THE New Zealand HerLS AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSs. MONDAY, MAY 28, 1917. EMPIRE PROBLEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16550, 28 May 1917, Page 4

THE New Zealand HerLS AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSs. MONDAY, MAY 28, 1917. EMPIRE PROBLEMS.

Some interesting and valuable information regarding the conduct of the war and the many urgent Empire problems which arc pressing for solution may. be looked for from Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward on their return to New Zealand. They are expected to arrive in time to be present at the opening of the coming session, and they will no doubt take an early opportunity of giving Parliament and the country an account of their mission. They have been helping to make war, and also to make history; they have been doing imperial work of outstanding importance at a most critical time. Their visit to the fighting front must have supplied them with much useful knowledge regarding the requirements of our soldiers, as well as first hand information of the progress and prospects of the great struggle in which the Empire is at present engaged. They have also had many opportunities of exchanging views with the foremost statesmen of the Empire and of discussing trade possibilities with commercial men of the highest standing. We know that the shipping difficulty, which has now reached an acute stage, has received their earnest attention. This matter is of vital importance to New Zealand, and it is to be hoped that they will bring back with them proposals which will lead to a solution, or at any rate a partial solution, of the problem of getting our produce to the British markets. Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward have at various times during their stay in Britain given expression to their views regarding the need for strengthening the ties which bind the Empire together, but they have never claimed authority to commit the Government of New Zealand to any of the schemes of Imperial federation which are at present competing for public support. The War Conference wisely refrained from undertaking the task of readjusting the constitutional relations of the component parts of the Empire. It held the opinion that this subject was too important and too intricate to be dealt with" during the war. But there were some matters affecting the organisation of the Empire which could not be postponed until the war was over. The War Conference passed resolutions in favour of the closer co-operation of the Dominions and the Mother Country in regard to naval and military defence and the fuller utilisation of the Empire's vast resources with the object of making it independent of other countries in respect to food supplies, raw materials, and essential industries. The permanent reorganisation of the Empire's trade was also discussed, it being agreed that each part of the Empire shall give specially favourable treatment to the produce and manufactures of the other parts, having due regard to the interests of our allies. But these are mainly trade problems, and their solution does not necessarily involve any far-reaching alterations in the political constitution of the Empire.

. The War Conference was a new departure of great significance, and yet it did not involve any formal change in the Empire's political machinery. The presence of representatives of the Dominions and India at a series of special meetings of the British Cabinet meant tho temporary establishment of an Executive Council of the Empire. This step may naturally lead on to other arrangements which will give ; the Dominions an increasingly po- . tent influence in directing the foreign policy of the Empire. By a process of gradual political evolution machinery may be created which would place the supreme direction of Imperial affairs in the hands of a Government representative of and responsible to the people of all the States of the Empire. There are dangers attending heroic experiments in Imperial reconstruction, and Mr. Massey seems to be well aware of them. At the War Conference he expressed agreement with Sir Robert Borden's opinion that future development should proceed along the line of the increasingly equal status of the Dominions and the Mother Country, the ideal being an Imperial Commonwealth of united nations with the Crown as the centre of unity. General Smuts has sounded a timely note of friendly caution for those well-meaning enthusiasts who want to form at one stroke a brand new constitution for the Empire, with a new Imperial Parliament, a new Imperial Treasury, and new Imperial taxes. The whole Empire wants unity, but many of its experienced statesmen, in the Dominions as in the United Kingdom, are suspicious of uniformity. The great problem is to establish the perfect balance between the independence and interdependence of the members of the family of nations of which the British Empire is composed.