Evening Post. MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1926. "FROM PHRASES TO FACTS"

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 136, 6 December 1926, Page 8

Evening Post. MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1926. "FROM PHRASES TO FACTS"

It was on the 21st October, 1805, as despite the pacifists every schoolboy is still allowed to know, that the Battle of Trafalgar was fought, but he is not equally familiar with the fact that it was not till the 7th November that Pitt was "roused from his sleep to open the dispatches containing the great news. Our forefathers were indeed a primitive folk; Nelson's ships were, as Admiral Mahau says, all "crazy"; and the best of them that Collingwood could spare after the French and Spanish Fleets had been destroyed took nearly three weeks to deliver his message. Ten years ago the news of Jutland was flashed round the whole world in about as many hours, and the breathless pace at which we do these things in time of peace was convincingly illustrated by a London message which we published on Saturday. Within the last two months the Imperial Conference has been sitting in London with such effects upon the ties of Empire that, according to our latest word about tlie subject, "they may endure for centuries." One of the fundamental issues, and perhaps the most vital of all, was that of Imperial defence. It was debated at No. 10, Downing Street, and how long did it take to reach any other part of London? The answer is supplied by the message to which we have referred. The debate took place oh the 26th October, but it was withheld from publication till the 2nd December—an interval of 37 days. The fact that in these days of open diplomacy, triumphant democracy, freedom of the Press, and electric telegraphs it ' _akes us more than five weeks to get any report at all of so momentous an Imperial event should mitigate the condescension with which we deplore the backwardness of our ancestors in taking less than half that time to report Trafalgar. But, now that the report of the debate on Imperial defence is available, ought we not to be thankful that the five weeks' delay was not extended to five months? We do not think that there is much call for gratitude, for the thing would be very little deader at the end of five months than it is to-day. The essence of the mischief is that, speaking broadly, a newspaper is read but a Blue Book is not, and the report of a debate which, wherever published, is delayed till after the decision has been reached partakes of the inanimate character of the Blue Book. Reports of the proceedings of the Conference from day to day would have been read with an aqtive and widespread interest which it i_ now impossible to recapture. The delegates would thus have been contributing to the education of their respective constituents, and in return might even have received some enlightenment themselves. An immense amount of education is needed on both sides, as the report new- before us proves. "From Phrases to Facts" was the happy title of the leading article which was published by "The Times" on the eve of the Conference and which we have ventured to borrow as equally appropriate to-day.. It is indeed "from phrases to facts" that we seem to be turning when we pass from those beautiful formulae about equality and security and destiny, over which we were all invited to rejoice a fortnight ago, to the hard facts of the Dominions' attitude to Imperial defence as revealed in this belated, document. Those who responded to the invitation would have been less ecstatic in their welcome of that "historic" and "epoch-mak-ing" Report on Inter-Imperial Relations if the Defence Debate hod then been available to apply the lest of reality to its eloquence. "Friend, how much?" was the question with which the Quaker pricked the bubble of his friend's eloquent enthusiasm for a deserving cause; Measured by that test, the Dominion delegates' enthusiasm makes a poor showing indeed. Great Britain is going to get as much from most, if not all, of the Dominions towards the cost of the common defence as she did previously, but no more. In view especially of Mr. T. J. Roos's declaration that "we freely accept what is freely given," and that "the relations now existing between South Africa and the British Empire are permanent relations," we do not wish to underestimate the value of Lord Balfour's formulae. If the "inferiority complex" from which South Africa and Canada have been suffering is cured by the declaration of equality of status, the centrifugal forces so conspicuous in both countries since the War will be arrested, or at any rate abated. On the other hand, the construction of this declaration as implying equal rights in regard to foreign policy and war and peace might substitute a greater danger, and of any intention to extend the axiom to duties as well as rights there ia not the slightest indication. i

Canada and South Africa may claim an equal right with Britain to get us all into trouble, but they will not recognise an equal obligation to get us out of it. They recognise an equal right with the rest of the Empire to be defended by the British Navy, but they recognise no obligation to contribute to help in tlie conversion of that Navy into a genuinely Imperial Navy by the contribution of all the self-governing States of the Empire on an equitable basis. And so this glorious declaration of equality is to leave the obligations of defence just as ingloriously unequal as they were before. The "discharging of her present coast defence responsibilities" is all that Mr. Havenga has to offer on behalf of South Africa. As the cabled report of the Canadian Prime Minister's speech is confined to two sentences, we may quote it in full: ' Mr. Mackcnzio King, in expressing appreciation of the service demonstrations, said they indicated the need for all parts of the Empiro to keep abreast with defence development. Ho proceeded to describe the Canadian defence organisation. To describe the Navy of Canada would be about as easy as to describe the snakes of Iceland. The combination of the British Navy, the United States Navy, and the Monroe Doctrine save her from any worry on that account. But what of the Dominions which, not having these extra safeguards, fully realise their dependence on Britain? The impression made upon one impartial observer is that they are shirking too. "The Times" says it is clear that no immediate help may be expected from Australia, New Zealand, or India towards the cost of the Singapore Base. We must reserve for a later opportunity our reasons for believing that "The Times" is here doing New Zea-1 land an injustice, and that she will j lose'no time in doing the right thing in regard to Singapore.