"THE TRUE NOTE OF IMPERIAL STATESMANSHIP."

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 96, 25 April 1907, Page 5

"THE TRUE NOTE OF IMPERIAL STATESMANSHIP."

LINKS'OF EMPIRE

(Received April '25, 8.35 a Jn.)

LONDON, April .24. j. The newspapers welcome ,the prospect of voluntary ■co-operation .among the Empire's forces. -

The Morning Post says that Mr Haldane's memorandum sounds the .true no&3 of Imperial statesmanship, seeking not centralised control' but rather unity of aim. It ds time the Admiralty realised iTaat the Na»vy was made forthe Empire, and not the Empire for the JSTawy. It is as < important to recognise, the national aspirations impelling Aujftralia and Canada to insist on controlling their own forces as that the sea is the 'highway of the Empire. Common ideas in preparation, directed .to a common ob-

ject, and therefore regulated by common principles which may be agreed upon by several Governments, ds the method adaptable to £ he na-val equally with the military, problem. In neither case is' it incompatible with unity of control through the spontaneous action of several Governments when emergency^ arises.

The Morning Leader declares .that: the secretariat will be the 'civil link of the Empire, and the Imperial staff the military link. It is easy to see' the advantages, and equally easy the dangers, both "being Teal. Virtue must reside not in organisation but in' the men working it. "While the spirit, that made the Empire remains, che Empire will not be, wrecked."