FUTURE OF THE EMPIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21225, 4 July 1932, Page 11

FUTURE OF THE EMPIRE.

CROSSROADS AT OTTAWA.

COHESION OR DISSIDENCE? PLAIN words to dominions. CANDID ENGLISH CRITIC. Some candidly-expressed views of British business m<;n and the man in the street in England concerning the relations of Britain and the overseas Dominions and the possibilities oi the Ottawa Conference are contained in a letter received in Auckland from a director of an important London business firm, who has" travelled in most parts of the world, including New Zealand, and whose business has had worldwide ramifications. The writer says:—

•'Although the prospect is very definitely much brigbtc-r here, the Old Country, E having made herself safe, is standing pat, awaiting the outcome of the Ottawa Conference. If it is to be the Empire, then the Empire will boom along, but, if not, it will be just those foreign countries whom wo choose, together with the / Crown colonies, who will bo with us. "As a matter of fact, a largo proportion oi business people doubt the outcome of the Ottawa Conference. It will, I think, not be a thorough success, because of the expectations of the Dominions themselves. The man in the street :s taking the Empire seriously to task and asking questions, such as these: "What does the Empire mean to me ? Here am I in an overcrowded country, and the Empire includes Canada, capable of hold- { ing another 6,000,C00 people; Australia, another 10.000,000; and New Zealand, another million. With no assets, but the ability to work, what would be my prospects should I decide to emigrate? UiL What about taking up land if I have the capital ? It is dearer than land in England. Then what use are the Dominions to us ? What use are they jto Britain ?' " Out-oi-date Britain." "This is perhaps crude, but it is the trend of 'iiought- here. Just consider how one-sided the relationship is between, say, England and' New Zealand. Your countrv° was founded, established and put on the map I v the enterprise of the British. Our Army * and Navy keep New Zealand safely on the map and we pay for it — mostly. English bondholders have provided your loans, and because there are j» stipulated conditions you proceed to spend the money on American goods and machinery. Immediately you begin to feel vour feet, you want to shake oS all idea of interference by us. You are young and vigorous, progressive and aggressive, too, while we in Britain are out-of-date, medieval, in fact, in our outlook, and we do nol; understand you. "Your cute farmer-statesmen are generations ahi;ad of the old school of diplomats and statesmen here. So we are to hare no voice in your government. . Your Civil Service is closed entirely to us. Your progressive Government permits your land values to rise to absurd heights, closing large areas of land to economic settlement.. You clamour for ua to buv all your produce, and we do our be3t, "whereupon you promptly establish industries, to compete against us and then raise vour tariffs to keep us out. After buying a!> much of your produce as we can, we iiend you more money, in order that you may fill your roads with American motor-cars, and purchase American machinery for your local bodies. But • cn no account must we attempt to earn money to buy your produce by sending Tea good;; from oar old manufacturers, because ctf competition with your newljfooaded ones; on no account must we pro--test against our loans to you being spent in foreign markets. "False American Gods.

"The Dominions should never forget that England is the only country that has lent them money without attaching conditions thereto, either concessionary or otherwise. Now consider the policy" of the two gold countries, France and America ift regard to their lending record for the past two years. Not a loan, without some underhanded political conditions attached to it. And what a . bubble the U.S.A. bogey of «go-getting-hurn-dinger-100 per cent.-he-man efficiency" has been! Consider the country and its condition. With onehalf the world's gold, the biggest deficit ever dreamed of: the biggest percentage of unemployed of any country; the biggest 'namber o:f bank failures, and, to cap all, the biggest kidnapping 'stunt* the world has known. This is the country to which the Dominion's architects, public engineers and! other, officials are sent to study , up-to-date methods, and from which you buy commodities, ignoring better products from thlsi island. The English bus.ness man is alive to all this and his patience is being strained. "What are the Dominions going to ask for at Ottawa, more than they get now? Are thev prepared to demolish their tariff barriers, admit our goods free and shut cat the foreigner ? Are they prepared to open up land for the settlement of immigrants ill return for a guaranteed free British market ? I doubt it. The sacrifices entailed in a reciprocity agreement with us /will be more than the Dominions are prepared to nuke, and that i 3 the rock upon which the Ottawa Conference v.ill spl:t. The Statute of Westminster sievered one of the remaining bonds of Empire, and since then Britain has become the cock of the walk. European and South American countiies fire hammering at our doors with trade t alliances in their pockets. We have fended them oS until after Ottawa, but tucked av.ay in a pigeon hole is a memorandum recording the fact that New Zealand §5 negotiating a trade agreement I with a European Power. Anglo-German Alliance? "As an antidote to all this, we in England think more highly of New Zealand than any other Dominion. We consider thai, you are more line us than any other, but we recognise at the same time that you are very, very insular and lag behind in modern ideas and conceptions - The idea of any up-to-date country saddling itself with State railways and State seirvices of any kind, except war and the post office, is too ludicrous. Our railways were run by the Government for four years (1914-1913), duiing which time the express speeds fell to about 30 miles per hour. Now the av^ r * a ge speetl is 57 miles per hour, and the Cheltenham Flier from London to Bristol averages 63 miles per hour. Private electric light and power compan es are providrng current for cooking, heating and light at ;|d a unit, all generated by steam. There is no Public Works Department here. Wo are too old-fashioned for 1 that.

"It may i>e tiiken for granted, however, that Great Britain will buy the whole of your produce, but will you take her goods preference to those of foreign conntries? Will you cease establishing j competitive industries against us, at least until the British population becomes more evenly distributed ? These are the two juestionii upon which your fate hangs. Ottawa' fails, the general prediction is / a strong Anglo-German alliance within a 7 e ar, and the strength of such an alliance p a staggering, thought. After all, the v-rown colonies afford us splendid mar®ts and the:r prosperity is a reflection . °Qra. Malaya, for instance, with a puxed population of upward of 3,000,000, * a great asset and! her services are open WMul British nationals. Yes, Ottawa is f° r ked roads for the future * Empire and let us hope we shall rn the same way together."