VOICE OF THE DOMINIONS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 20 February 1913, Page 6

VOICE OF THE DOMINIONS

FULLER CO-OPERATION. The following despatch bearing oil the representation of the self-governing Dominions on the Committee of Imperial Defence was forwarded by the Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr Lewis Harcourt) to the Governor-General of Australia, the Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, and the Governors of New Zealand and Newfoundland, on December 10 last : I am forwarding, for the confidential information of your Ministers, a record of the proceedings at the Committee of Imperial Defence, on May 30, 1911 (during the Imperial Conference) and on August Ist, 1912 (during the visit of the Canadian Ministers to London.) FURTHER DETAILS. This record deals solely with the question of the representation of the Dominkins on the Committee of Imperial Defence. I On. the first occasion the matter arose out of a resolution by Sir Joseph Ward, on the agenda of the Imperial Conference, asking that the High Commissioners of the Dominions should be summoned to the Committee of Imperial Defence when naval and military matters affecting the Oversea Dominions were under consideration. The unanimous view of all those present on May 30, was that the representation of the Dominions should be not by the High Commissioner, but by Ministers "who wo*uld be responsible to their own colleagues and Parliament, and at the same time it was decided that a Defence Committee should be. established in each Dominion which would be kept in close touch with the Committee of Imperial Defence at Home. The resolutions ultimately put forward by His Majesty's Government, and accepted unanimously by the members of the Imperial Conference at the Committee of Imperial Defence were as follows :—(1) That one or more representatives, appointed by the respective Governments of the Dominions, should be invited to attend meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence when questions of naval and. military defence affecting the Oversea Dominions are under consideration. (2) The proposal that a Defence Committee should be established in each Dominion is accepted in principle. The constitution of these Defence. Committees is a matter for each Dominion to decide. MR. BORDEN'S VIEWS. The Canadian. Government, ' havfog changed in the autumn of 1911, it was necessary, when Mr Borden and his colleagues visited England this summer, to put these proposals before them, as they were, of course, unaware of the previous proceedings. Subject • to. consultation •with his colleagues in Canada, Mr Borden provisionally accepted the resolutions as passed, and stated that he saw no difficulty in one of his Ministers,' either with or without portfolio, spending some months of every year in London in order to' carry out this intention. Mr Ascjuith and I had, subsequently, several private conversations with him,, at which he expressed the desire that the Canadian - and other Dominions' Ministers. who might be in London as members of the Committee _of Imperial Defence should receive, in "confidence, knowledge of the policy and proceedings of the Imperial Government in foreign and other affaris. We pointed out to nim that the Com-•-mitt'ee of Imperial Defence is a purely advistory body, and is not, and cannot under any circumstances become, a body deciding on policy, which is and must remain the sole prerogative of the Cabinet, subject to the support of the House of Commons. But, at the same time, we assured him that an v Dominion's Minister resident .here woJd at all times have iree and full access tc» the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and the Co- _ lonial Secretary, for information on ail questions of Imperial policy. In a public ' speech which I made* a short time ago I * used the following words : CO-OPERATION NECESSARY. "There : is, on the part of Canadian Ministers and people, a natural and laudable desire for a greater measure of consultation and co-operation with us in the future than they have had in the past. This is not intended to, and it need not, open up those difficult problems of Imperial Federation which,'seeming to entail questions of taxation and representation, have made that policy for many years a dead issue. But, speaking for myself, I see no obstacle, and certainly no objection, to the Governments of all the Dominions being given at once a, larger share in the, executive direction in matters of defence and in personal consultation and co-operation \frith individual British Ministers whose duty it is to frame policy, here. I should welcome a more continuous representation of Dominions' Ministers, if they wish it, upon the Committee of Imperial Defence; we should all be glad if a member or members of those Cabinets could be annually in London. The door of fellowship and friendship is always open to them, and we require no formalities of an Imperial Conference- for the continuity of Imperial confidence." The foregoing accurately represents the views and. intentions of His Majesty s Government. , . . . ■From Mr Borden's public speech m introducing'the Canadian Naval Bill, it ap-pears-that 'he accepts . the proposals which we have made. The same offer is,.of course, open to all the other, selfgoverning Dominions if and when_ they wish to adopt, it, but the proposal is not one l of necessary or strict uniformity, and cain be'varied in the case of each or any Dominion to suit their wishes or the special circumstances of their case. I should be glad to know, at their convenience, whether your Ministers desire to adopt some such method of more continuous connection in naval and military affairs' with the Committee of Imperial Defence in t]ie United Kingdom. I