EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10779, 30 May 1911, Page 1

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

! There may be some doubts about the J . . ~, reason! ne ot'.t !u- ---'■:?- (iViueuci OsiiiCCk r . .!;:iihi>uj - ■■■•: ;!*'■ -... /. ,', , . : :''C,.it : Wo, ! ,-o,vi„. . spoke against- the resolution .proposed by Sir- Joseph Ward, but there can -\fa\ none about l , the unanimity.-with whichthey condemned it. -.lt is another way. of saying vth'at of the resolution- - cleats- iUe- -air for.' 1 -the . Imperial, 'outlook.: '.;. before that withdra.^al ; th;er> was considerable doubt throughout. tlie> about the ques- : tion of the time for drawing together. ofUhe'bonas in some more "formal way. —whether /that- time. hsid : .conie' oi- was •still qomiug—riiow-;.,.there:-.is ; rio doubt at •all.;. It is'clear that."the time -lias, not; come. one cannot be surprised. It. is the timc-.of the census, and ( while the overseas are showing,their small counts we have'"the' absolutely v overshadowing.' foree^-.of .the, British, millions -brought'.: ljome-'to. us'.'witli; ; startling ..precision. With'Viihe seven millions of.London alone J talking with one voice about the Ship, silence,is the -best, policy.. ,To that voice; there, came, corroboration in the ; figures;...->.of, the Defence; Parliament scheme of. Sir''J6sepli Waid, translating ; ih'e'.transcendency jSf" Britain into the numbers understan'ded of the., voters. There must always be some discrepancy and for many years there must be a great, overshadowing b'y, the Imperial interests. But at. present "the mvr- - nvvrwheliniiiii iVi njako jiderniiijii 01'..ijii.v .k'ui.-l prs.H-'ilea'ile even remotely.' it v.i;ty -.'tl» admit U-d i-ii:i; £ir Joseph \V:!?•<! did-not'bn'iig 'hi?, selieimbefore the Conference ."in t!ii-'uay bt.-a calculated to obtain favorable.reception. •He gave- notice of one thing—ran. Adr ji-isor.y Council of representatives from all-the- sections' of .the, Empire, self-; goveming* -.•Jaiid :'„ he; argued in : support -. of a. thing .totally different-^-a-Parliament-of Imperial Defence. The latter turned out to. be the' more important of the two, so that the imahi scheme, actually came before the Conference in tlie-shape of a;.resolution; without notice. -But-you do ,not:-teai\ up the foundations of the British;Em-. ;pire- jiotipe. • It Iwai not built iir a day and it will Jiot be substantially altered in a day. -Nevertheless good has. been done, for the air has been confused by jarring voices for many months past reiterating the declaration made by Mr. Joseph Chamberlain 14 years ago— at the Conference held in the year of the Diamond Jubilee —that the time has come for some more formal bond, than .the tie now uniting the various portions of the Empire. Mr Chamberlain was proved wrong then, and the Conference has prov.ed his echoes of-a decade and a-half to be equally wrong now. The air is clear, and we owe the fact.to the Prime Minister of New Zealand,, who has had the courage to bring forward a concrete motion, capable of discussion and practical treatment on the spot. The first advance from the platitudinarian level of generalities has not gone far, but it is an advance for all that. It has brought men face to' face with the difficulties of the position, demonstrating the fact that they must be prepared for practical work for the future. It is master of course that when the time is ripe for the settlement of this-sub-ject, when, in fact, the centres of population have grown out far enough to make federation possible, the pro r posal for a Parliament of Defence will never be entertained: It is an imprac- ] tieable idea-; It aims at separating dc- ] fence from the other functions of a fede- j ration, whether or not these functions j are inseparable. That is' a point, how- i ever, for the future. The point for the ; present is that the relations are of such j a nature that any attempt, however I distant, to formalise them tends to give them a very, undesirable and dangerous jar. The proposal was no sooner made than the Conference launched close questions with .deadly effect. "Two members for '.the British Islands in the Council,;.and, ten for the overseas?" asked..j|r Asquith with severity. You force a policy as well as a contribution on, the. unwilling, he said again. You have no. finance, and you have heavy obligations, said the voice of Canada, while. Australia .was aghast at the magnitude of the operations and foresaw interference, at .every turn with the much-:cherished autonomy. None of these questions would be dangerous in a. properly-balanced federation. Butin the unbalanced state of the Empire they are simply deadly. It is a chapter that wilLJiaye. to. be continued "in our next," and a long way off at that. Thus roust, all ;inen -agree that the air is 'cleared. • E6r ouErpart, we regret that the original was not kept by itself., -Had it not been disturbed by the overshadowing question of immediate federation on a basis of part of the Imperial functions,' it might have been. : shorn of the impossible suggestion for ; the.inclusion of the Crown colonies and [ India, and.might then have become a ; step.towards the only-kind of federa- : tipii - that -will-: ever be possible in the -Empire,; However,.- four years is not a -long period in the course of the time needed for-the right lieat\.the welding of the, Empire: requires. .The Conference j will now,, we trust', - proceed to put'the ! minor.. part • ofv~the house :in order; i severely secure- of the loyal co-operation of the major- portion 'jit . any given moment of requirement.