Evening Post. TUESDAY, NOVEMBEE 19, 1929. CONSULT OR INFORM

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 122, 19 November 1929, Page 8

Evening Post. TUESDAY, NOVEMBEE 19, 1929. CONSULT OR INFORM

According to a cable message received to-day, an assurance has been given in the House of Commons by Mr. Mac Donald that the Dominions will be consulted before any decision is taken affecting the Singapore Base as a whole. This is more satisfactory than the earlier statement by the First Lord of the Admiralty that the Dominions had been informed of the decision, to slacken work on the Base. It may be accepted as an undertaking that Dominion interest in the Base will be fully recognised and that Singapore will not be used as a bargaining counter unless the Dominions have their part in negotiating the bargain. It would have been1 better still, however, if the decision to retard the work had also been reached after consultation. "Ehe effect of that decision may not be far-reaching. Three months' slackening, or even cessation, of construction is not of such great importance. What is of importance is the impression that the British Government is inclined to take a separate course. No one will deny that Great Britain, as the senior partner. and the one that bears the main burden of naval defence, must have a majority vote on this issue. Even though the overseas parts of the Empire have become contributors, and, in respect of Singapore, have contributed handsomely, they have not yet become equal partners in finance, and they cannot demand full equality in determining policy. • Britain, in her generosity and wisdom, however, has voluntarily granted a voice in policy, hoping that the Dominions would ultimately recognise the responsibility as well as the privilege of partnership. There has been some recognition, and it would be regrettable if the growing disposition to share the burdens of naval defence were checked by Britain's resumption of full authority. There is probably no intentional disregard of Dominion opinion, but Mr. Mac Donald's pursuit of peace and disarmament may set a pace which the_ outposts of the Empire cannot maintain. War experiences are fresh m our minds, and we hesitate to exchange the substance of trade route security for something which appears tO. v! .ratner less substantial. Our misgivings hinder us from keeping abreast with Mr. Mac Donald. Full consultation is the only method of allaying such doubts. Without consultation the impression may be deepened that the Labour Government policy centres on the United Kingdom, and that the Empire which Mr. J. H. Thomas discovered in 1924 is yet unknown to some of his colleagues.

If the Singapore incident stood alone, it might give less reason for apprehension, but there was reason for disquiet also in the Optional Clause policy pursued at Geneva. The subject of compulsory arbitration in international disputes, and particularly adherence to the Optional Clause, was considered at the 1926 Imperial Conference. Lord Balfour's Committee then reported that "whilst the members of the Committee were unanimous in favouring the widf si possible extension of the method of arbitration for the settlement of international disputes, the feeling was that it was at present premature to accept the obligations under the Article in question." The report added:

A general understanding was reached that none of the Governments represented at the Imperial Conference would take any action in the direction of the acceptance of compulsory jurisdiction of the Permanent Court without bringing up the matter for further discussion.

In some quarters that understanding was interpreted as an agreement to leave the question in abeyance until the next Imperial Conference, and consultation by cable and dispatches Was not considered a sufficient substitute. For example, "Augur," writing in the "Fortnightly Review," considered Mr. Mac Donald's action inconsistent with the recognised. need to strengthen the Imperial bond between the Mother Country and the Dominions.

For reasons o£ party politics, or because he simply had not read the promise of 1926, Mr. Mac Donald made his declaration at Geneva, thus bitterly offending the two most faithful Dominions, Australia and New Zealand, but supported by Ireland and South Africa, that is, the two which have least interest i» preserving the Empire, This is an exaggerated statement. There was no "bitter offence," but some misgiving as to methods and some concern as to the apparent weakening of unity which resulted. The risks incurred in adherence to the Optional Clause—for example, the possibility of Ireland raising inter-Empire issues—have been overstated. Nevertheless, there are objections to the course taken. These were stated soberly and without exaggeration by "The Times," which referred to "the vagueness and uncertainty of the laws this Court is called

upon to administer, and, in administering, to make." A Hague Conference for the codification of the law is to be held next year, but in the meantime there are "notoriously wide and deep" differences of opinion on many serious questions. On one side is the Anglo-American tradition and on the other the Continental tradition. "The Times" suggested it would have been prudent to await the result of codification.

Let us know the law that is to govern our international relations before wo undertake to accept the interpretations placed upon it by a Court where, so far as foresight is possible the general tone and current of thought will not be those of our law, our history, or our habits.

So far as New Zealand is concerned, however, there is little reason for fear of the consequences of actual resort to the Court. More disturbing is the suggestion that in the decision of this question there was less regard for Dominion opinion than there had been hitherto. "Augur" remarked:

From behind the scenes at Geneva accounts reach us of Mr. Mac Donald's "superior" attitude towards the Dominion representatives, which was resented by them, and which brought a stinging rebuke from Mr. M'Gilligan the representative of the Irish Free State.

Talk of Imperial Unity may be overdone, until the term becomes a nauseating platitude; but the method pursued by the Empire delegation at the Washington Conference is still infinitely preferable to that which has at times been in evidence at Geneva. We do not suggest that Mr. Mac Donald has departed deliberately from the Washington method. By arranging for Dominion representation at the London Conference he has evinced his desire to maintain unity in consultation; but his eagerness for disarmament, what "Augur" terms "his messianic turn of mind and. a lifelong connection with international socialism" may make him impatient with Dominions that do not move so fast. The earnest desire for a great immediate achievement may cause him to weaken the instrument—a united Empire—which in patient hands can yet exert the most powerful, though perhaps slowworking, force for peace.