The Dominion WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1015. THE WAR AND THE EMPIRE PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2501, 30 June 1915, Page 6

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1015. THE WAR AND THE EMPIRE PROBLEM

In his speech at the New Zealand Club luncheon on Monday, Mil. W. Downie Stewart, M.P., stated that the war had shown the people of New Zealand that they could not shist themselves lip behind a higii social wall. They were, lie said, as deeply affected by the movements and politics of the peoples of Europe as if they lived in the British Isles. During the last twenty years or so social and racial influences and the necessities of commerce and defence have been drawing the various parts of the British Empire _ closer together. . But this breaking down of separating walls is not- confined to our' own Empire. No civilised nation can have its own lifc_ uninfluenced by what is going on in other countries. British statesmen found it impossible to maintain a policy of "splendid isolation." Understandings, alliances, cntcnlcs, and agreements have been entered into with other countries. These arrangements have arisen out of common interests, and dangers, and for the purpose of securing mutual advantages. Before the advent of the steamship the ocoans and seas were barriers which kept nations apart; now they are highways, connecting' links, and means of communication. The submarine cable and wireless telegraphy have further annihilated distance, and trade has increased the interdependence of the nations. They feel that they need one another; they understand each other better than formerly; and realise that each lias its part to play in the general scheme of tilings. But closeness of contact also engenders friction. There is not so much elbow-room in the world as there used to be, and it is not easy to satisfy the desire for racial expansion. The jostling of nations has become more pronounced and continuous, and the possibilities of conflict are greater than evdV. The fact of nationality stands as firm as ever. It seems to be a permanent element in human nature. New Zealand did not throw itself into the present war as the result of some .process of reasoning. The sure instinct of race compelled ns to take our stand alongside the Motherland and the other Dominions. The crisis has shown us with the vividness of a lightning flash that the Empire is one and indivisible. What we more or IeBS vaguely realised, or took for granted has become a most real and living conviction. As Mr. Downie Stewart points out, the stress of war has made us feel that when the struggle is over a great step forward will be made in the matter of Empire organisation. But the discußsion of the details of Empire unification must be postponed until the enemy has been overthrown. Now is not the time for talk but actionunited action. The desire for cohesion and co-operation which this great crisis has evoked is the best preparation for a'real forward movement in the matter of Imperial organisation. We have an unexampled opportunity of developing the true Imperial spirit by making the safety and well-being of the Empire our first consideration in comparison with whioh sectional and party interest are of no account. The politician who would do anything to distract the nation from its supreme task of bringing the _ war to a triumphant conclusion in order to score a point against his opponents would be a betrayer of his country. The war is teaching us to see things in their true proportion, and to place first things first. It is giving us a bigger and broader outlook. It is making us feel that in future w'o will have to play a more important part in world politics. It is begetting in us the right spirit in which to approach the difficult Empire problems which are waiting to lie solved. The experience the British race is now gaining will help it to weld together the Empire, not by coercion, but by the willing co-opera-tion of a group of free democracies for the attainment a worthy ideal.