Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26th, 1917. THE IMPERIAL TIE.

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 February 1917, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26th, 1917. THE IMPERIAL TIE.

Tine British Empire, as it stands to-day, is the most'marvellous example of unity that the world’has .over seen, and men are beginning to - attempt to, account, for its growth. There are two popiflar theories.-. , The first is that it has

been built up by the labours of u number of unscrupulous men, whose ambition carried them on to deeds of lawlessness. The late John MorJey was of this opinion, and in one of his books lie spoke of Warren Hustings as “the great criminal ’’ and the foundation of the British Empire in India as “a long train of intrigue and crime.” There is no denying that some of our Empire-makers have been bad and vicious men, but if we look upon the last of those who carved out the British -Empire,-we shall find that moral virtues, a spirit of . humanity and an almost puritani- ‘ cal fervour have been more common qualities than those of the filibuster or the bandit. When the available evidence is carefully weighed, Warren Hastings emerges from the ordeal with considerable credit. The second theory, which is equally fallacious, is summed up in the famous phrase that the British Empire was acquired in a fit of absence of mind. It is true that wo have often blundered into some of our greatest triumphs, but behind all this there was the spirit of enterprise inherent in our race • and the ruling force of master minds. Cecil Rhodes conceived a British Africa stretching from the northern to the southern seas. The British Empire is, therefore, not the result of an accident, but of that impulse that has sent Englishmen to the uttermost bounds of the, earth there to form new nations. It is said that Philip II i of Spain, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, laid his little finger upon the tiny spot of England, and having thus obliterated it, asked where England.was. It was nowhere then; but by contrast it is everywhere to-day. The test, however, is not size, but the work done, the good things accomplished, tiie bad things wiped out, the general impress left upon the well-being of-mankind. There is in the British Empire a unique spirit, a passion of loyalty and enthusiasm which causes every Britisher to revere the Union Jack as the symbol of justice and liberty!. When Rome was threatened by the Goths and Vandals, she called to her standard her scattered legions from near and far, and they frequently rebelled and mutinied on the way. When Britain called Her children to repel the modern Huns, thev flocked to the Motherland’s call in tens of thousands. The British Empire is neither a military Empire., as was that of Home, nor a feudal Empire, as is that of Germany to-day. No image is more apposite to describe the British Empire than the phenomenon of Saturn with its concentric rings: “Still as, while Saturn whirls, his steadfast shade Sleeps' on his luminous ring.'" In the centre is the coje and heart of the Empire in the British Isles : whence flows the central light and flame. A found the centre of the system revolve two rings of scarcely inferior brightness, each composed of a multitude of satellites, great and small, spinning in an ordered mass of light and ’ sound. One consists of the Dominions, equal and independent nations, the other,, or secondary ring, consists of the Crown colonies, and remaining Imperial possessions and protectorates. Corresponding to the Dusky ring, the mysterious 1 film of darker hue among the encircling belts’of Saturn, is the darker rim of India, a whirlwind of scintillating stars, drawn into the same orbit and obedient to the same laws. This simile, which owes its origin to Lord Curzon, is no fantastic one, for it shows that each part of the imperial system is co-ordinated to * the other and obedient to the siunc laws, To the true Imperialist no part of the Empire is less important than the other. The circumference is no less important than the* centre, for without

the outskirts there would .be no Empire. Suppose the Dominions had dropped away like ripe apples at the sound of the first) gun in the European war, how would Britain have fared in the struggle? Suppose Australia cast -herself adrift, as an Australian politician has threatened that she may do, how long would the Commonwealth remain a white man’s country such as it is to-day? Great Empires before now ■ have sunk to small States, but we should not allow such , a thing to come through our own foolish conduct. Let us not forget than an Empire cannot be maintained without Imperialism any more than a workshop can be run without if knowledge of mechanics. Napoleon and Alexander both had the Imperial idea. If our Empire lias advanced by leaps and bounds, it has commonly been in spite of our Government- and statesmen. It lias been said that the first great Imperialist was Oliver Cromwell, but the torch .that he ■ lighted has been nobly borne by a long succession—Chatham, Pitt,

Chamberlain, ami scores of others. The late Richard John Sedition r who always, declared himself an arch-Socialists, was one of the most ardent Imperialists in the British Empire. 11' our Empire is to continue it must rest upon a democratic basis and mnst satisfy democratic ideals. The salvation of .the units composing the Empire is more likely to bo found within its framework than in aiiY other combination..