The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1906. IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 14192, 15 October 1906, Page 6

The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1906. IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION.

If wo had to draw our knowledge of the statesmen.'of the Mother Country and their views from the brief cabled summaries of their speeches, they would have good reason for complaint, and th© (administration of the Empire would bo rendered a much more difficult task than it is. There is an illustration of "what we mean in the short message devoted this morning to Lord Loreburn’s speech at Glasgow, which might very readily be interpreted as an old-fashioned and ungenerous exposition of out-o-f-d-at© Liberalism. The Lord Chancellor, wo have no doubt, was giving expression merely to the accepted views of his party. There are many shades of Liberalism, but the true Liberal prin-

ciple of Empire administration is selfgovernment and decentralisation. It was a very easy matter for the Philosophic Radicals of the Mid-oentury to be misunderstood. They hold that the only safe system of administration of the Empire was to- give each colony responsible government at the earliest possible moment, and to allow it to develop without interference from the Mother Country. Men like Molesworth and Wakefield realised that though the colonies might always have a sense of their dependence on the Mother Country they could not possibly be administered from Loudon, and of c-our.so it was better for them-selvcg and for the Empire that they should acquire the national confidence and self-reliant spirit that only responsible government could give them. This very sound doctrine was immediately misunderstood, even by men who were in daily contact with the young Radicals, -and a few wild and unreasoning utterances made it appear that the policy of the Liberals was simply to cut the colonies adrift. The Liberals oppose Imperial Federation now simply because it would involve a return to the system of centralisation, which they have always condemned, but we think Lord Loreburn was at fault in saying that Imperial Federation found no favour in the colonies. The federation sentiment- is undoubtedly strong, and the colonies would welcome a system that would give them a more influential voice in determining the foreign policy of the

Erapi-ro, but for tho present they Peek no more man to bo asked their advice. There is unquestionably a strong objection to tho idea of giving tho power of taxation or tho control of colonial forces to a body, however -representative, sitting in London. And there is an equally strong objection to tho revision of a colony’s tariff except by the colony’s own representatives. It is hard to say just what Lord Lorehurn meant when he said that tho self-governing States should provide for their own defence, but no doubt the bald statement of the cable message is too aggressively curt. That the colonies should meet tho full cost of local defence is universally admitted, and both Australia and New Zealand, we believe, will realise in the jiear future that their present provision in this respect is terribly inadequate. But we suspect that Lord Lore-bum was thinking of the burden of Empire, and would have tho colonies paying what the Homo experts regard as a fair contribution to tho upkeep of the' Navy. There is an objection in the first place to the fixing of our contribution by tho Admiralty. We pay the present contribution willingly enough, but obviously it would be improper to tax us directly for the upkeep and increase of a fleet when we would bo able to influence neither the ship-building programme nor the disposition of the ships. Then there is a wide difference of opinion as to what our fair share of the naval burden really is. The Mother Country decides the strength of the fleet and, having called the tune, should pay the piper. But wo are morally bound to pay so much as is involved in the actual protection of onr coasts. Lord L-o-reburn may be right in believing that an Imperial Customs Union would be a constant source of friction, but, to our mind, any attempt to tax the colonies directly for the upkeep of the whole Navy would be a far more certain method of raising dissension h} the Empire.