The Press. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1907. ENGLAND AND THE COLONIES.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12731, 18 February 1907, Page 6

The Press. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1907. ENGLAND AND THE COLONIES.

Tlie approaching Colonial Conference will afford a kind of touchstone by which we shall be able to test the attitude which the Campbell-Bannerman Government intends to adopt in regard to tho colonies. We do not attach very much importance to tho fact that the subject waa not mentioned in the Speech from tho Throne, but we confess we shall watch with very great interest the action taken by the British Government when the Conference is held.. A somewhat interesting discussion took place in tho House of Commons on Friday upon ono question which wil« have te come beforo tjie Conference— namely, that of colonial contributions towards tho defence of the Empire. Mr Harold Cox moved a resolution that it . «As desirablo the Colonial Conference ekiould "discuss ths importance of the

''colonies moro fully participating in "the cost of defending the Empire." Mr Balfour took the opportunity ot urging that Groat Britain ought not to approach this question in a hargainI ing spirit. Ho stated that ho did not believe tlio Naval Estimates would bo diminished a farthing if England had no self-governing colonies to defend. While tho colonies through the Imperial connection acquired n great sens© ot security, yet the connection also involved some dangers owing to tho Empire touching world politics, including many points not directly concerning the colonies. Mr Balfour held that it was impossible to seriously ask the colonies to veto money which somebody else would ypciwl; a more possible propoc-al would bo to arrange a treaty under whioh the colonies would transfer their troops and ships to Imperial control though he deprecated pressing oven that. While not abandoning the hope of closer political relations between tho Motherland and tlu colonies. Mr Balfour Li evidently afraid of trying to fore© anything like a rigid form of connection. He holds that there is more to be got out of colonial loyalty and voluntary patriotic enthusiasm than from any hard and fast organisation. For onoe Mr Winston Clvurchill ami Mr BaJfour showed a wonderful amount of unanimity, tho Under-Secretary for the Colonies echoing very nearly th© same views in different words. Wo ourselves beliovo that it won Pel b© a mistake to attempt at tho present timo any formal kind of fedorat ton, especially if it involved taxation without proper representation. We do not quite agree with Mr Balfour in. tlio matter of defence. Th© idea of colonial local navicß to be placed at the disposal of tho Admiralty in war time is admirable in theory but would not work very well in practice. There wonld b© no guarantee of officwuicy on tho part of the colonial navies, and in many eases the colonies aro too poor to create and maintain suoh navies. So far as New Zealand ia concerned we think that for many years to com© she will do better to pay a contribution to the Imperial Navy than to attempt to build up a navy of h«r own. At the same time wo think th*t ©very encouragement ought to bo to New Zealanders to serve in tho navy both as regards officers and men. It is most important that w© should give not only our money but our men to help to defend the Empire. While we deprecate tho creation of a too rigid form of federation, wo think that th© time has now arrived for the creation of an Imperial Council so that th© British Government might have placed before it the views of tho self-governing colonies upon great Imperial 'questions of policy. Some blunders are now committed for want of local knowledge, and if the Imperial Council merely kept tho Colonial Offioe from going astray through ignoranoo, it would justify its existence. In time some form of reciprocal and preferential trade systom will no doubt be introduced to knit the Empire closer together. Proposals with that view will not come from tho present Government, but wo shall be surprised if representations in that direction are not agfced to by tho Imperial Conference. In that ca«o tlie Cabinet will he plaoed in an awkward position.