King Country Chronicle Thursday, May 16, 1935. BRITAIN AND THE EMPIRE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4694, 16 May 1935, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Thursday, May 16, 1935. BRITAIN AND THE EMPIRE.

Among the matters that have come under discussion during the visit of the Dominion Prime Ministers to Great Britain is that of the position of the Dominions should the Mother Country be involved in war. It was recently stated by the Secretary for the Dominions, Mr. J. H. Thomas, that while it was advisable that there should be a common Empire policy in the event of war, the Dominions were not bound to take part if Britain entered such a conflict. Before the Statute of Westminster was passed in 1931 Great Britain spoke for the whole of the Empire. If she went to war the Dominions and colonies were committed to a like policy. The Statute of Westminster widened their powers to such an extent, however, that it devolved upon the Dominion Gpvernments whether they should commit themselves in this way. It was a liberal concession on the part of Great Britain, but some doubt is being expressed whether it will be in the best interests of the Empire. At the recent Press Conference in South Africa a responsible Cabinet Minister of the Union stated that his country would take no part in Empire defence. Taking advantage of the Statute of Westminster, South Africa has also arranged trade agreements with Italy and Germany. The proposal to extend self-government to India may also lead to a serious menace for Australia and New Zealand. It leaves little to the imagination to realise the position of these two countries if India were left to frame its own foreign policy in the event of war. Both are vitally interested in the developments that are taking place in the Pacific, and these give rise to some apprehension for ithe future. If the United States took its full share of world responsibility the position would not be so dangerous, but that country has decided to continue its policy of centralisation and selfsufficiency. Should there be another world outbreak New Zealand and Australia must support Great Bri-

tain to ensure their own safety, and no doubt Canada would do the same. The attitude of the South African Union, however, is uncertain, and for one of the Dominions to remain neutral while the rest of the Empire was at war might mean the first step towards the disintegration of the great Commonwealth. Both Australia and New Zealand are dangerously isolated in a geographical sense should there be another war in the Old World. Japan has denounced the Washington Treaty, thereby throwing the Pacific problem once more into the melting pot. Germany has upset the post-war basis of stability by beginning to re-arm. These two countries have undermined the utility of the League of Nations. If Germany should be responsible for another war in Europe, it is more than likely that Japan will extend her aggressive policy to the Pacific while the British forces are engaged in Europe. As the Round Table puts it: “It is quite clear that decisions of the utmost gravity, affecting the policy to which both Great Britain and the Dominions are to commit themselves in Europe, in the Pacific, and towards the collective system generally, will have to be taken in the near future. More than ever the British Commonwealth is the chief unifying and stabilising factor in the world, but it will only maintain that position if its members are agreed among themselves, both about the facts with which they have to deal and the policy which they will jointly pursue.”