The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1911. "NEW ZEALAND'S VIEWS."

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1117, 3 May 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1911. "NEW ZEALAND'S VIEWS."

The Lyltellon'Timcs, a thick-and-thin supporter of Sir Joseph Ward, had an article on Saturday last upon the Prime Minister's statement concerning what he considers is the necessity for an Imperial Council of State. The cable message of Saturday was the one in which Sir Joseph Ward spoke of "no taxation without representation," and our contemporary saw in it what it called "the existence of a misunderstanding that should be removed at tlic earliest possible moment." Apparently it imagined that ■ Sir Joseph Ward had been misreportcd. It said that the Press Association's summary of the Prime Minister's speech at Sydney "contained no words that wcr3 not likely to secure general endorsement in this country," and added that the London press published "a Very 'different version of the Sydney speech." This vorsion, it says, circulated by Renter's, represented Sir Joseph Ward as'saying that "the Imperial authority he wished to create would be elected by the whole Empire 'on a basis of population.'" Greatly shocked by this idea, the Christchurch paper went on to say:

Wo have least hesitation in saying that 'the ipebplo of this Dominion, ivhilo they would welcome the creation of a purely advisory body, would not consent to part with the control of thenown finances, with or without representation "on a population basis." Indeed, wo find it almost inconceivable that Sir Joseph Ward could have- so far misinterpreted colonial sentiment as to make a suggestion in that direction.

We arc very sorry to have to confirm our contemporary's worst fears, but the Renter summary that it suspects cannot be correct really is correct. "Inconceivable" as it may appear, the scheme that was not mentioned in" the Press Association's summary of Sir Joseph Ward's Sydney speech was nevertheless propounded by Sik Joseph Ward. Thisour contemporary would have discovered if it had taken the trouble to refer to the very full reports of tho speech printed in the Sydney newspapers of March 13. The following is from the Sydney Tclefjretph's report:

In order to provide proper machinery for both equitable taxation and fair representation, Sir Joseph Ward would lighten the burden of the over-worked Rouse of Commons, and would transfer "the whole business of defence and of foreign policy to an independent and Umpire i'.u-liamral." Under the system of an Imperial Defence Council or Empire Parliament of Defence, such as he indicated, "the United Kingdom would of necessity have to create what may ho termed an Empire House of iiojivesentatives.'' (Cheers.) This House 'of Representatives would bo elected on a population basis, and it might be necessary to make the system bi-cameral, by hav'ijiß u Senate with a limited number of members, each portion of the Empire being represented by the same number of members.

It sconiE to us that the occasion which has given rise to our contemporary's comments calls' for a fewplain words. It is really time to have done with the silly . pretence that Sir Joseph Ward—whose devotion to the Empire we have at all times been very glad to acknowledge —has any real claim to know more about the deeper problems of Empire than the average man. He has been far too busy a man to have been able to give any serious attention to historical study. As to the surprise which the Lyltciton Times expresses at the possibility that Sir Joseph Ward could so misinterpret colonial sentiment, we cannot say that our experience has been such as to lead us to believe that the Feme Minister has any special merit as a judge of public opinion where large issues arc concerned. But that we suspect is not the real reason for the views expressed by the head of the Govornment. Bather is it that Sir Joseph Ward has been desirous of attracting attention in England, and he no doubt has considered the best way to do this was to go a little further than any responsible public man had yet gone in advocating a Council of Empire. Colonial sentiment could hardly have entered into his thoughts. He knows that almost anything clothed in the name of "Imperialism" has. escaped serious criticism in New Zealand, and no doubt relied on this fact, that is if he troubled .to think seriously about the matter at all. It is regrettable ■ that this state of things should exist. We are all desirous that, in the larger questions of Empire there should be no suspicion of political party strife introduced, and wo are all anxious that our representative at the Imperial Conference should make it clear that New Zealand is not going to lag behind the sister Dominions in demonstrating her willingness to share in the burdens of Empire to the full extent of her ability to do so. But if the country's representative persists in talking in the extravagant fashion recorded in our cable messages recently he must be checked and ad-

vised tn moderate his views to accord with the ideas of the people he represents. It was a great mistal-R that Sin Joseph Ward was permitted to have his own way in insisting that he should go to the Imperial Conference unfettered by the opinion of the New Zealand Parliament on any of the questions to be discussed there Possibly the present experience will lead the country to recognise that it is not only desirable but necessary that the questions to be discussed at future Conferences shall be submitted for the consideration of our Parliament, so that its representative will have no excuse for misinterpreting to the Mother Country and the world at large the views held by the people of New Zealand on any of the larger Imperial issues under review.