The Auckland Star WITH WHICH AND INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo and The Sun. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1927. ONE AND INDIVISIBLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 276, 22 November 1927, Page 6

The Auckland Star WITH WHICH AND INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo and The Sun.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1927. ONE AND INDIVISIBLE.

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At the civic reception yesterday Mr. Amery, in clear and emphatic language, expounded the object of his mission. As Secretary of State for the Dominions he has come amongst us with the avowed purpose of assisting in the great task of binding the component parts of the Empire more closely together, and at the very outset he has made it clear that he interprets his instructions on very comprehensive lines. If the Empire is to maintain its unity, "one and indivisible," there must be co-operation between Britain and the Dominions in every sphere and phase of our Imperial life—in public policy, national defence, migration, trade; and it is only by acting constantly in conjunction with the Motherland in all these relations that we can ensure the solidarity and the prosperity of this great Imperial system.

Naturally Mr. Amery had something to say about the status of the Dominions, which, if it has not been enhanced, has at least been more precisely defined by the Great War and its sequel. But because the Dominions are now surer than ever before that they are virtually independent members of a great Imperial federation, for that very reason the position and prospects of Britain, the central factor in our system, are matters of greater interest and importance to us to-day than ever in our past history. On this topic Mr. Amery was at once emphatic and reassuring. He scouts the idea which has gained credence in some quarters that Britain is decadent and is tottering downward to ultimate destruction. So far from being worn out by the trials and struggles through which she has passed, she has renewed her youth. Just as she recovered herself after the terrific ordeal of the Napoleonic wars a century ago, so now she has developed new strength from adversity. Effete and exhausted her enemies thought her before the war, and we know how she answered them. To-day, more confident in her own strength and power of endurance than ever, aided in her policy by the bitter experiences which she has undergone, Britain deserves more than ever before the confidence, the sympathetic loyalty, and the cordial co-operation of every member of the great Imperial federation that she has gathered round her.

Co-operation, then, is to be our watchword, and Mr. Amery proceeded to indicate in detail the various forms that such conjoint action may take. In our opinion, it was judicious to refrain at this stage from raising the vexed question of participation in Britain's foreign policy, and the efforts and sacrifices that the Dominions might he expected to make to secure it. In dealing with defence, migration, and trade, Mr. Amery was on firmer ground, and he handled these in masterly fashion. As to inter-Imperial trade, this is a subject which Mr. Amery has made especially his own, and we may confidently expect that one of the most valuable results of his mission will be the extension and confirmation of Imperial Reciprocity in a form beneficial at once to Britain and to every constituent member of our Empire. /