THE HIGHER IMPERIALISM

Evening Star, Issue 14627, 25 July 1911, Page 4

THE HIGHER IMPERIALISM

SIR JOSEPH WARD ON THE OUTLOOK. mSTOMcTsPEECH. [Fbom Ora Special Correspondent.] "We have been privileged to listen to a speech of the greatest importance. I predict that it will bo quoted in connection with this great subject tor many years to come. )."ou will remember in years hereafter that you have heard this speech of the' Prime Minister of >ew Zealand. These weighty words, coming from so distinguished a man as Lord Selborne, are a'high tribute indeed to tho value of the address given by Sir Joseph "Ward beforo the Royal Colonial Institute on Tuesday night, on the subject of a K;hor and truer Imperialism. Sir Joseph Ward, who was received with loud applause, said in the course of his address:— The Imperial Conference just now sitting in London is doing useful work in discussing and settling questions of general interest to the Empire, but this Conference has a much deeper significance to every man who has followed the historical development of British colonial policy. Only by recol- | looting tho past can we understand the j present. The Imperial Conference sig- j nifies that Great Britain recognises j that it is her duty to call her children ! to her councils; that, while she must! always be first in her own house, these | children of Iters are vitally interested j in what the family is doing—(applause) j —and that a proper and fair approeia- I tion of the claims of her colonies com- i pels her to treat them no longer as ! tributary States, but as free young ! nations. (Applause.) Has this stage j finished its course, or is it but begin- j ning? To my mind the answer to that j question determines the final destiny of j Great Britain. Fr the Empire is to j nave no closer unity, no better organ- | \sed system of co-operation, in) closer i council of Empire than a four-yearly I meeting of Prime Miuisters round a [ table in London, then, to my mind— j and this is my must anxious thought—the outlook for Imperial Unity is grave j and clouded. '('Hear, hear.) Two : courses present themselves at this ; juncture. First. Great Britain may ■ acquiesce in the continuance or the j present system, and permit time to lead ; the great self-governing dominions on j to a fuller nationhood; permit them, ] while this growth continues, to enter j upon a foreign policy of their own ; to I •alter into alliances—commercial, or, j jperhaps, even defensive—with other j nations: permit them to develop, along j their own lines, a naval policy of their ', own : and ultimately permit them to dv- j Hire whether they will remain at peace i while she is at war; and, as they logic- | ally must, in such cases, secure that ! peace by the assertion of independence j —for by no other means, as far as II can judge, could such a strio of things be consummated. j

That is ono conrso. Tln> other, and the only other, eottrst- that I eau sec, is tbit of a st l id\ proti otinn ft Irtjvnil co-optit't on lo' ill tin \itil jrestion-5, jiic tHuij; ckitico *\ hen iLict tl o r> is \ hole . il 11 this the iirst un ci{ l 1 's tno (it am n< f a tMif> c*- nip ct 1 mono (, Vppbiise ) Yv, r I and n_ th call tb' British has ,r >st corf I d to _iuw to rt.an\ n tlh n s n ort' —oh t whiti iu>I* ct<- iro to-da v , cx'luthil iroui a tull Imperial havo no \ore \ ' ite."' in questions ot pohev ; 10 \oho i i ' tr m tno t" "iitma iro, p i, o. d if • - trol >i T t' 1 2s u\ : o \( 1 iut 1 - in th sal hot tint ('' r ">n < tin ~r war. Vnrl while t' <** ptipus or •- t n as an ciist'-anchibcd in ih's \ i\ mh have not, and you never will have «< basts <t i tiU" In 1 r.il f }stim '1 it the ch ot tV I 1 ip ro b! otild 1 \ir their burden in conjti'it T on with the "Motherland is row " tt an loi^rr (,Uot*tlOtl d hj + tills t ip>- s 1 |t, ( <a> i-ords, 1 t ills tint il \ m, mht contribute in 1 ie\ m ships or 1• i> to the cleft ir th tin pne is , nhok i ippHuT > Ve tiust mm ltdopt and device souie schtut b_v \ bn hj these nations undei t 1 1 British Tlaj; ovrr-tis \ dl b> unit 1 *> tho Motherlaiid b\ 1 stion_ thu »»i permanent co-i , r r un 11 n. h.vu upon sentirrp'it .110 uinuj doubtless, bcrtimtut iili a'',j<-, b 1 ch ( p basis. \\ e owe au obligation to iqr cimlis. - Uon proDort'onati. lo tnr pouoi md I our pn\ilic;cs, and tioin oar 1 own immediate interest 01 prub 111 oui | Empire, there i"= this ln_,h< 1 <\+\ wbkh ever\ true In art lcel- of In Ipu j; I r u trie hij;hei cifibs >non of » " world, as Lintim in the t I <s hu uotn done. But how can this mission I U 1 ruliilled it the rrnpm'.- rite is d' - integration •" shorn of her enddiiii •■ nd m bti ot national tml and Hut tin toucbv' these doaniKUs cs tie a it touches Bntaii i bin t sktd (11 Britain stand alone J I noir ask Can thoi t Tbe\ puiiuiti; id* K of tbt ir own n fonih 111 ' it tl < v do not, and canto*, mdiiiun ib stud alone without the protcctinn if the | 3iother Country. (Applan-i'.) I'nited ; they can defy ib.e world—(loud ap- j plauso)—divided they can maintain j their national existence, if at ;■!!. only j with a burden, and at a sacrilice press- i ing on every citizen, and obstructive j to every progressive social scheme aim- ! ing at the. betterment ot their own : people. I have tried my hand at a 1 scbeme ci' Imperial co-operation, and ! only the man who has essayed that task ! can properly estimate its'diihcidty. I am profoundly aware of the diliicuities, bat no difficulty will .weld to solution unless the will precedes the search of tbe way; air'! ..hat I say is wanted

Just now. a preliminary to tut aarxions s-. ...cli for an effective system, is a genuine desire on llic< part of tho people of tills Motherland and of tho Oversea, Dominions and of the statesmen who control her destinies to extend privileges and Imperial citizenship to every son of the Km pirn across the seas—(applause)—and so bring the Jay of the birth of a true Imperial Council or Parliament—l care not by which name hj is called—giving to every contingent part of the Kmpiro a. voice in its destiny, and welding tho free nations which constitute it into ono indissoluble whole for its maintenance and the promotion of its ideals, including that, all-important object, our national defence.—(Loud applause.) Sir Frederick Young thanked Sir Joseph Ward for the statesmanlike position he had taken with regard to Imperial Federation, in which he personally had taken an active part for many years.

Mr E. T. Powell said that he wished to offer his humble meed of prai.se for the very masterly address which Sir Joseph Ward had given them. He considered that Sir Joseph Ward's address constituted a great epoch in the history of English politic-id thought. Lord Seiborrie, who presided, said Sir Joseph Ward had dealt more courageously and at closer quarters with the question of the organisation of the Empire than any statesman had yet done. When the statesmen of the dominions did come forward u ifch a prepared scheme, they would iind many men on this side of the water who ■would give up the whole of their political lives to support them.—(Cheers.)

Among the New Zealanders present at the meeting were Lady Ward and Miss Ward, Sir W. R. and Lady Kussell. Sir Wm. Hall-Jones, Mr and Airs J. Kirker, Mr C. P. Skerrett, K.C., Mr M. A. Clark, Mr Alfred Kidd. Mr and Mrs Jas Hislop, Miss Jessie Weston, Mr and Mrs J. M. 11. Tripp, Mr and Mrs D. Margoliouth, Mr and Mrs G- J. Marks, and Mr E. W. Roper.