IMPERIAL UNITY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 28 March 1923, Page 8

IMPERIAL UNITY

BRITAIN’S GREAT EMPIRE FAIR

(By bield-Marshal Sir William Robert son, in the London Daily Telegraph.)

For the last- three or four years we have been constantly lectured, from the platform and pulpit, by Parliament and in the Press, as to what should be done in order to extricate the. world from the quagmire into which it was cast by the Great War. The remedies suggested have been as varied as numerous, but we are still without what we want —a reasonably assured peace and economic prosperity. International conferences having the same, object in view, and held with wearisome frequency, have proved no less abortive, notwithstanding the unanimity of opinion which, we have invariably been told authoritatively and in large type, characterised their pi oceedings. To' revert to peace conditions aftei upheaval caused by a world war must necessarily be a tedious as well as a precarious task, but an increasing number of people in Great Britain are fast coming to the conclusion that- better progress would have been made had we given more attention to our own affairs and less to those of other nations. It was mainly because of this feeling that a deep sigh of assent went forth when, on taking office, the new Prime A 1 mister declared that what we most ne 2-to.l ivas a period of tranquility—time to tlnnk about our own business, and to get on with it. FIRST THINGS FIRST The '’‘reconstruction of Europe ’ so persistently dinned into our ears, is a very laudable aim, but it is lot a i e sponsibilitv which should rest solely upon Briush shoulders, and its attainment would perhaps be accelerated, and certainly not retarded, if we gave first place to the building up of our own Empire, vast areas of which remain unexploited and unpopulated. Far too much time has been wasted since the armistice on sucli matters as mandates which nobody wants, and reparations which nobody will get, and squabbles between Greeks and Turks, which have existed for nearly 500 years past. Had a tithe of it been spent in trying to make good within the Empire itself what has been lost in tile markets of Europe, the position to-day might have been far more satisfactory than it is. The resources of the Empire are almost limitless. They only await organised development, and for this the first requisite is realy Imperial unity. The end of the war left us one people, more closely united than we had ever been before. The common danger which brought us together has since disappeared, and once again we seem to h 2 drifting apart. The new Imperial spirit of mutual sympathy and respect evoked on the battlefields of France and Gallipoli. Mesopotamia and Palestine has led to little more than pious aspirations which lead us nowhere. The war taught us how to die together; we have still to learn liow to live together, and it behoves us to set about this without delay, for, as the Prince of Wales has said! “air Empire worth dying for is worth living for and working for. Stated brutally, Imperial unity will come when it can he shown to pay,.and not before. Just as the life-blood of an empire in time of war is patriotism, so iii time of peace it is trade. LMPERIA L EFFICIENCY This brings us up against the thorny question of Imperial economics into which lam not qualified to cuter. But the most promising scheme for increasing inter-imperial trade is clearly that which will bring buyers and sellers, manufacturers and merchants together from every part of the Empire and teach them exactly how, when, and where each may buy from his fellowcitizens with the greatest mutual profit and advantage. The British Empire Exhibition, which will open at Wembley Park, London, in the spring of 1924, is the greatest experiment in practical Imperialism that the world has ever seen. As propaganda it is unprecedented ; as an exhibition it is far larger than any that has. ever before been held in Britain. Visitors will eat Empire food, observe the wonders of the Empire’s scientific inventions, see Imperial art, hear British music and drama, watch British kinema films, and lutve before them a complete range of everything made or built or dug within tiie Empire. Everything produced or producible in ally British land will he displayed. The requirements of men and money of each district will be made clear. The exhibition will also he of assistance in regard to Imperial defence, another essential element- of Imperial efficiency. One section will be entirely composed of exhibits relating to the Navy, Army, and Air Force, such as ordnance and artillery equipment, engineering, hydraulics, torpedoes, hygienic and sanitary apparatus, and administration. Other sections will include exhibits of road, rail, and sea transport, electrical implements, and machinery and chemistry, all of which have to bo called into requisition whgjq nav! “ an . d military operations take place. War is not a popular topic at the present time, hut it may be mentioned that only a few weeks have elapsed since it was deemed to he near enough to. justify the j Home Government in asking the Do-nun- | iens whether they would consent to take part in it. This incident is an example of t.he suddenness with which the hideous spectre may reappear at any moment, and it shows that appropriate provision for war cannot he neglected without incurring the risk of our being caught, as so often before, unprepaied. Financial conditions demand that expenditure on the fighting services should be kept down to the lowest possible limit, but there is much that can be done at comparatively small cost-. I refer to scientific research, and the application of science to war purposes.

SCIENCE AND WAR. The role played by science in the last war, great as it was, will be surpassed a hundredfold in the next. Guns will have a much longer range. Tanks may bo amphibious; they will have more powerful armament, will be used in larger numbers, and will travel more rapidiy. Aeroplanes will have greater carrying capacity and a- wider radius of action ; they will be far more numerous, and will drop bombs containing chemical substances the effects of which will dislocate for days the whole life and business of the cities attacked, and drive lho inhabitants away from their homes. Wo arc also threatened, according to expert chemists, with the use of chemical products which will cause entire armies to lose their equilibrium, and to become incapable of advancing in a fixed direction, or of anything more than a sort ot drunken movement. All this may seem fantastical, and it is not to be wondered at that- soldiers and sailors should base their preparations for the next war mainlv on the experiences of the last one. they can hardly do otherwise, since they have nothing better to guide them. [Meanwhile, however, science moves relentlessly and progressively leeward, and its explorations end achievements may be such as to render the tactics and weapons of the last war as obsolete and futile as. bows and arrows were rendered by the invention of gunpowder, and infantry squares by machine-guns. We should, tberefoie, be careful to call science to our aid before and not after the emergency lias arisen, and remcipber that we can wage war successfully and economically only by the systematic development and mobilisation of our peace industries, lhe British Empire Exhibition will grve a much-needed impetus in this direction, and will help to. ensure that the Empire shall not be found wanting in the unhappy event of another war.