The Press THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1908. ENGLAND AND THE EMPIRE.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13109, 7 May 1908, Page 6

The Press THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1908. ENGLAND AND THE EMPIRE.

The annual dinner of the Royal Colonial Institute this year to have been- a function of unusual interest and importance Tho Prince of Wales, who is able to speak about the Empire from his own personal experience and observation, with an. authority that no British 'Minister lias qualified himself to possess, mado a. thoughtful and felicitous speech. Ho has thoroughly absorbed "the view laid down by Seeley as to the Empiro being en expansion of England and ho put it in telling form when he said that England now meant England spread over the whole surface of the -world. His Royal Highness struck a note with, which, colonial ,_ Jeeiim: AriU vibrate Jα empathy, when

he urged that all parte of the EmpiTe should be prepared to make sacrifices for its defence and maintenance. He urged tho importance of reciprocity in matters of education and the strengthening of social relations with the colonies, making it clear to colonists that they were always certain to fi.n«l in England a home not in name, only but in reality. Most New Zeahtnders who have boon to England lately, wo fancy, will agree that oiready this spirit very largely prevails among our countrymen at Home, and that a colonist who visits the Motherland in a fitting spirit of loyalty to her great traditions has no reason to complain of a want of •warnrth in his welcome. Wβ should certainly like to ccc more done in tho direction, suggested by his Royal Highness, of promoting reciprocity of education. Sir Cecil Rhodes, by hk system of scholarships tenable at Oxford, made a great step in advance towards the unification' of the Empire—greater perhaps than even he himself anticipated at tho time. It would be of very great advantage it more facilities were given for colonial graduates to enter at the great English Universities, and English graduates, especially those intending to enter public l;fe or tho public service, might find it a valuable experience to spend a year or two at a good colonial University. Another suggestion previously made in those columns wo feel sure ia worthy of serious consideration. It is that an opportunity should be given to colonial etudents to compete for positions in the English Civil Service, the Colonial Office, and the Indian Civil Service without ifc being necessary for them to go to England for the purpose of sitting for tho examinations. The few who have been able to afford the time and money to comply with this condition have done well. It was, for example, a New Zealander who was selected by the British Government from the staff of the Governor-General of India to reorganise the Civil Service of the Transvaal. We cannot imagine any more practical method of convincing colonials that they are truly "sons of the Empire" than by putting them on an equality with Englishmen at Home in the matter of facilities for entering the Imperial service. On the other hand, we fully believe that an infusion of tho best of tho colonial youth into the services named would "be of appreciable ibenefit to the services themselves. Tho advantages ot having men at tho Colonial Offioe who had been born and educated , in the colonies is surely too obvious to need emphasising. "Wβ are glad to eeo that Lord Crave, the new Secretary for the Colonies, declared that whatever Government might bd in power, there would bo no undiue meddling with colonies having difficult problems to solve. We fear that tlie time -has not yet arrived when Dr. Parkin's ideal of seeing the Colonial Office, equally with the Foreign Offioe, raised above the arena of party politics, can be realised. The two cases are not quite parallel. Tho advantage of having a continuous policy at the Foreign • Offioe has been amply demonstrated of late, and Sir Edward Grey has earned , the gratitude of the nation by the ,firm and unflinching manner in which he has maintained' the policy of his predecessor in office. In no other way is at possible to ensure England being respected abroad. Bui it as difficult to coo how the same principle can be applied to the Colonial Office. Take the question of Imperial preference, for example. Here wo touch an economic question on which the two great political parties are hapele«fly> divided, and , it is too much to expect that they shall sink their differences in a common colonial policy. Dr. Parkin's ideal, however, is one which ifc ;is woU to strive after, end perhaps, when the fiscal question is cleared- out of the way, wo may bo nearer its realisation.