THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE Registered for transmission through the Post tn a Newspaper TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 1947. Ties That Bind The Commonwealth

Northern Advocate, 2 September 1947, Page 4

THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE Registered for transmission through the Post tn a Newspaper TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 1947. Ties That Bind The Commonwealth

At a moment when the equivalent of the old-time Fiery Cross is being used to rally the peoples of the British Commonwealth to the defence of their lives and liberties, it is timely tc review the ties that bind the Commonwealth. The British Commonwealth consists of the United Kingdom, the Dominions, including India, which is just now undergoing birth-pangs of great severity, the colonies, the protectorates and mandated territories.

Recent years have witnessed dramatic voluntary curtailment of overlordship of some ancient lands, but, that development apart, the evolution of the British Commonwealth may be regarded as continuing. This evolution of Commonwealth cooperation, like that of most British institutions, has been gradual. It began with the Colonial Conference of 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Jubilee, and reached its present stage at the Imperial Conference held during the Coronation in 1937. In the first half of these 50 years the consolidation of self-governing colonies into Dominions, which was achieved by Canada in 1867, was completed, and in the second half a great system of cooperation was built up between them on the basis of equality of status. During the Imperial Conference in 1911, the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom invited the Prime Ministers of the Dominions to hear from the Foreign Minister,- Sir Edward Grey, an exposition of the international situation.

Sir Edward Grey, in the course of an impressive review, uttered a warning of the dahger which would follow what he termed “the emergence of some power, or group of powers, in Europe, that has the ambition of achieving what I would call the Napoleonic policy,” and he declared emphatically that it would be impossible to take united action to resist that danger if there were divergent views on foreign policy.

This declaration moved the Prime Ministers, and subsequent discussions covered the whole field of mutual defence and made an indelible impression on all present. As an outcome of this conference, the Dominions began to take a new interest in foreign policy and defence, the result of which has been seen in the cooperative actions of the Commonwealth units in two world-shaking wars.

Soon after he became Prime Minister of Canada in 1912, Sir Robert Borden visited London, accompanied by several colleagues, to sum up the situation, and early in 1914 he appointed Sit George Perley, a member of his Cabinet, to the post of High Commissioner in London, with authority to attend meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence; other Dominions also sent representatives to the committee from time to time.

When Britain and the Dominions presented a solid front during the war years, 1914-1918, pooling all their resources, the demonstration of unity created a worldwide impression.

On becoming Prime Minister in 1916, Mr Lloyd George summoned an Imperial War Cabinet and Conference, at which all the Dominions, as well as India, which was taking a very prominent part in the war, were represented. The Cabinet met again in 1917 and 1918, and these gatherings of the nations of the Empire played a great role in coordinating the Empire's war effort.

The Dominions were granted separate representation at the Paris Peace Conference, but their policy was agreed upon at a standing conference known as the British Empire Delegation.

After the war that principle was perpetuated fcy the Dominions’ separate representation at the League of Nations, and their status was further stressed by the establishment of separate diplomatic representation in foreign capitals, where particular Dominions had special interests. /ts Lord Hankey, former Secretary of the British Cabinet and Committee of Imperial Defence, said on one occasion, these developments gave rise to foreboding that the British Empire was tending towards dissolution. In some quarters perhaps the wish was father to the thought, but even among our friends there were signs of concern. Difficulties, cf course, there were during this process of evolution, but they were never allowed to get out of hand. At Imperial Conferences between the two wars they were dealt with by a succession of wise and experienced statesmen. It was by these means that in 1923 principles were established for cooperation in defence, and extended and consolidated in 1928. This Imperial Conference in 1926 was perhaps the most notable of the whole series, for it established the principles to govern the mutual relationship of Great Britain and the Dominions. In the words of the famous Balfour formula, the Dominions became “autonomous communities within the Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations.” The Statute of Westminster and other measures which it was feared would weaken the ties that bind the Commonwealth have strengthened those ties, as is being demonstrated today, when Commonwealth peoples free to do as they wish are rallying around the Motherland as she fights an economic war of great magnitude.