Evening post. MONDAY AUGUST,26, 1911. AFFAIRS OF EMPIRE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 50, 28 August 1911, Page 6

Evening post. MONDAY AUGUST,26, 1911. AFFAIRS OF EMPIRE.

Th 6 citizens' "WeJcOffl'fe to the-Puemkr and the Attatie^-Geiigral oft-^atutday night was A mvtch more »sfttififactc*y Affair than that which had been' organised for. tb7e»i4)y their colleagace-on 'the night of. fcbeir Tetur n. It >was< in-* deed a complete eaccefia. Tlier© vtast ?jio jarring note at all, and all 'the,speeches were in just therrigirt'key,. The* most notable speech, was, as' it/ ehould* have been, that of Sir Joseph W»rd. • 4 Great -indeed has been his progress in» Imperial, cducatbn,- sine© ho addressed* S-the citizens -of •* Wellington at tho fare•.well banquet nearly cix months ago. LHe talked -eoundly on that occasion about' the general principles of defence, but^ the talk'^'had not much bodyin.-it, and, ■■ about-Nfthe Imperial Conference he hadv •.nothing 'to say that- wae of an il-, 'luminating orastimulating character. It was indeed a part of the Government's* • policy, sor'-want of policy, *at that* time to* keep the work of the Conference in the. as much a* possible. Re 'herring to the Conference on Saturday night, Sir Joseph Ward said that "no more important and momentous gathering " had ever been. held. We have MH>ver been disposed to undwestima-te the importance of Ihe Imperial Conference, aoid we recognise that ths disparagement, of its achievements, which-jhas been too, common in Ihe Old , Country, i« to be -ftttribnted in large part -to-disappwfart-ment at it.« failure to provide the Unionists with the help t<hey expected tin tho matter of Tariff Reform and the Declaration of London. Bat* the more.! that the importance oi the Conference ia now magnified, the lew? possible does it seem to 'us to justify the nmhner in whiHi Us business was Ir^ted by the

We have no desire to harp unduly on a blunder for which the Premier and the Attorney-General did their befit to mak© amende at the Conference iteelf, bnt> the unrepentant attitude of the Premier's reference to the question on Saturday ©veiling will tfot allow us to'pafis it by. It may, indeed, b& considered' a sign of grace that the Premier took such paina to justify himself. The saying • that be •who excuses himself accufiea himself ha& a-special application to th« case of & man who chooses a compli« mentary occasion like Satnrday's banquet for the publication of his apologia. It is teally too ab«ufd. to Suggest that file effects of allowing Pstth'atneftt and the country to form an intelligent appte- ■ ctetion of the business to be transacted on theit behalf and in their names at the Imperial Conference would b* to send, their representatives "shackled and almost tongue-tied" to the Conference, and. to make thoseurftpfesentatives "next door to useless." If Sir Joseph Ward owed his rise and his present position to the favour of an autocrat, (me confd fi»d some paifti an his argument, 1 but that the leader of a^democf&cy shtrald poor scorn upon the process of free- dis« cflSsion, wnkh i& the v«ry breath of -re* presentativo government, is a, paradox indeed. To talk aboot our, representative being shackled and almost tongue, tied by a preliminary discussion of tM issues to come before tit* Ccmferenofr is to imply not merely that he »hoold be free to express his own' opinion* ai thfc Conference, and not those of the people' of New Zealand, but that his 'freedom in this respect shotM not hfe wnbfflTTvssed by fie frronveaient knowledge of what the people's opinions may be. At a matter of fact, the chief value of •*eh & discussion would not b© for the instruction of a delegate, but for the mutual education of Government, Parliament, and people. Has Sir Joseph Ward ■reahsed that ihe people of N«w Zealand need educating jnftt (us badly as his. colleagues at ihe Conference upon the main point that he brought bftforo the Conference? Has ho forgotten feat he himself Seeded educating just as badly as any of them when he boarded the. Sydney steamer at Auckland in Match, which was months after all the Neve Zealand resolutions for the Conference had been prepared and forwarded ? We mention these pointy not for the purpose of recrimination, fflft in order .that similar mistakes may be avoided in the future, and we are glad to recognise that the Premier is going the right way to work How, Parliament is to be given the opportunity of discussing every part of the work done or attempted by -the representatives of New Zealand at the Conference. We csmnot recall that any similar opjjorfcunity was given after the Conference of 1907, If' a- . technical opening was allowed for such a discussion, certainly no such use was made of it as we may hope to see made now. Sir Joseph Ward's education has made great strides in the interval. The German scare, and the special Conference oft Defence in 1909,coMpell9d him to think on. tho fundamental tesues ol Imperial unity a» he Isad never thought before. Th* w suit was thafc he returned fmm that Conference a ready convert to the popular demand for compulsory training, Following oh the acceptance of the principle by Parliament with the warm approval of the country came Lord Kit. cheaieaf's visit and a report which showed us how, wjth. tile aid of that principle, we might build up a citiaen army worthy of the name and equal to any probable emergency. With that work auspiciou&ly bfegmi Sir Joseph W^rd was summoned to the Imperial Conference and admitted to Vh» inner most •mysteries of the Empire's foreign policy. Is it to be wondered at that .he has returned more firmly convinced than ever of the urgency of the defence question as that upon which everything else dapends? The details of his— or somebody clse'«— lmperial Fedefcation scheme ar« matters upon which there must be wide differences of opinion, and the country ha* hardly yet begun £0 consider the question wrtously. But jntgairlteß of party the people of New Zealand will respond to. the Premier's call on the defence question, and will tgladly submit to much more serious eacjriflces than those out of which a small but shrill section has been tooently cpn> gst-rueting » cheap and m^odTamatio jjtoMtyrdom,