Evening Post. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1918. OUR INTERESTS IN THE PACIFIC

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 67, 19 March 1918, Page 6

Evening Post. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1918. OUR INTERESTS IN THE PACIFIC

We-published yesterday a, letter from a ■correspondent protesting against the programme of the meeting which, the Mayor has called for Thursday next to d«al with the question of the German colonies in the Pacific, and his breadth of view is likely to be appreciated by many who are una-bjle to follow his logic. " May I sqggest," says pur correspondent, "that if the question must be considered,. the motion should be so framed as to permit a perfectly free discussion? It is certain, I- think, that if the meeting is purely one of protest, some who have given this problem much thought will remain away —they do hot wish to attend public meetings to protest against a protest, arid ' possibly to have their action described in opprobrious terms'" It is so eminently desirable that all points of view, and not least our correspondent's point of view, should be represented at the meeting that we trust that neither he nor anybody else will be kept away by dissent from the object or supposed object of the promoters. The meeting is a citizens', meeting, and all shades of opinion regarding the matter in hand should be welcome and in order. Though our correspondent quotes the deolared object of the meeting correctly, his argument appears ,to assume a narrowing of- its scope for which there is >no justification. If the Mayor had invited the citizens to meet and protest against the restoration of the German colonies he would have adopted the position of a partisan, and those who share our correspondent's views would not have come within the terms of the invitation. But an invitation to consider a resolu--tion of protest puts everybody "on .side," as any invitation from a Mayor which seeks a public expression of opinion always should.

It is, however, urged, by our correspondent that those who agree with him i may not care to attend-a public meeting in order to protest against a protest, thereby perhaps running the risk of having their action described in opprobrious terms. We trust that the danger is imaginary, but even if it~be not it is for the supporters of.an unpopular opinion to have the courage of their convictions, and we cannot see that their difficulties would be removed by any change in the form of the principal proposition. What is desired is a full, expression of opinion, and it should befreely given, whatever the resolution may be. What is just, timely, and pertinent in our correspondent's protest is his pica, for a. broad outlook. " The-problem-g? tha (Seniwn cotonteifisp^fr

says, "not a simple one; it is not a separate ,one; it is part of the larger question of conquered territories, whether captured by the Allies or by our enemies." This is an aspect of the truth which should be kept constantly in mind, and as it is easily overlooked our correspondent does well to give it prominence on the eve of the meeting. The disposal of German Samoa' is but a small fraction of the colossal and complicated issues which await the determination of the Peace Conference, but as it is of special interest to New Zealand we inevitably pay it a special attention. It is the normal case, though on an abnormal scale', of the local interest which attracts so much attention and excites such .an intensity of feeling that its due relation to the wider interests at stake may be seriously obscured. In the present caselefc us beware lest the keenness of our local interest tempt us to put the part before the whole, and to degrade our Imperialism into a rabid parochialism.

But from this salutary warning wa are quite unable to deduce the practical conclusion which.our correspondent deduces fr.omi it. If Thursday's meeting was to bs a Peace Conference, or even a Peace Council of the Empire, his argument would .be ■ less wide of the mark. It seems indeed to overlook entirely the real purpose and effect of such a meeting. "Resolutions," he says, "such as have been passed recently, in New Zealand will either be of rip effect, or will play into the hands of the German diplomats, who could wish nothing better than to attend a Peace Conference with many pawns to barter with, and to know that the resolutions of the British Dominions beyond the seas had robbed the British plenipotentiaries of any power to bargain." The confident submission of these alternatives as exhausting the possibilities betrays a singular misconception of the position. The second errs from' excess even more extravagantly than the other from defect. The people of New Zealand could not, if they would, and would not if they could, dictate to the ■Mother Country, or tie the hands of the Empire's representatives at the Peace Conference. But they Save great interests at stake and decided views upon the point, and they would fail in their duty both to themselves and to the Empire if they concealed such material ■facts. ■•'■.

It is not a' question of dictation but of information and argument. Neither New Zealand nor any other part of the Empire has the. right to get all its own way;at" the Peace Conference, or to be nasty if, after a fair fight and a fair deal, it is disappointed. But any part of the Empire would be very foolish, and would, as we have said, be failing in its duty, if it allowed the British plenipotentiaries to go to the Peace Conferonce without thp fullest possible information as to its interests and its desires. Statesmen working in London offices, with all the cares of this gigantic Empire and this appalling war upon their shoulders, cannot possibly realise every detail of local or even o£ Imperial interest as clearly as those on the spot. On the whole, they take a better-proportioned view, but they inevitably miss some things which are perfectly > clear to. a vision sharpened by local interest and local danger. Is it desirable., that the Imperial Government should have the fullest possible information that local sources can supply? or that they should act at the Peace Conference in ignorance of essential facts? Those who prefer the. first alternative will see in tho resolutions deplored by our correspondent a valuable means of enlightenment. Those who think that Imperial statesmen should not be so enlightened will be consistent if they accept the aecond alternative and declare frankly that ignorance of the opinion and sentiment of the outlying parts of the Empire will strengthen the hands of its representatives in the negotiations. It is surely the part of common sense to put all the facts and all the arguments before them, just as it will be the part; of loyalty to accept and make the best of the decision that may be ultimately reached, and we shall be surprised if the Mayor's meeting is not as clear and as strong.on the,one point as on the other.