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Otago Daily Times, Issue 16610, 5 February 1916, Page 6

THE DOMINIONS' LOYALTY. The glorious surprise which, our enemies unconsciously prepared for the British people was, Lord' Eosebery said recently, that from the moment war was declared every part of tire Empire leapt up as by a common impulse to rush to the assistance of the Mother Country. The loyalty of the dominions has been displayed not alone in the valour of their troops, but also in the ready response to appeals for the assistance of the smaller nations that have suffered so severely from German " frightfulness," and in the manner in which Canada and Australia are providing out of their own resources for the payment of their war expenses. What is the explanation ? The Daily Telegraph, commenting upon the speeches at the Parliamentary Association luncheon to welcome Mr Fisher on his assumption of the duties of High Commissioner for Australia, asks : " Wlhat has been the Mother Country's virtue or her care for the dominions which has now aroused their devotion ?" The fact that a leading English journal can express wonder on this point shows that there is much need for education at Home regarding the dominions. The days when the colonies were regarded in Downing street as an encumbrance are over, though not forgotten, but a long way may yet have to be travelled before the feelings which animate the people of Greater Britain are fully appreciated at Home. In their nascent stage the "colonies," as they wero termed, had to be nurtured, and the nurture was frequently of' the stepmotherly rather than the motherly kind. To a large extent, however, they were left to tlho employment of their own devices, and allowed to shape their own destinies. The policy of non-interference from Great Britain —a policy that was broken only occasionally by an over-zealous official —was, perhaps, that which best tended to breed the spirit of sturdy self-reliance that has been developed in the dominions. But there is no need to wonder at their loyalty. They owe a deep debt of gratitude to the Mother Country for the opportunity she has granted' them to grow and expand according to the dictates of their own judgment, for the freely-conceded right to utilise their resources in their own way and to' guard against dangers not fully appreciated in Great Britain, and for the sense of security in which the protecting arm of the Imperial Navy has enabled them to exist. Above and beyond this, the dominions are proud to claim a share in the glorious heritage of British liberty and in the mighty deeds on sea and land which have raised Groat Britain to the position she holds to-clay. Her history is ours; wo are part and parcel of the British race. A slight upon Great Britain touches, the self-respect of the dominions themselves. Our destiny is irrevocably bound up with hers. The defeat of Great Britain in the present war would involve the danger that New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and India would fall under alien domination, and that would bo an unthinkable degradation and an intolerable evil. There are many residents in the dominions, also, who look forward to the emergence of a glorified Empire, closely knit together by the bonds of friendship, each component part free to work out its own destiny and all working together for the common good. There is no reason to wonder at what the dominions have done in the war; the wonder would have been if they had not done it. To the end the dominions are with the Mother Country—proud' to fight with and for her, and confident in victory as the ultimate issue of the war.