IMPERIAL DEFENCE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8363, 25 February 1913, Page 10

IMPERIAL DEFENCE

REPRESENTATION OF THE DOMINIONS. THE OFFICIAL INVITATION. LONDON, January 4. A Parliamentary White Paper J_Oa. 6560] containing a dispatch trom the Secretary of State for the Colonies as to the representation of the »eellgoverning Dominions on the Gommittoe of Imperial Defence was published last night. The dispatch is addressed to the Governor-General of Australia, the Governor-General of the Lmon of South Africa, and the Governors of New Zealand and Newfoundland, it reads as follows: Downing street, 10th December, 1912. I am forwarding _ by post, for the confidential information of your Ministers, a record of the proceedings at the Committee of Imperial Defence on May 30th, 1911 (during the Imperial Conference) and on August Ist, 19U (during the visit of the Canadian Ministers to London). This record deals solely with the question of the representation of the Dominions on the Committee of Imperial Defence. fOmitted to New Zealand. Your Ministers, who were present on the first occasion, will remember that] the matter arose out of a resolution by Sir Joseph Ward on the agenda of the Imperial Conference, asking that the High Commissioners of the Dominions should bo summoned to the Committee of Imperial Defence when naval and military matters affecting the oversea Dominions were under consideration. The unanimous view of all those present on May 30th, 1911, was that the representation of the Dominions should bo not by High Commissioner but by Ministers who would be responsible to their own colleagues and Parliament, and at the same time it was decided that a Defence Committee should be established in each which would be kept in close touch with the Committee of Imperial Defence at home. The resolutions ultimately put forward by his- Majesty’s Government and accepted unanimously by the members of the Imperial Conference at the Committee of Imperial Defence were as follows: (1) That one or more representatives, by the respective Governments of the Dominions, should be invited to attend meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence when questions of naval and military defence affecting the oversea Dominions are under consideration; (2) The proposal that a Defence Committee should be established in each Dominion is accepted in principle. The constitution of these defence Committees is a matter for each Dominion to decide. The Canadian Government having changed in the autumn of X9II it was necessary, when Mr Borden and his colleagues visited England this summer, to put these proposals before them, as they were, of course, unaware of the previous proceedings. Subject to consultation with his. colleagues in Canada, Mr Borden provisionally accepted the resolutions as passed, and stated that he saw no difficulty in one of his Ministers, either with or without portfolio, spending some months of every year in London, in order to carry but this intention. Mr Asquith and I had, subsequently, several private conversations with him, at which he expressed the desire that the Canadian and other Dominions Ministers who might be in London as members of the Commitee of Imperial Defence should receive, in confidence, knowledge of the policy and proceedings of the Imperial Government in foreign and other affairs. We pointed out to him that the Committee of Imperial Defence is a purely advisory body, and is not, and cannot under any circumstances become, a body deciding on policy, which is and must remain the sole prerogative of the Cabinet, : subject to the support of ’ the House of Commons. But, at the same time, we assured him that any Dominions Minister resident here would at all times have free and full access to the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and the Colonial Secretary for information on all questions of Imperial policy.. In a ■ public speech which I made a short time ago I used the following words ; There is, on tho part of Canadian Ministers and people, a natural and laudable desire for a greater measure of consultation and co-operation with us in the future than they have had in the past. This is not intended -fco, and it need not, open up those difficult problems of Imperial Federation which, seeming to entail questions of taxation and representation, have made that policy for many years a dead issue. But, speaking for myself, I see no obstacle, and certainly no objection, to the Governments of all the Dominions being given at once a larger share in the executive direction in matters of defence and in personal consultation and co-operation with individual British Ministers ' whose duty it is to frame policy here. I should welcome a more continuous representation of Dominions Ministers, if they wish it, upon the Committee of Imperial Defence; we should all be glad if a member or members of those Cabinets could be annually in London. The door ; of fellowship' and friendship is . always open to them, and we require no formalities of an Imperial Conference for the continuity of Imperial confidence. The foregoing accurately represents the views and intentions of his Majesty’s Government. From Mr Borden’s public speech in introducing the Canadian Naval Bill, it appears that he accepts the proposals which wo have made. The same offer is, of course, open to all the other self-governing Dominions if and when they wish to adopt it, but the proposal is not one of necessary or strict uniformity, and can be varied in the case of each or any Dominion to suit their wishes or the special circumstances of their case. I should be glad to know, at their convenience, whether your Ministers desire to adopt some such method of more continuous connexion in naval and military affairs with the Committee of Imperial Defence in the United Kingdom.

I have, etc., L. HARCODRT. Note—This dispatch was telegraphed on December 10th, 1912, with the following addition: His Majesty’s Government propose to publish this dispatch here in a short time, and you will be informed of date when publication will take place. The 'White Paper also gives a telegram sent on December 10th last from Mr Haroourt to the GovernorGeneral of Canada, which reads: Please inform your Prime Minister that I have addressed following dispatch by telegraph to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and Newfoundland, and have informed them

that bis Majesty’s Government propose to publish dispatch here within a short time, and that datewhen publication will take place will be duly communicated.