The Dominion. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1936. WRITING ON THE WALL

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 300, 15 September 1936, Page 8

The Dominion. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1936. WRITING ON THE WALL

Commissioner David Lamb, of the Salvation Army, has been writing on the wall. Addressing the British Association for the Advancement of Science on the subject of population, a favourite theme of his, he declared that the present downward tendency of white population in British countries, if continued, would sound the death-knell of the. Empire. The end of the Empire has often been predicted, but on different reasoning. By some it has been held that as the Dominions grow in importance, divergent policies, coupled with, the consciousness of sovereign independence, may lead to its gradual disintegration. Others declare that if its defence system is not kept at ‘adequate strength and efficiency, the Empire will be dismembered by external* forces. Commissioner Lamb’s contention ? is that the fundamental requirement of the integrity of the British Imperial system is increased population. But increased population could offer no guarantee of security for the system if measures for effectively defending it were neglected; nor would increased population plus an efficient defence system guarantee the permanence of the Empire if its members found themselves unable to make common ground of its problems, and to align their policies accordingly. Economically, we are told, Britain is a changed country.' Whatever may be in store for the Dominions in the remote future, it is certain that for,the present and the near future, all must experience more or less similar reactions to this change. We in this country are already conscious of it. Whether our planning is in accordance with the requirements of this new situation is another matter. The Government has adopted certain measures affecting our national economy without, apparently, examining closely the question whether these will fit into the general economy of the Empire. In currency and marketing questions, for example, it decided to legislate first and send its Finance Minister to London to explain afterward. The point here is that if the Empire is to be preserved as a system, there must be a systematic plan. The first question to be asked is toward what political, economic and social ends is the present relationship of the Dominions and the Mother Country to be perpetuated? The survival of the system is obviously dependent upon the degree of unanimity which can be reached on those three points. The Empire has grown in haphazard fashion, but it _ cannot continue with this lack of system. It must be given a definite aim. Once that is clearly understood, and the end defined, subsidiary such as defence, population, and foreign policy, should fall into their proper place for examination and treatment; If the member States of the British Commonwealth continue to pull this way and that without any reference to a* common aim, it will be impossible to devise satisfactory measures for the treatment of the problems which affect their community as a whole. Failing such treatment, the structure of the Commonwealth will inevitably be weakened. One weakness due to the lack of a common aim, was revealed in dissensions within the Empire arising from the League sanctions against Italy; another is sure to arise over the German colonial question if Herr Hitler presses this matter for determination. A plain and pertinent question for the delegates at the next Imperial Conference should be; “Why the Empire?’’ To talk dismally of the end of the Empire without asking ourselves seriously whether it is worth preserving, and why, and to what end, is to present to a watching world an attitude of fatalism and defeatism.