The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1909. A QUESTION OF URGENCY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 523, 2 June 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1909. A QUESTION OF URGENCY.

Muoh of the advocacy of a broken session has-been influenced by a vague feeling that Sir Joseph Ward has in his possession certain information which shows that the question of Imperial defence is not merely urgent, but a question of vital instancy. Several membors of -Parliament have even made their views upon the sessional arrangements contingent upon the oharacter of the information 'whioh, we aro almost asked to believe, is lying like a ' niillstono on the Prime Minister's heart. First there was a confidential telegram to certain newspaper editors in this country; this-was followed up by dark hints in public speeches; the Government's friends chimed in 'to assist in strengthening the idea that while some'of us are worrying about the session, tho Empire Ms hanging by a hair; then Mb. Millar told a Wcstland audience, in sombre tones, that' "some day they would know all"; and finally the incomparable Mr\ Bitddo has contrived to get tho Press Association to circulate half a column of the conclusions forced Upon him by his' oxcursion "behind the scenes." "The time was opportune," so Mr. Bitddo is reported as saying, "and the interests of the Dominion were practically at Stake, and he for one felt that, whatever might follow, the safest and only position for a Britisher to take was to declare that only the British flag should Wave over New Zealand." If Mr. Buddo had declared, with the courage that such a statement would require, that he.for one felt that tho aafost and the only position for a man to take up waa to decliro that ho would

not voluntarily lio down before an approaching express train, he would not have been reported. But because he states an equally obvious truth respecting the Empire, he is considered as having in somo way contributed a valuable warning of tho desperate nature of our case., We much fear that this scaromongering is liable to make the country ridiculous.

It is worth while examining the suggestion that Sir Joseph Ward has somo special information of a kind that will terrify the public into believing that everything sinks into insignficance beside the fearful urgency of the Naval Conference. It is true that not one single word has been said by any of the Prime Ministers of the other States of the Empire to cause even a suspicion that they

have been favoured by the Br-itijsh Government with alarming confidences. Nono of them have acted as precipitately and sensationally as the New Zealand Government. But, of course, it may be suggested that they were merely pursuing' tho ordinary diplomatic course in concealing tho real truth, and that it was left to Sir Joseph Ward to discover tho higher diplomacy of plunging in. It might even be suggested that Sir Joseph possesses a skill in understanding dispatches which iß.not possessed by his brothor Prime Ministers. If both of these suggestions aro held to be untenable, there still remains, the hypothesis that the New.Zealand Government was specially singled out by tho British Government for tho reception Of confidences too weighty to bo entrusted to any-overseas Ministry . excepting that' of New Zealand. A cable message published on May 21 last recorded the. fact that, on receipt of tho invitation to the Conference, the Canadian Governor-General replied that "the Canadian Ministers had insufficient information to warrant their advising as necessary such a formal Conference in advance of tho Imperial Conference of 1911." But perhaps the British Government may havo felt that Canada was of small consequence compared with Now Zealand. Even that hypothesis, however, neglects a very important fact of' British policy which it is difficult to believe, has been superseded. We refer to the fact that although the British Government constantly sends confidential dispatches to colonial Governments, it does not send confidential information respecting British foreign policy to persons or Governments outside its control.

On the general question of urgency in the present naval situation, nothing is more clear than that the position has been seriously, misunderstood. In hinting at vital urgency and' an Empire tottering on the. brink' the-Government and its friends have forgotten that it requires no special' knowledge, but only ordiniry common sense, to perceive that whatever the Conference decides upon cannot be translated into instant achievement. The argument in favour of, consideration is irresistible, but it is absurd; on the face of it to talk as if the fate of the Empire depended upon the rapid holding, of a conference or upon Sir Joseph Ward's attendance at it or upon the postponement of the Parliamentary cession. The people who (ire bemusing themselves with dreams about perilous urgency should read Lord Charles BeresfOßp's speech Reported oh. May 24, Lord Charles said that it is unnecessary for. the Dominions to offer battleships, and he closed his statement of what he considers the. best policy with a declaration that "there is no need for panic" He was only repeating what ho said to a Daily News interviewer on April 22 last. He is an ardent advocate of a big Navy,

and he is a lover of good hard fighting in political controversy. But -"what sense," he said, "is thero in working up a panic? As a matter of fact there is no panic, and there.will ho no panio'if fussy politicians and hustling journalists will only use a little restraint and some common sdnse. It is noV.scnsc to talk.of a scare .We'can strengthen our Navy without becoming cowards. Alid because I doinand a strong Navy'there Is no reason why'l should become a scaremonger," We should like to hear Slit OnAHLES's opinion upon the suggestion of some of our own muddled patriots that Parliament should' adjourn while the- Empire is being saved—or sho,uld we say, in order that the Empire may bo saved 1 Tho Qoyornmont has made so much use ojE the allogcd vital urgency which, if the public knew it, would silence all dissension, that when Parliament meets tho'Prime Minister will be in a very queer position if ho is unable to show that that vital urgoncy exists. It is quite time that the country realised that however desirable it may be—and we fully agree that'it is desirable—for a more satisfactory understanding between tho overseas Dominions and the Mother Country on the question of Imperial defence, it is not in lecoping with the traditions of our race to deal with the subje,ot in the "Bcaro" manner that is being encouraged here'just now. We suspect that many wellmeaning but impressionablo. citizens a few months hence will experience some uneasiness as to the lengths to which they permitted thoir feelings to carry them under tho impulse of a mistttkon estimato of the situation.