THE NEW COLONIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13498, 27 May 1907, Page 6

THE NEW COLONIAL.

SIB JOSEPH WARD ON CLOSER IMPERIAL UNION.

AN INTERVIEW.

[From the London Daily Mail.]

"1 believe that the thing for us to do is to assist the Old Land to make itself stronger," said Sir Joseph Ward, Premier of New Zealand, to a gathering of his own people before he left Wellington. Here spoke the new colonial, the man who regards the Motherland not as the mighty parent whose assistance is to be sought, but as the old parent to be helped by powerful sons. Sir Joseph Ward is pre-eminently an administrator. ; He ■:. is the strong man of a strong, young people. Lacking the rugged, picturesque personality of his great predecessor, Mr. Seddon, he yet possesses gifts that my prove of the greatest value in the coming Colonial Conference. He is a business statesman, a man of detail, careful, farsighted, and -assured. He has retained the good will and affection of the most democratic English-speaking community in' existence for very many years. In the prime of life, fifty years old, smart'cultured, and winning, he creates confidence. A MAN OF SPLENDID INTEGRITY. The life-story of New Zealand's Premier lacks the dramatic element. ; A prominent business man, he interested himself in public works, and won his way as a progressive statesman. In office after office he proved himself successful, and showed that he could :manage Departments-'of State with the same care for detail that men give to great concerns of their own. In New Zealand itself one hears everywhere the praises of the Premier for two things : his ability in State affairs and his" splendid integrity, as a private citizen. There was a time, not.long ago, when very dark clouds came over his life. A large undertaking with which he was closely concerned was brought to ruin, and it seemed that others, besides, himself, would suffer. heavily. Sir Joseph Ward resigned his public offices and took upon himself the entire burden of the loss, a burden for which he was not legally responsible. The.people of the colony raised a public subscription, running into many thousands of pounds, and offered it to his wife. He would not allow her to accept it. "I am a young man," he said in effect, and I can meet my own obligations." In the end the creditors were paid off in full, and Sir Joseph Ward went back to affairs of State again, higher in the esteem of his fellows than ever before. Here is a man taught in a school of statesmanship accustomed to act rather than talk, and coming from a people who have proved their supreme business capacity. New Zealand' to-day; is the most daring, the most prosperous, and the most capably managed of our colonies*. It has shown the world the way in many things. Its people are, some of them, confident;that it can give us a lead in remoulding the business relations of the Empire. If Sir Joseph Ward is to follow in the Conference the line he has constantly maintained among his own people he will advocate first a closer union of the Empir*..~ He believes in the creation, of an Imperial Council, a body growing out of the Conference of Colonial Premiers and. acting as an advisory, organisation in Imperial affairs. The details of this scheme,as favoured by the people of New Zealand,' have been worked out by Mr. Pember Reeves. The Council is to consist of seven members, the Prime , Minister of Great Britain as president, the Secretaries ;'of '■• State for the; Colonies and India, and one'representative each from North America, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. • The. Colonial re-, presentatives would presumably be the Pre.miers, although not necessarily so. .; - ' AN IMPERIAL INTELLIGENCE : V BUREAU. . _ •-■The Council would pass resolutions, but these at first would be no more than' recommendations, . and would have no binding ; force. .' Attached to the Council would be a Commission of officials, consisting, possibly, of the , High Commissioners of the Colonial Governments in London, .with special experts sent from the colonies for occasional service. While, the council would always be at work. They would form an Imperial Intelligence Bureau. • ; .■ What can this Council,' with its Commissioners, do It will deal with' the business matters that affect the Empire as a whole. It will first of ail concern itself with Imperial defence. • Here Sir Joseph Ward and the people of New Zealand speak definitely. "It is important," said'the Premier, recently, " that the colonies should help Britain to have a navy so powerful as to make it impossible, for any other two countries to conspire to attack England. As a commonsense'people, it is our duty to give reasonable contributions for the maintenance and future increase of the navy." Gradually the Council must of necessity extend its power and authority in Imperial Defence schemes, and, as it "does so, colonial influence and counsel will. naturally be followed by . colonial contributions. This means the coming of the looked-for Imperial navy. Then the Council must deal with trade matters. Sir Joseph Ward does not conceal his uneasiness at the fact • that while Germany and France are giving enormous, subsidies to their great lines of steamers in the Far East, with the object of taking away Britain's trade, England is doing little or nothing to help her own lines. "Britain will have to"do. what her rivals for the trade of the world are doing in ; order to hold her own," he believes.' The Counsel : will help to show what can be done, and will come to the Parliaments of England and the colonies with practical schemes involving financial support. It will regulate postal and telegraph; mutters, and it will help to harmonise marriage and naturalisation laws. In a hundred points to-day differences of procedure are springing up in various parts of the Empire. Those differences, if allowed to go on, will tend to separation. The Council will help to eliminate them. Patent and copyright regulations, currency questions, and merchant shipping laws will all naturally .come under the consideration of body. OF ADVANTAGE TO ALL PARTIES. . The people of New Zealand and their Premier believe in Imperial Preference. * Sir Joseph Ward will probably show the Conference business reasons why such preference will be of advantage to' all parties. The colonial Premiers here recognise that "they are faced by a difficult situation. They disavow all desire to interfere in our internal affairs. : But if the English public have pronounced strongly for the time on one side in the preference controversy, they and their people feel as strongly on the other. Is there any possibility, by reasonable explanations, of finding plans for closer trade relations satisfactory to both sides? They are hopeful enough to believe that there may be. There is one other point in the Colonial Conference on which the Premier of New Zealand may have much to say. Those who have followed Australasian affairs during the past three years are. well 'aware that the recent revival of Oriental power is regarded in the Antipodes with some misgivings. To the men of New Zealand the awakening of New China and the enormous growth of her population have their threatening, side. Sir Joseph Ward feels it his duty to see that the question of maintaining the racial purity of our people in the South is faced by the Conference. "One of the greatest perils of the dwellers in the portions of the Empire in the Southern Seas is the Yellow Peril," he said'not long ago. New Zealand wants to make sure that no Imperial obligations will be incurred that may compel it to admit alien races among its people. The men of the colony are willing enough to do their part in bearing the burden of Empire, but they are not willing that England should practically pledge them without their consent to plans perilous to their national future. :

Closer trade, mutual counsel, a stronger navy, more intimate trade relations, and the maintenance of a white Australia: these are the great points that the New Zealand people de-sire England to face in the Conference of Empire./ We can. rest content that in Sir Joseph Ward they will have a cautious, able, and practical advocate/ -•■'■ F.A.M.