JOINT EMPIRE POLICY

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 270, 20 August 1925, Page 9

JOINT EMPIRE POLICY

CLOSER COLLABORATION DESIRED OF BRITISH AND DOMINION GOVERNMENTS SUGGESTIONS OF SIR JAMES ALLEN Sir James Allen says the attendance of High Commissioners at Imperial Cabinet meetings, dealing with Empire affairs, would be of great advantage to the Dominions, and he hopes Sir ' Robert Borden’s proposals will be thoroughly dissnssed. By Telegraph- Phess Association CoFY EIGHT London, August 18. Commenting on Sir Robert Borden’s proposals to make the Dominions’ High Commissioners members of their own Dominion Cabinets, and also Privy Councillors, so that they may attend Imperial Cabinet meetings, and also that thev hold annual meetings as between British and Dominion delegates in London to formulate a joint Empire policv before attending the League of Nations, Sir James Allen says that he hopes that all the Dominions will thoroughly discuss the proposals, which should result in a concrete scheme more closely linking the British and Dominion Governments. A High Commissioner, however, should not be a member of Cabinet, as he must forget party politics and adopt an Empire outlook. Membership of the Privy Council would bring him into closest touch with the British constitutional organisation. His attendance at Imperial Cabinet meetings dealing with Empire affairs would certainly be of great advantage to the Dominions. This was done in wartime when Empire defence was discussed, and there was no reason why it should not be revived.

“The High Commissioners ought also to attend meetings of the Imperial Defence and Civil Research Committees,” added Sir James Allen, “as I attended the Defence Committee in 1913, thus settling New Zealand’s naval and military policy. Britain, if asked, would not object to inviting the High Commissioners in an advisory capacity when Cabinet faced Dominion ,problemsf, and the Empire’s delegates at Geneva ought certainly to meet beforehand, so that there might be fuller and more effective discussion and co-ordinating of the policv to be presented with a solid fiqnt at League discussions. “I think the Commonwealth made a mistake when it appointed a liaison officer between /Australia and the Foreign Office, as such an appointment is constitutionally unsound. A liaison officer ought to be the assistant of the High Commissioner, who should be the Government’s supreme representative, both advised and adviser, on every subject.”—Sydney “Sun” Cable.