The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. MONDAY, JULY 21, 1924. DOMINION "RIGHTS."

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 171, 21 July 1924, Page 4

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

MONDAY, JULY 21, 1924. DOMINION "RIGHTS."

For the cause that lacks assistance. For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

It is not creditable to the Empire that at this time of day a dispute should arise about the representation of a j Dominion at an international conference. The Empire has had plenty of time to make satisfactory arrangements for the representation of its various parts and interests at such gatherings, yet we find the Colonial Secretary saying that the Government is determined "to tackle the whole question," and proposing another Imperial Conference to consider it. The blame for this muddle lies not so much with the Imperial Government as with the Dominions. Two principles are in conflict in recent Dominion ! policy—that of membership, of the British Empire, with one sovereign Government under international law, and that of semi-independence, with the Dominion claiming the right to manage all its own affairs, to be represented at international conferences, and to sign treaties. The inclusion of the Dominions among the signatories of the Versailles Treaty and the League Covenant was an acknowledgment of their growth and their splendid war services, but we wonder whether all the Dominion Prime Ministers appreciated all that was implied in those acts of signature. Certainly, the foreigner may be excused if he is bewildered by the contradictions involved in. present Dominion policy. Here, he reflects, is an Empire of which Britain is the sovereign head. When Britain is at war the whole Empiro is at war, and if a foreign country has a grievance against a Dominion it looks ultimately to Britain for redrcsa. Yet the Dominions not only claim, the right to sign treaties, but Canada demands separate representation at this Reparations Conference. Supposing all the Dominions have separate representation, and Britain opposes her own and six other votes to, say, that of France? Is this just? Canada feels conscious of national development, and it is regard for national dignity as much a3 the factor of material self-interest that impels the Government to ask for direct representation at the conference, instead of the offered consultation outside the conference room. Yet for practical purposes what has Canada or any other Dominion to gain by direct representation at such a conference? What Dominion Prime Minister could contribute anything to the discussion that would not be anticipated by British Ministers or their export advisers? In this matter the interests of the Dominions of Britain are identical. Both desire that Germany shall pay according to her ability and that Europe be reconstructed as quickly as possible. The British Government, headed by its Foreign Minister, is. in a much better position to handle this problem than is any Dominion Government, and the Dominions might well rest satisfied with an arrangement similar to that which was made when the Lausanne Treaty was negotiated, by which they wore kept informed of all that passed. This arrangement Canada accepted at the time, but afterwards declined to ratify the Treaty. There remains the larger question of establishing some means by which the British Government can consult quickly and effectively with the Dominions. As the Turkish crisis and this conference show—to say nothing of what happened in 1914 —serious questions are liable to develop quickly, and decisions have to be made rapidly. It would, be useless for a Dominion to protest that it was not consulted when such a decision was taken. It is part of the Empire, and it must take the rough with the smooth. What it can do, however,, is to help in establishing better machinery for consultation —say a permanent body of Dominion representatives in London, who would keep in touch with foreign affairs, and. when the need arose support the interests of their respective countries at coufcreuces.