of Nations, but they are doing their best to encourage' the growth of a public sentiment in favour of a self-assertive national policy within tho limits prescribed by the Covenant of the League. They point out especially that .the American people, through their refusal to ratify tbe Tea#e Treaty, havo dissociated them-l selves from the other Powers and therefore from the League, and tbey. maintain that it is now possible for Canada to step into tbe position that 6hould have been heid in this great world-confederacy by the 'United States.| One -leading member of tho League's ; secretariat has stated publicly that "Canada will practically take the place which the 'United States would otherwise have occupied as the greatest new i world nation." And whatever we may think of the validity of diich a claim, . we cannot overlook such collateral evidence as the. appointment of a Canadian delegate on the Saar Valley: Commission, the Canadian proposal for sepa-rato diplomatic representation at ' Washington, and the suggestion that, as the "United States 'has refused to accept the League's mandate for Armenia, this honourable responsibility should be transferred to the great. Dominion. J It should be understood that in draw-; ing attention to these facts we are not J committing ourselves unreservedly to i' any approval of the somewhat aggressive.', attitude that they may seem to suggest.;; 'But it c!tn hardly be denied that the ,( effect produced upon public feeling in 1 Canada by its inclusion in the League of Nations as a separate and independent ; fnember provides us all with matter i for serious consideration. And in this ; context we may refer io a statement made recently by Sir James Allen in:, Christchurch in regard to the methods Ithat may be adopted by the Dominions in j '•

submitting their views to the League. Sir James Allen's opinion is that Mew Zealand should "transmit its representations to the League through the Mother Country," 'instead of dealing direct with the League's Council. 'This'view is supported by 'various British authorities, notably by Dr. A. B. Keith, whose opinion has been quoted in our cable columns. The idea apparently is that the Dominions ought,*s far as possible, in Sir James Allen's words, to " stick together," because if they act independently there may be serious friction; and to carry out this suggestion it has been proposed j that there should be in London an Im-* ; perial secretariat " which -would act as' a sort of clearing house, and co-ordinate the representations of the Dominions." It seems to us premature to criticise this scheme before it -materialises in more tangible shape. But-even at this stage of

the we may point out that •there are two serious obstacles in the way of its consummation. One is the spirit of political independence evoked in sueli striking fashion in Canada, and to somo extent in Australia and Xew Zealand, by our recognition as independent members of the League. Another is the strongly self-assertive public feeling aroused throughout tlie oversea Dominions by such highly-centralised schemes of Imperial policy as Mr. Lionel Curtis and his friends have in recent years laid 'before us. To a large extent the scheme advocated by Sir J. Allen and Dr. Keith appears to be open to similar objections, and in any case our statesmen will do well to consider the whole situation very carefully 'fccfore committing themselves irrevocably one way or the other.