The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1917. A POLICY OF ACTION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3067, 1 May 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1917. A POLICY OF ACTION

r Mr. Lloyd George's outspoken pronouncement on the subject of Imperial preference is one more proof added to a growing number that no mistake y/as made in substituting a Cabinet of action in Great Britain for one that had wasted far too many opportunities in temporising and delay. , Thanks to the vigorous spirit of enterprise 'in which the question is being attacked, trade preference as an aid to Imperial consolidation is now not only assured of receiving the attention it merits, but is likely in the near future to bo carried from the stage of theory into practice. The question of food importations into Great Britain admitteclly. presents difficulties, but there, is no reason to doubt that they £in bo overcome. In any case thV j factors involved in this particular : question are rapidly changing, and will continue to do so independent of whatever is done to foster interImperial trade. Britain is wisely taking measures to largely augment her home-grown food suppliesmeasures which in every detail involve departure from her pre-war trade policy—and presumably she ■will persevere in these measures when the war is over. To admit the contrary possibility would be to assume that the lessons of the war had been taught in vain. The development of home-production of food in Britain may' as one of its results limit the. market she offers to her Dominions. But it should also make it easier for her,, while fostering her own agriculture, to extend a measure of preference to Dominion produce. Tho imposition of duties on foodstuffs is not the only gaining this end.; Very important possibilities reside, for instance,' in the subsidising of steamship lines which is expeetcfl to figure in the Government programme relating to Imperial trade when it is laid in practical shape before the House of Commons. It is, of course, to bo recognised that preferential duties,' in their maximum effect, cannot become more than.a detail feature in' a really comprehensive scheme of Imperial development, and in such a scheme a place at least as important must bo allotted to the development of Imperial communications by land and sea.

The short-cnt methods of the Imperial Prime Minister are a refreshing departure' from a political procedure that has grown musty with age, and is not only inept, but' positively dangerous when really vital problems are demanding settlement. If the old school in British politics had its way, the controversy in regard to Imperial preference would drag on interminably, ■ and _ the psychological hour for decision would most certainly bo missed. It is the simple truth that to a still numerous body of politicians in Great Britain adherence to traditional methods seems much more important than effectivo action at the proper moment, or perhaps in strict justice it should bo said that in the minds of these mon perception of the need'tin occasion for decided and speedy action is quite lost in devotion to routine procedure. One politician of this type, Loud- Lansdownb, said, in the House of Lords in February last, in dealing with the Balfour Committee's recommendations on Imperial preference: "These larger claims cannot bo carried out in the middle of a great war or by a Parliament that has lost its mandate."

People who are free from the prejudices in which the noble.lord is entangled will have no difficulty in arriving at a totally different estimate of tho position. The problem of trade policy is one over which

Britain cannot afford to ponder indefinitely. She must meet after-war trade conditions unprepared or with a considered policy. If Loud Lansdownk and tho») who share his views were given (tea; way, Britain would meet these conditions without a uolicy. As to the alleged need of a, new mandate two considerations occur One- )s that if the extensive electoral reforms recommended by the Speaker's Conference are carried tnto law, -it WM bo some considerable timfc after the end of the war before a, new British Parliament is cM'ted. The other is that there Uever was a time when a British Government was so obviously attacking problems, which do not admit of postponement, with.a ■single eye to the national interest. While he is very strongly placed for an attack upon the vital problems of tho day, Mn. Lloyd George gives clear evidence also of a capable grasp of •If J 3 - loms - Very J ustl y and witJk his usual mastery of.'uhraso, iw has said of Imperial questions in general—qv.osliona of representation as wcil as of trade autl other relations—that tho, choice- must be between lffimadiaV concentration and ultimate dissolution. I£e is free from tho p:ws;f-.illy narrow outlook which has led some public men m Britain, to urjre. of course with excellent lnlentioa, that she should find, in .gratitude, to the Dominions an inspiring moti'va in sLamng- her--o™l Policy. He perceives the dittoreuoo between a Dartnership of common interest—which is the only sound foundation of Imperial .unity —and an arrangement in which one party would confer and others receive favours.