THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1938 EMPIRE AND NATIONALISM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23221, 15 December 1938, Page 14

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1938 EMPIRE AND NATIONALISM

After emphasising some powerful factors serving to bind the Empire, the Dominions Secretary, Mr. Malcolm Mac Donald, in a speech at the Constitutional Club, went on to note the disintegrating force of nationalism. He found that "some Dominions had been bitten rather badly" by this most modern and most potent of political religions, which might contribute to the breaking-up of the Empire. On the whole, however, he seemed to consider the attractive forces stronger than the disintegrative. For his frankness he has been sharply reproved by a London newspaper which is aghast at the effect on Empire opinion of his "prognostications and pessimistic passages." Actually the Empire is not likely to be either "amazed" or "bewildered" because Mr. Mac Donald has discussed current political trends. The cause of Empire unity will not be advanced by adopting an ostrich-like attitude toward the local separatism that in several parts of the Empire runs counter to the concept of a free association of free peoples. It is far better to acknowledge, as Mr. Mac Donald does, the devolutionary development and to consider how best it may be satisfied within the Empire. Nationalism was born in the wars following the French Revolution and its power has been waxing ever since. It has overcome liberalism and seems destined to prevail over socialism, even in the great Soviet stronghold of Russia. Why nationalism should swiftly have seized supremacy is not easy to explain, but it may already have reached its maximum development in countries like Germany and Italy. Its excesses and extremes in the totalitarian States betray an unhealthy fever that is probably the prelude to its decline and fall. i

Meanwhile it would be idle to deny that the infection is general. Nor is it surprising that it should be felt in that large portion of the world, the British Empire, whose doors are opened widest to the free commerce of ideas. Westminster has wisely allowed the movement to continue until it has produced that remarkable association called the British Commonwealth of Nations. There seems no limit in this system to the independence that may be asserted and conceded to particular political units while yet they remain within the Empire. The extreme example in Eire lies nearest to the United Kingdom. Internally Eire is a republic with separate Irish nationality, while externally it remains a British Dominion sharing British nationality and owing allegiance to the King-Emperor. In Eire, it would seem, the disintegrating forces of nationalism have reached their maximum. None would have stayed Mr. de Valera had he cared to cut the painter but, not only has he withheld his hand, but in the present year has drawn the British connection closer. The many " counter forces," the centrifugal influences, of which Mr. Mac Donald speaks, have quietly prevailed. Given tolerance and patience, the same forces might be' expected to .cause Northern Ireland to review her relations with Eire at some future date. In Ulster, however, there are the larger Imperial loyalties competing with and overlaying all-Irish sympathies, with differences of religion, race and temperament to confuse the issues. Just across the Irish Channel, in Wales, another Celtic people is beginning to talk about self-determination. There the concession of Welsh as an official language and a wider measure of local government will probably satisfy aspirations and prevent the reviving national consciousness from running to extremes. After all the English connection is as valuable as it is powerful, as the Irish have just discovered and as the Scots have long realised.

The same applies in those outer Dominions, South Africa and Canada, where nationalism seems most influential. The menacing posture of world affairs has caused the Union to draw much closer to Britain in defensive co-operation, thus reinforcing the financial and economic links that even the old Boers can scarce ignore. Canada feels less exposed to war risks, but has lately had to consider whether Canadian nationalism is large enough to withstand alone the separatist movements within the Dominion. The only one that need yet be considered seriously is Irench - Canadian nationalism, founded on differences of language, race and religion and at present developing a Fascist political philosophy. In Western Canada, on the other hand, economic interests opposed to the industrial East occasionally raise the cry of secession. Within one Dominion, therefore, two separatist movements can be noted springing from different motives. The somewhat artificial aggregation called Canada might not in itself be sufficient to resist these petty nationalisms, or the pull of the United States, but a Canada buttressed by the British connection and an equal member of the Empire commands respect and allegiance. The ferment of nationalism is, of course, working in India and a byproduct has been the detachment of Burma. But as these countries gain a larger measure of political independence and move toward virtual autonomy, they will discover the advantages of the British association. Japan's dominance in the Far East presides over India's education in this respect. So it is seen that, while nationalism is a real force within the Empire, it is not proving finall\ disruptive, and will not prove so, as long as the present wise policy is pursued of allowing it free expression.