PACIFIC RELATIONS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 48, 25 August 1925, Page 5

PACIFIC RELATIONS

OUTSTANDING ISSUES

BRITISH EMPIRE AT THE

INSTITUTE

(By H. Duncan Hal), M.A.)

The Australian and New Zealand delegations arrived ten days before the Institute opened. They had no time to catch more than a glimpse of the entrancing beauty of the streets of Honolulu ablaze with poinciana and golden •hower trees in full bloom, Immediately after arrival, the leaders of each of the groups, so far as they had arrived from tlio various countries, were plunged into preparatory work for the Institute. It was then that they saw the reason for the vagueness of the agenda, and the Institute has given complete expression to a new educational experiment. The Institute was not cut and dried. It was given the task from the oiitset of shaping its own agenda, and, through, many weary hours of hammering out the. method of procedure. Though this experience of continuous committee meetings was a tiring one, for small delegations, it has justified tho method adopted. As the. result of discussions, some seventy issues were set down for consideration and were grouped under some dozen headings. These issues were then submitted to a "straw vote" of all members of the Institute. The vote revealed that the interest of the members was centred in such matters as the following :—lmmigration and the treatment of Tesident aliens, the. industrialisation of the Far East, problems of racial conflict, the present situation in China, international co-operation in the Pacific, national economic commercial and financial policies. After the opening papeTß from each of the countries represented, the Institute proceeded in smaller round tables and in forums where all-members assembled to discuss these, issues in the order named. Other issues such as the problem of armaments, the , Singapore Buse,,etc., still remain to be-discussed. FRIENDSHIP WITH THE EAST At this point, it _ may be worth while to turn aside to discuss the part played by ' the British Dominions at the Institute. One great advantage of the early arrival of the Australian and New Zealand delegations was that they were able to establish intimate personal relations' with the Japanese and Chinese delegates. Out of these relations some close personal friendships have been built up which will remain long after the Institute has ended, and will make Japan and China no longer vague abstractions, but the homes of j friends. These friendships made it poss- j ible to approach the most controversial issues without fear of misunderstanding when the Institute opened. Before the iormal opening on Ist July, several informal round-table meetings between tha Oriental and the Australian and New Zealand groups disoussedsuch problems as immigration legislation and the present situation in China. From these contacts, there emerged certain important conclusions which revealed the true relation between ourselves and the Oriental group, and showed the part which we were likely to play in the Institute. Somewhat to the good humoured disgust of th« New Zealanders, the Chinese and Japanese, tended »t iirst to regard New Zealand a« merely; a small island off the coast of Australia, and they were amu»ed at our attempts to disentangle each other in their minds. Before long, as the result of their discussions and the presentation of our separate points of view, tha Institute began to realise our separate individuality. NewZealand's more limited conception of Biminion status, her. closer trade relations with Great Britain, her low tariff and absence of industrial development, and the intense individualism of her people began to stand but in contrast with Australia's greater emphasis upon her national status, the wider area of her trade relations, her high protective tar-.I iff, and her stronger, tendency towards State Socialism. Unfortunately, Canada is not well represented, and played only, a small part in the Institute. But the visit of the Hon. Newton Rowell, pres- j ident of the Council in the Borden Mm- j istry, for a few hours, and tha delivery by him of an important address on Canada's international status and her relationship to the British Commonwealth and to the League of Nations, was of great value- in bringing before the minds of the other countries! represented at the Institute the Teal function of the Brit- | ish Commonwealth in world! affairs. INTEREST IN MIGRATION POLICIES To the eyes of Australians and Naw Zealanders, their immigration policies I and their relationship with Japan bulk enormously in the politics of the Pacific. | At the Institute we had the opportunity of seeing these things through the eyes of the American and the Oriental delegates, and of getting an idea of their real proportions. We soon discovered i that even the best informed of the Chin- J ese and Japanese delegates had little more than a confused knowledge of the details" of our immigration policies, and that they were not Very_ interested in discussing them. It was instructive and a little relieving to find that after one had discussed the White Australia policy with tho most charming and best informed of the Chinese delegates, and he had expressed his surprise at finding that this policy was really, democratic in its basis, his polite attention was continually being diverted from Australia, in which he had no interest, to America, which to ; him, after the Japanese delegates, was < the centre of 'interest. It is with tho American and not the Australian immigration policy that the Japanese are concerned. Hence we had the curious spectacle of the leaders of the Australian and New Zealand delegations being regarded as sufncjently neutral in discussions on immigration and the industrialisation of the Far East to be called upon to preside- over these respective round tables in which some of the most contentious and far-reaching discussions of the Institute have centred. ADVANCING INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION Asked to-day what his outstanding impressions were with regard to the part played by the British Empire in the Institute, one of the leading American delegates replied "that the outstanding con : tribution of the delegates from the British Commonwealth has been their experience in international co-operation, and their emphasis upon the value of group life and group action in solving international problems." The members of tlic Australian and New Zealand dpiegatious 'have taken eveiy opportunity to emphasise the value which they placed •upon their relationship with the British Commonwealth. In the discussions on international co-operation in tho Parific, they have emphasised their devotion to their existing loyalties to the British • Commonwealth and the League of Nations. But they have pointed out that- international co-opeintion. and fellowship are not tilings of which there is a limited supply, so tli.it if we co-operate in one direction oiir capacity for co-operation in another ,

is thereby limited; and that it should be possible to build Lip in the Pacific some local conference machinery to limit the possibility of War in the Pacific and to develop international co-operation in matters which specially concern the Pacific peoples. Important .discussions on this question have been arranged for the final days of the Institute, and it is hoped that they will havo an important influence on the policies of the governments in this matter.

The strongest of all the delegations to the conference is that from America. It includes such outstanding men as President Wilbur, of Leland Stanford Univard, Professor Willoughby, of Johns University, Jeremiah W. Jenks, of the .University of New York, G. G. Wilson, Professor of International Law at Harvard, Professor Willoughby, of John Hopkins University, Mr. C. C. Batchelder, and Mr. S. K. Hornbeck, experts and advisors of the Department of State on Economic issues in the Pacific. Be-; tween the American, the Australian, and New Zealand delegations/there has been the,most hearty co-operation and agreement, especially with regard to the necessity of dealing with Pacific problems by an extension of the policy of international co-operation in the Pacific adopted by the United States at the Washington conference. The Americans havo been specially ready in their acceptance Of our pleas that if the Institute is to be a success, Great Britain must bo represented at future meetings.