THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 1906. MR. CHURCHILL SPEAKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13193, 2 June 1906, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 1906. MR. CHURCHILL SPEAKS.

The speech of Mr. Winston Churchill, Under-Secretary for the Colonies, ' at the West Australian annual gathering in London, is one which will add to his reputation as all after-dinner speaker. For he says as little as possible very prettily and at great length, which is, after all, one of the great arts of the party politician, as distinct from the patriotic statesman. Passing over his laudation of Australian Federation, which may be felt as coming rather late in the century by those who are now struggling so 1 hard with the disadvantages it has,. imposed upon them as to have large '• ly forgotten s " its many advantages.' we come at once to the Colonial - Conference. On this Mr. Churchill would have us believe that colonial, conferences are enthusiastically anticipated by the party he speaks for, when as a matter of fact the mostextraordinary opposition was made by his party to the holding of a Colonial Conference when it was thought by the party engineers that its resolutions might affect a British election. To tell us that the conference will be. " free, and unfettered" is somewhat absurd. Colonial representatives are not in the habit of accepting any limitations upon their decisions upon the rare occasions when they confer together. The only way to fetter a colonial conference was not to hold it; so that Mr. Churchill is now making a virtue of necessity. That there are many subjects to be discussed goes without saying, but we are satisfied that the Colonial Conference will not relegate the question of preferential trade to the position in the background indicated for it by Lord Elgin's under-secre-tary. If, as he admits, reciprocity between the colonies leads towards that universal Imperial trade which undoubtedly it is our objectultimately to achieve," it is not too early to make clear to the people of the United Kingdom the unanimous colonial attitude upon the fiscal issue. If his words are not mere empty phrases they imply that the ultimate is an Imperial Zollverein in which the United Kingdom will take part. There is no difficulty whatever in arranging reciprocities between protected countries, but it is obviously quite impossible to have any effective reciprocity with free trade countries in a protectionist world. But in this suggestion to ■ the colonies that they may hope for ; wiser fiscal arrangements within the ■ Empire if they will only not worry i the Bannerman Administration by I forcing the question upon the at- : tention of the British electors, Mi. i Churchill is only taking his cue from i the inclination of the Liberal Party, i It is patent to every intelligent ob- 1 server that old-fashioned "free trade" is as dead as Queen Anne, i even in its stronghold, and that the < only practical question in British i politics is : How long will it be be- : fore some working compromise be- 1 tween the various factors making for i fiscal reform can be evolved j In many respects Mr. Churchill's 1 speech was little , more than an i apology for the colonial policy of the '< pait-y now in power at Downing- 1 street. Why is this? Considering 1 the blunt speaking of the colonies i to the Balfour Administration, there 1 ought , to be no suggestion that we > are identified' with any one party in - British politics, nor should there be i any need to explain that it would be < "foolish and idiotic" for his Govern- s ment to go . out of its way to give t offence to the colonies. The truth i is that Mr. Churchill is too keen a > student of political history, and too < well acquainted with the annals of s the Colonial Office, not to be con- < scions that he is now associated i with a party. which still retains i much of the Little Englandism that 1 has long made it hateful to all loyal and progressive colonists. We all j

heartily agree that Mr. Churchill is himself; desirous of guiding the Little Englanders into broader and ' better - paths, and of effecting a reconciliation between them and colonists! at. large. And we can all ap- ; preciate the difficulty of a position in which he finds himself attempting this task while the most popular i of Colonial Secretaries sits in the 'j cold shades of Opposition. But , when Mr. asks us to re- ; cognise the honesty of the Banner- ? man Administration, and to place a generous interpretation upon its words and actions, he rather begs - the question. It does no good to think the Imperial Government"honest" if its honesty compels it . to oppose our colonial progress and to interfere with, our colonial autonomy. Nor does it matter greatly how we interpret its words when we are constantly advised of its intention by its action or lack of action, The pressing political need of the times is for an Imperial Council. Mr. Chamberlain, from the pre- , fercntialist point- of view, has elo- ! quently advocated it. But, there are 1 many other points of view, from all of which it is eminently desirable, . yet Mr Churchill says nothing about it, and leaves to Sir Joseph Ward the task of pressing it upon his official notice. If Mr. Churchill had ■ only dealt less in truisms and more with practical politics, had apologised less and outlined more, we .should have been more hopeful of seeing his Government adopt a progressive colonial policy. But it can hardly be doubted that at the most the Colonial Office will allow matters to drift along, and we have had strong ' indications that where ittakes action that action is likely to be reactionary and unpopular. Yet no Government, not even that of which Mr. Chamberlain was a member, has had a greater opportunity to enunciate a strong and popular colonial policy.