MODERN PROPHETS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18465, 28 January 1922, Page 19

MODERN PROPHETS

THE FATE OF THE EMPIRE. WELLS, INGE, AND HAGGARD. (Fbom Due Own Coreespondent.) LONDON, December 13. To the quests and members, at a dinner given by toe Delphmian Coterie, Mr H. G. Wells, from whom little seems to be hidden 7-past, present, or to come—sent a letter in wmoh he wrote: “ I hope and believe that a hundred years hence there will be no British Empire. Either it will have played its part in the development of civilisation and have changed into and given place to a much larger union of free States, or it will have become a danger and a nuisance to mankind, and have followed German Imperialism and Homan Imperialism to the dust heap.” The chief guests of the Coterie were Sir H. Rider Haggard and Dean Inge, and the subject for consideration was “Quo Vadis, or the Empire a Century Hence.” Opening the discussion, Sir H. Rider Haggard said that if they were pessimistic they might be inclined to answer the question as to the whitherward of the Empire by “ The Deuce.” Personally, he would like to take a more hopeful view. One hundred _ years was a very short time, a mere hour, in the life of a nation. For instance, what was one hundred years in the life of old Egypt? In the life of the world it waa a mere tick. And yet how long a period it wasl How much might happen! There would no doubt be great scientific developments. No doubt people would fly to Australia in a few days, and there would bo changes which could not now be foreseen. By tnat time the world might have prevented the production of the unfit. Ho oould not agree with Air Wells. He thought the British. Empire was the most beneficent power that God Almighty had raised upon this earth, and the\ loes ■of it would ho a blow 'to the future of the world. He doubted whether 100 years henco the British Empire would'have much influence in Egypt or the East generally; and it would probably have to be content with those possessions which were peopled by its own blood. The advent of women to power would profoundly affect the institutions of humanity. They all hoped to see armaments limited, but human nature would remain the one unchangeable thing in the world. IMPERIAL MIGRATION.

The next question was, How oan the Empire be saved, and is it worth saving? .He was convinced that . tit© . Empire could be saved only by the infusion into it of an adequate population of people of . our own race. - It had always been his view that our population should be not so that the people could accumulate here, , but that L might be available to people the Empire overseas. We had always been accustomed to have our breakfast brought from overseas and to pay for it out of our trade, but our trade was not as healthy as it might be, and what would happen ’f it did not recover? How could there be a trade revival unless there was cheap coal, and how could there be cheap coal with present wages and a seven-hour day? It would seem that the alternative was starvation—a very ugly word. There was • another way of saying the situation, and that was bv migration within the Empire. Australasia, Canada, and Africa offered vajt possibilities. There was room for 300 or 400 million people of British race in the dominions, but the difficulty was to get them there. The first difficulty was the attitude of . the . Labour Party, who objected to migration. An even worse difficulty was the attitude of the Labour parties in the dominions, who feared that every man brought into the dominions would reduce wages. Somehow or another in the dominions immdgrataon was hot really favoured, and, if favoured, they stipulated that they would only receive the best of the agricultural labourers and women between 18 and 30, sound in wind and limb, to become domestic servants first, and then, perhaps, .marry. DOMINIONS’ MISTAKEN ATTITUDE. That was an attitude which could not stand. If the dominions wanted population they must take it en bloc, and sift it . out there. There was necessity for ua to send, and there was necessity for the dominions to receive. Six million people were living in Australia, where hundreds of millions oould be accommodated, while across the seas were countless human beings cultivating every strip of ground, and when the rains failed they starved. Those people could fashion spears and fire guns; the position was not safe. ExPresident Roosevelt once said: “Look at your Australia. It will, bo the first to go.” Australia should’ welcome every contribution, •of English blood. Was the Empire worth" saving? Travel east, .travel west, travel north, travel south, where would they find finer institutions, where finer men and women, more God-fenring, more straight . in their thoughts and ways? Surely it was worth saving, and surely everyone in his degree, his little hour, should. do all in his power towards the salvation. We stood in the midst of many dangers, and were helpless before new forces which we could not direct or understand." Our old f»rops, which we relied upon, were broken down, our old landmarks in many oases gone. He would paraphrase a" very old saying, “Oh. de-, mocracy, what things are done in thy name!” —(Cheers.) GLOOMY DEAN’S PROPHECY. Doan Inge said a prophet who knew his business was careful to fix the date of his predictions nojt too soon. Ho thought on el hundred years hence the population of the British Islands would be about fifty millions.. Tho United States would probably contain a population of three hundred millions. Canada would probably have about sixty millions, and Australia the same number, while New Zealand would have perhaps twenty or twenty-five millions. The United States would therefore have an enormous predominance in wealth, power, and security over all the other British-speaking peoples. These islands would have fallen from their pride of place, and would be only one among several dominions. They would no longer be tho centre of a world Empire in which they had tho dominating power. Rather there would bo a tendency on tho part of tho other British-speaking peoples to gravitate towards the vast power of the United States. BRITISH-SPEAKING FEDERATION. What he hoped for was a loose federation or rather an alliance of all British-speaking peoples, and that each of the great dominions would be able and willing to provide for its own defence. That would relieve the weary Titan of the burden that had already become too heavy for it to bear. But he thought it probable that these islands, being no longer tho object of fear or envy or suspicion, would bo. looked upon by all the British-speaking peoples in tho world as their ancestral home and Holy Sanctuary, and London and England generally would be regarded with affection and love and veneration by a very large portion of the human race. He ventured no prediction as to whether tho white race would be able to maintain the osconddnoy in South Africa. But ho thought India would probably be granted voluntarily self-government, and practically independence. He was quite sure that democracy as tho nineteenth century had known it was by no means the final form of government, but he was not prepared to prophesy as to what would take its place. All forms of government were bad. Human beings were mostly fools. People had said that Christianity had failed. , It had failed because it had never been tried. . Whether human nature would give that institution a fair trial or not he could not tell.