AN AUSPICIOUS OPENING.

Evening Star, Issue 19386, 21 October 1926, Page 6

AN AUSPICIOUS OPENING.

The Imperial Conference has had an auspicious opening. A solemn sense of what the Empire peoples have suffered and possess in common and of what they have to preserve could not fail to bo produced by tho immediately preceding ceremony, poignant with the memory of war sacrifices, in tho Abbey —the Abbey that “ makes us we.” When tho F.rime Ministers took their places in the historic Cabinet room in which the decisions were taken by which England lost America and policies have been since determined for tho preserving and confirming of a far greater Empire, Mr Baldwin reviewed file achievements of past conferences and referred to problems still requiring solution. The most urgent of those, lie declared, was to increase tho opportunities for personal discussion, particularly in relation to matters of major importance in foreign affairs. The best possible principle was laid down by him to guide the aspirations of the statesmen of tho Commonwealth when he prescribed for them the theological motto; “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” Tho speeches which followed, with one exception, showed no disposition either to question or to diverge from this principle. Mr Mackenzie King, of Canada, apparently reserved any vital remarks which he may have to make on tho problems of the conference for a later stage. Mr Bruce, of Australia, had no doubt but that constitutional difficulties which had been suggested by some would disappear in a trank discussion. He was loss concerned with them than with economic troubles, by which everyone is practically affected. New Zealand and, Newfoundland were entirely satisfied with their place within the Empire, and Mr Cosgravc’s amiable remarks on behalf of tho Irish Free State gave no suggestion of bombs to follow. It was reserved for General Hertzog to express disagreement, at least partial, with the requisites for an Imperial policy laid down by Mr Baldwin, by putting liberty before unity. He went further in suggesting that the good-will of South Africa would be dependent on that transposition. He may have confused tho sentiment of South Africa with the sentiment of the Nationalist Party, of which he is the head, but his concern for a freedom ami equality which should be in the fullest measure practical as well as theoretical was unmistakably expressed. But General Hertzog wants what is impossible in practice. He has always insisted—at least since he became Prime Minister—that he has no desire to see South Africa secede from tho Empire. But the condition he lays down now as essential to prevent thoughts from turning to secession is really incompatible with tho Empire’s continuance. The independent national status of his country, lie demands, must ho placed beyond all doubt; it must bo internationally recognised. But how is that to bo clone? The independence which some dominions really covet is one which would absolve them from the necessary consequence of being at war if Great Britain should be in that position, It was suggested at one time that the requirement might ho met by arranging for a formal declaration to bo

mado to all foreign nations that a declaration of war by Great Britain did not commit tho dominions to belligerency, and that no self-governing portion of tho Empire would bo in a state of war except as a result of a declaration to that effect by its own Government. But consideration showed that plan to bo not feasible. To make it effective, it has been pointed out, “ it would bo necessary for any part of the Empire which wished to escape belligerency to make a declaration of neutrality. This would mean that it would have to intern any British soldiers or officials who happened to bo within its borders, it would have to refuse its barbers and ports to British vessels of war, it would have to give trade facilities to tho enemy, and allow it to use its territory for legitimate purposes of espionage, propaganda, and so forth. Inasmuch as it is obviously impossible for the Crown to bo both at war and at peace or neutral at tho same time, a declaration of neutrality would in effect bs a declaration of secession.” The onus is on General Hortzog to convince his fellows at the conference that this is not sound reasoning, and the onus will not easily bo discharged. Tho best that can bo done to meet the desires of dominions for the fullest possible independence within the Empire is by a compromise. Let the largest freedom be allowed them in all local treaties and associations iu which the risk of war is not involved, and let a common policy, requiring consultation to the fullest extent, bo imperative for all larger matters. An agreement on something like that basis was arrived at by the last Imperial Conference, and it is hard to see how freedom can be further carried..