RECURRING ALARUMS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 114, 18 May 1925, Page 3

RECURRING ALARUMS

CANADA AND THE M OTH ERLAND

WHAT THE BIG. DOMINION WANTS.-

Recurring incidents suggest the inw pression that existing relations between Canada and the Motherland are not so smqbth as they ought to be, writes John fu .I??'-,^ 1'a dis Patc!i from Toronto to ' the 'Daily Mail." .There was con- ' troversy about the Chanak episode with its Churchillian-Llbyd" Georgian alarum; controversy as to .Canada's: representation at tho Washington Disarmament Conference; controversy about the signing of the Halibut Fisheries Treaty be- ■ tween Canada and the United States' controversy about a new treaty concerning armaments on the Great Lakes: controversy about a Canadian Ambassador at Washington— not yet appointed; controversy about Canada's exclusion from the Lausanne Conference and her sub- ' sequent refusal to ratify tho Treaty And a few weeks ago, refusal by Canada (with other Dominions) -to accept Mr. Amery's invitation to' a March Conference to. discuss the Peace' Protocol, indicates continuing lack of team-work and clear understanding. During the period covered by these episodes four different Governments representing widely, divergent points of view have held, office in England. In Canad not one of the )ssues mentioned • has'" dis-i closed, any serious cleavage beiween parties. Ihe deduction is that the difficulty is more deep-seated than one that might be raised by the ascendancy of a particular political party either here or in the United Kingdom. The issue is as to what voice Canada shall have in thecontrol of foreign relations and how that voice shall be expressed. A vital corol- : lary relates.to Canada's responsibility for and participation in futuro wars. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who had the gift of expressive phrasing, laid down tha ' axiom, "When England is at war Can- " ada is at war." A modification of this declaration points out that in the event of war the degree to which Canada shall • participate will be determined by tha Canadian Government and Parliament, which, of course, controls the purse- •' strings. Thus while in the Great Was Canada contributed to the limit of her ' resources, sho circumscribed her con-f tribntion in South Africa, and to other minor enterprises, contributed not at all/ Another Aphorism of Lanrier was his appeal to the Motherland, "If.jou want us to help you, call us to your councils."' But previous to 1914 Canada was not called to vcouncfls. And when the smoko of the Great War cleared away Canadians reflected on the fact that on the' events leading up to a convulsion which, involved Canada in large' sacrifices and led her along the v way toward bank--enptcy Canada herself had exercised not lone tittle of influence. Canadians, ■without criticising British condnct of pre-war , diplomacy, determined that a similar situation should not recur. Hence Canada took her seat at the Peace Conference, Canada signed the Treaty of Versailles, Canada secured membership in. tha League of Nations—all gestures to the world that henceforth Canada proposed to assume in advance some responsibility for her commitments. Since Versailles have occurred the episodes outlined at the beginning of this article. They demonstrate the difficulties that beset the course on which the Dominion has set her compass. If these episodes and the circumstances sui- ■ rounding them are examined it will ba observed that Canadian policy seems to be crystallising as follows:—Jn a limited field, chiefly her relations with the Unit* ed States, Canada.seeks control of her foreign affairs, unfettered except for decent consultation with other parts of the Empire; for foreign policy elsewhere she wishes to be consulted when her interests are affected, not necessarily otherwise, and she wishes further that the degree! of her liability in any contingency shall bear a. relation to the degree to which, she is consulted and committed in ad-:-vance. .';'.■■ It will be observed that this is a substantial modification of Laurier's. general plea, "Call us to your councils." It is now appreciated that consultation, even if only formal, means liability: In the case of Lausanne, Canada was not called : to council. The sequel was that Canada declined to ratify the resulting treaty, though accepting it as automatically ending the technical stats- of war which previously had existed between Canada as part of the-British Empire and Turkey. By declining to ratify Canada professed to wash her hands of. at least, moral responsibility for carrying out tha terms of the treaty. ■ • ' . In theory this policy no doubt seems more unyielding than it would' be iij .practice. In the sense that she was no(. previously consulted Canada Had no moral responsibility for. the Great War. And if we were back, in .1914' there is'no reason to suppose that Canada wouldact otherwise than she did then. . In questions affecting the'settlement. of Europe, Canada has a - substantial' interest In Egypt, in Turkey, in Persia, even in India, points of great importance in British Imperial policy, the interest of Canada'(and herein she differs from Australasia) is remote. These are" points that will be of service in apprais. ing what Canada's attitude is likely t* be on issues as.they arise. A proposar.that" is finding favour in several quarters here is that Canada should maintain a diplomatic representative in London and that Britain should maintain a similar representative in Ottawa, who would function just as other Ambassadors do; These envoys would be distinct from the High Commissioner in one case, and from the GovernorGeneral in the other. Indeed, in connection with the Governor-General it is specifically advanced by some constitu-^ tional students here that he should ceaaa altogether to represent the British Gov^. eminent and should become purely a Viceroy. > ' . J 7 The suggestion of an interchange oj Ambassadors is based on the belief that conferences, even the regular Imperial Conferences, have outlived their usefulness and that what is needed is machin-. cry to provide uninterruptedly full information and clear understanding sa that there shall be an end to situations in which the British and Canadian Governments appear to be acting as cross-