THE EMPIRE’S FUTURE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7978, 8 December 1911, Page 4

THE EMPIRE’S FUTURE.

INTERESTING ' ADDRESS BY LORD DUDLEY. FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. LOnDOn, October 2G. Lord Dudley, tno ex-Uovernor-General of Australia, gave some sound advice to the peopio oi the ■■ old Country in a speecn ho made on ithe occasion of his '• Welcome Homo" by the Borough of Kidderminster (of which ho is juorcl However that might be. there was little High Steward), last Saturday. Replying to the toast of his health, hie lordship made a long speech on the subject of the - Empire's future. In the course thereof ho stated that there was a growing feeling throughout- Australia and New Zealand that tho day had come when they should be admitted as partners into tho counsels of the Empire. They no longer desired to be looked upon as Englishmen, Scotsmen and Irishmen, carving out for themeelvee a livelihood in a now land, but as a distinct branch of tho British race,’enjoying-to a great extent all the privileges of a separate national life, and qualified to bo regarded ■as an important and responsible, unit in the federation of self-governing commulitioa under tho aegis of the British Grown. Ho thought perhaps tho attitude of Australia and tho other great oversea dominions had come as somewhat of a shock to certain people in this country. They might not, perhaps, have realised how great had been the progress, and how strong had become the spirit of self-reliance, and possibly they were inclined to resent tho claim of the colonies to. be treated as adult communities, doubt that wo. were reaching, if we had not already reached, a very critical stage in our Imperial history. Any refusal, to recognise this in all affairs in their own family circle, any attempt to check tho national development of tho colonics, or to deal with them in a captious and carping spirit would, he felt sure, in the end alienate us from, our kinsmm over the sea. Tact, patience, and confidence were required if wo were to maintain alive tho attachment of the colonies. We must allow them to develop on their own lines. Wo must have confidence in tho colonics and keep- in touch with them as far as wo possibly could, giving them every Information in our power, so that tho colonies might understand our difficulties as well os their own, and that the ■objects both aimed at were similar. .THE WAY TO CLOSER UNION. If such a policy were quietly and consistently pursued ho believed there would occur from time to time opportunities to weld the dominions closer together and to multiply their mutual interests. No doubt it was a difficult - mperial consolidation was a question of enormous-difficulty and complexity. The conditions of life in a country like Australia were naturally very different from conditions at Home. Social problems were so different, and the conditions so • varied that it was almost impossible that tho point of view of Australians could always ho quite tho same ns those at Home. That was the cardinal difficulty they had to recognise and face at once. Wo must never relax our efforts to bring about a closer co-opera-tion, and closer understanding w-ith the colonies, for upon our success in that direction depended our existence as a first-class Rower. Although, differences in points of view must exist between the Dominions and the Motherland, tho point of view was often different, not so much from ignorance ns from difference of conditions, and by constant communication and discussion we might obviate one of the dangers which would tend to pul them apart. This discussion and deliberation should he by no means confined only to questions of Imperial politics or solely conducted by Ministers. In trade and commerce, in education and social reform, which would affect the prestige of their race, Homelanders should bring about frequent communication and discussion between themselves and their kinsmen over the seas. He believed there was much that each could learn. On the ono hand knowledge and experience could only bo supplied by people in tho old country, and on the other hand new countries could help them with experiments which could only be attempted with a young people in a new land. Therefore it seemed to him the more wo interchanged opinions, the more ,we came into contact with each' other, the more we discussed the various problems wo had to face the "‘more it would he for our mutual advantage, and the more likely were we to maintain unbroken the traditions of British progress and civilisation throughout tho world.