The Press Tuesday, July 26, 1927. New Zealand and Britain.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19062, 26 July 1927, Page 8

The Press Tuesday, July 26, 1927. New Zealand and Britain.

The two speeches by New Zealand delegates to the conference of the Institute of Pacific Kelations now being held in Honolulu seem to have been thoughtful and generally accurate accounts of the feeling of the Dominion about its place in the Empire. One speech is of special interest as coming from the secretary of the New Zealand Labour Party, Mr "W. Nash. A true perspective of New Zealand, he said, was impossible unless it emphasised the close relation existing between the Dominion and the Mother Country. In matters of foreign policy, he added, New Zealand rarely questions the attitude adopted by Britain, yet the Dominion would strongly resent interference in its internal affairs by the British Government. The other speaker repeated this, but seems to have ascribed New Zealand's attitude to its failure to develop a very strong nationalistic sense. There had not been time enough, he said, for the full development of a national spirit and consciousness in New Zealand: "So complete has been "the connexion with Britain that the "New Zealander is inclined to regard " himself as a British subject first and "a New Zealander afterwards." The average New Zealander rarely examines himself in order to find out whether he puts his membership of the British race before his New Zealand citizenship, but when he does he is likely to find that he regards the two things as one. He may think of himself as being a New Zealander because he is a British subject, or vice versa. What is quite certain is that unlike some Australians, Canadians, and South Africans, he cannot understand that one status can be in conflict with the other, and he has no desire to see any weakening of the ties that bind the Dominion to Great Britain or any alteration in the constitution of the Empire that may tend towards the breaking of any of those ties. In spite of this, there is in New Zealand something very like a disinclination to translate this sentiment into action. Although the Government intends, for example, to increase its contribution to the upkeep of the marii time defences of the Empire, New Zealand will still be bearing much less than its proper share of the burden. In the matter of trade, too, New Zealand's policy is not what one would expect of a Dominion so deeply attached to Great Britain. It is true that our tariff gives a "preference" to Britain, but this preference is no more than the making it even, more difficulty for foreign countries than for Britain to sell their wares here. Our tariff is designed to keep out British as well as foreign goods, and the so-called "pre- " f erence " is less a concession to Britain than an additional protection for the local manufacturers. In time, one may hope, such practical contradictions of the real sentiment of New Zealanders will disappear.