THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MAT 2, 1924. THE IDEAL OF EMPIRE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19182, 27 May 1924, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MAT 2, 1924. THE IDEAL OF EMPIRE.

Empire Day has once again linked the nations of the British Commonwealth in a chorus of harmonious celebration. The sentiments to which wide expression is given within the Empire on the twenty-fourth of May are based upon fundamentals so important that they will bear reiteration on every appropriate occasion. It is well that at least one day in the year should be dedicated to acknowledgment by British people the world over of a sense ci the magnificence of their heritage, to appreciation of the significance of the Imperial tie, and to a testimonial of affection for and indebtedness to the Motherland. There are people who express a dislike to the word "Empire," as seeming to connote wealth and privilege as opposed to all the institutions of a democratic State. The Empire is spoken of nowadays as a Commonwealth of free and equal nations. Significant as that may be of the direotion of its development, the bond that holds its constituent parts together is essentially the same as it has always been, having its basis on kinship, tradition, mutual interest, and common ideals. "In the genius of British colonisation," writes Sir Henry M'Mahon, "there are two governing qualities, tolerance and common sense: and the Empire built up by British colonists rests chiefly on those two qualities. Whilst the British* character continues to preserve them, it will be safe." If such a reflection may not seem to go very deep, its astuteness cannot be gainsaid. Common sense will often win through where great conceptions fail. The pillars of the Empire are strong and substantial, as the world has reason to kuow. Sometimes it is suggested that there is a tendency to take their solidity too much for granted. In a recent article the editor of the English Iteview observes : i"i<* trend of political developments which threaten to render abortive the promising results of the lato Imperial Conference points to the urgent necessity of focussing and consolidating the aims of all those British men and women who are determined that the conception of a great and united Krnpire shall be realised. That ideal is to-day nearer cither to realisation or to destruction than at any time since it took shape, and there is every hope that the very dangers which menace it will inspire its adherents to ' even greater efforts to achieve it. . . .

Internationalism and apathy, the one natively hostile, the other even more dangerous, must bo fought and conquered if the British Empire is not to go the way of those of Rome and Spain. The natural sympathies and desires of the scattered British race must find concrete legislative expression or they will wither away.

The non-ratification by the Labour Government at Home of the preference resolutions of the Imperial Conference lias not been open to reasonable construction, however, as evidence of failure on its part to attach to the interests of the Empire the importance which they merit. It is a useful reminder that the dominion preference has been recognised from the beginning as a sort of offset to the greater proportionate burden for defence and foreign policy borne by the people of Great Britain. The inequality in the distribution of the burden should serve to recall the dominions to a sense of the peculiar nature of their indebtedness to and dependence upon Great Britain, when, as recently, their statesmen may be suffering under a passing sense of disappointment. Now we have Mr J. H. Thomas, as Secretary of State for the Colonies, proposing the principal toast at the Royal Colonial Institute’s Empire Day Dinner, appealing for the elimination of all “class talk and warfare,” and declaring; “Let all, of whatever class and creed, unite to make the Empire worthy of the sacrifices of those of all classes who defended the Empire.” Such sentiments are entitled to applause. It has been well said, though the statement is by no means comprehensive, that if there is any value in the Imperial connection at all it is that the nations of the British Commonwealth should stand together as a unit in a very discordant and dangerous world for ideas of freedom, stability, ,and international morals. It is because the world is dangerous and discordant that the British Empire, if it is to b'e the effective friend of peace, must be strong to protect itself. The Empire is deeply interested in the maintenance of a high standard of protective efficiency in the navy, a subject ably traversed by Mr F. Milner in his speech at the recent Empire Day function in this city. The decision of the Home Government in relation to the establishment of a naval base at Singapore has caused disappointment in Australia and New Zealand. An outspoken reflection of that disappointment is embodied in Sir Thomas Mackenzie’s remarks at the Colonist! Institute dinner. It has been truly said, however, that the development of the navy of the Empire must be largely dependent on public opinion throughout the Empire. Here lies not the least important of the objectives of effort which has its stimulus in the ideal of a united Empire.