THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19802, 29 May 1926, Page 8

THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH.

THE WELDING OF AN EMPIRE. IMPERIAL VIRTUES. Captain S. J- Graham, Commissionergeneral of the British Court at the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, delivered a lecture on “Empire” at the Utago Officers’ Club prior to his departure from Dunedin. He said: — In recent years, when we have had displayed to us at Wembley, and on a smaller scale at Dunedin, an exhibition of the products and visible resources of the British Empire, it is only natural that our minds should turn to regard the steps which have brought us into so high a position of privilege and responsibility in the world. The story of this evolution, the constitutional relationship of the several units of our society, the economic importance of each, are all subjects of which it is our duty as intelligent citizens to have a reasonable knowledge. It is by that knowledge that our action in the future will be framed. Without that knowledge we cannot continue to build wisely; we can scarcely hope to main' tain what is. But if we have the understanding that comes of knowledge, we may look out with confidence over the present landscape, in which a great part of the world moves with faltering and distracted steps. We can bring to its relief the influence for good which we believe is exercised by the British race, by its spirit of honour, justice, and fair dealing, and by the moderation and tolerance which make for stability and peace. It was the courage, energy, and wisdom of our forefathers that endowed us with membership of a brotherhood of free peoples working,..together lor a single ideal; it is for us and for our children to fulfil their trust. The desire to obtain wealth by means of commerce has always played an important part in moulding the growth of the Empire. The voyages of discovery aimed first at finding a new route to the trading grounds of the Far East, while the earliest colonies were guided by men who organised themselves on the lines of trading companies. But trade has frequently been linked to warfare, for men’s greed and passion have often led to open war. For many years a new feeling has been growing up that war is a wasteful and illogical ■way of settling disputes; but wars there have been in plenty. Thus, settlements of other nations fell into British hands; as did Canada from the French, and the Cape from Holland, while we with native rulers brought much of India under British sway. But mere conquest is an ill foundation upon which to build a loyal and happy state; it needs justice and a spirit of give and take. Such a spirit has made possible the incorporation of the French Canadians within the Dominion, and the successful Union of South Africa-

The mere establishing of a trading post or the conquest of a foreign settlement was of little ■value by itself in the making of a colony; immigration was needed to give it life and weld its inhabitants together; the living stream of immigrants .changed the mere “factory” or “fortress” station into a pulsing and growing community. Many reasons led men to seek new homes. The love of freedom inspired alike the .Puritan of New England, the Catholics of Maryland, and the Quakers of Pennsylvania. Some men were fired by the love of change, while others were sqßeezed out by bad times at home, and went to more fertile countries where land ■was cheaper, even as they do to-day. Whatever the cause, the fact of this great emigration, which still goes on before our very eyes, is the true explanation of the British* Commonwealth. The men who made their new homes in temperate lands, built up the great dominions of to-day. Wherever the British peoples have settled, their love of self-government has borne fruit in new Parliaments, and the British Commonwealth consists of a group of selfgoverning nations. In tropical lands, where white men cannot live with ease, immigration is of a different type: there the white man comes as trader, missionary, soldier, administrator, but not as settler. Britain is always “Home,” and the colony is still a dependency. Perhaps the greatest Cause of British expansion is the love of adventure. It led the Elizabethans to seek the unknown across the sea, it made their descendants push their way through the backwoods of America, it sent Cook and his successors to explore Australia, it inspired the work of missionary, scientist, soldier, trader, who have given us knowledge of Africa. To-day is seen alike in the soldier on the frontier and the man who devotes his life to the duties of government in India ami Africa. An Imperial race is one that can serve as well as govern, and the ability to govern others means first the ability to govern oneself. Broadly speaking, we may regard world-history as an unending conflict between the two principles of order and liberty. One could easily maintain that those two principles have never been so wonderfully harmonised as in the present relations between Britain and her selfgoverning dominions. No doubt political evolution may produce something better In the future. For the present f eneration of British citizens the study, of 1- inpire is not merely a school of patriotism, but even an inspiring and ennobling theme.

Recent events have shown that it is possible for Canadians, New Zealanders, Australians, and South Africans to cherish a passionate nationalism in their love for their own country, and yet unite together in the cause of an Imperial patriotism, which, if not international, is well on the road to internationalism. It is the only safe road. It is not by teaching the child to disobey its parents that yon will make him loyal to the school. Nor will you ever build humanitarisra on bad citizenship, j e t the Welshman love his Cymric and the Dutchman his Taal. Let his sympathies begin at home and broaden out in everwidening circles until within limit of race or creed they embrace mankind. Hisfory has surelv brought this lesson home. The history of the British Empire is by no means spotless of blemishes. It l ,r f o ', u f bow inevitable is the retribution. But the British people seem now to have learnt the lesson. We must see that it is not forgotten by future generations. True imperialism is only the larger patriotism, and that enlarged by one diameter is internationalism. It is in the circle o the Empire that statesmen learn to reconcile nationalism and internationalism. The spirit of our Empire to-day is profoundly peace-loving, and there is an ever-growing sense of responsibility or trusteeship. It is important that we should not bo guilty of cant in this matter. It is a more matter of history that the British Empire ■was established mainly for commercial reasons, and it would be idle to pretend that it is maintained altogether out o motives of pure philanthropy. Such a pretence deceives no foreigner Tberti i danger that we may ourselves bo deceive and o no deception is so dangerous as altrteceotion. All the same vve «° *P e | increasingly a sense of [£ spo^p£ c .- s towards the children in tu e Empire s household and we must teach our own SS "SU.-SSS3: I^ and tl.o n.snlt i. it How glorious it would be if .wo could Earn cut of the tragic expenmices of Intter years and out 01 tile stoc' taking wife-/Wembley afforded, .to look calmly and reasonably upon Empire, and to speak of the British .Empire without either bragging or blushing! How much -Idler in citizenship would be our history teaching! What, for example, are we • olng to say about war. about soldiers are "sailors? We all know by bitter experience that war is a horrible thm 0 , an unjust arbiter vhich settles nothing. Be foie all things, we want our children to learn that lesson. But we cannot teach true history by leaving out the battles. Events like Waterloo and Marston Moor are ingredients no less than the 1 casants Revolt and the Factory Acts.. We want out chi l dren to abominate injustice, but we shall not teach that lesson by being unjust ourselves. It may be better to live for your country than to die for it. But those who have died for it deserve their honour. We should teach our children to honour the doctor who has infected himself with fever in order to save thousands of native fellow-subjects from the lingering pestilence, or the missionary who has given his life to the succouring p£ hspera. Soma perhaps, we shall

learn that all sorts go to make up a world. The unknown warrior and the unknown friend of the pol- alike have their honoured place in the scheme of things. The British Empire has been wrought by self-sacrifice. Soldiers, sailors, explorers, ‘raders, missionaries, men, administrators, collectors, policemen, railwaymen, engineers, nurses, teachers, have all and each contributed. The doctor who has isolated a fever germ, the engineer who has bridged a chasm or created an irrigation scheme, the politician who has devised a constitution or charter, the judge who has upheld British justice—yes, and even the housewife who has maintained the standard of civilisation in the wilderness —these no more, but no less, than the soldier or sailor who has given his blood have been the builders of the Empire. The record contains foul pages as well as fair. But let the young people learn the truth about it all, because it is part of their citizenship. To unite the patriot and the humanitarian in one person, to pray and work for peace, and yet keep burning that inner flame which makes a man willing to die for his country—these are the lessons we are trying to teach. They are not paradoxes. Selfishness is the only enemy. The great Imperial virtues are, after all, the great Human virtues. The first is unselfishness, or at least that sympathetic faculty which looks beyond selfish interests. The second is closely akin to it—vision or foresight. The true builder of Empire looks beyond self and beyond the present. He sees the wilderness made tame and the crooked straight. Viewing prairies and jungles, he sees corn lands, railway centres, cities. In a river he sees means of transport, in a waterfall a source of power. So Rhodes looked out from the Matappos; so Raffles saw Singapore. And the third is courage, or that passive part of courage which we call endurance. This led Drake to bear the unceasing turbulence of the winds at Cape Horn, and Livingston© to advance unarmed through the heart of Africa. It has led many an unarmed hero to face the dangers of the forest. Mingled with pride, it has supported lonely white men among hordes of savages. It kept Gordon’s spirit unruffled among multitudes of dangerous fanatics in Khartoum. Tropic heat, Arctic cold, fever, poison, hunger and thirst—all these enemies have been outfaced by oUr pioneers and frontiersmen. Aaother form of courage, the active form of it, we call enterprise. How easily might Rajah Brooke have concluded that the troubles of Sarawak were none of his business! Who could have blamed him if he had sailed on? The last, and possibly the greatest, of imperial virtues is integrity. Courage and foresight, great virtues though they be, are not uncommon in the world. The rectitude of mind which refuses a bribe and does justice against al temptations is not common. Whole races of men have a bad tradition in this respect. Corruption, as its opposite is called, is in insidious plague, highly infectious. In certain places, at certain periods, it has been rife. The travellei well knows that in this or that country justice has to be paid for; the tax-collector, the Customs-house officer, or the policeman can be bribed to shut his eyes. It is the first essential for an Imperial power that its officials shall be above suspicion. Modem Britain has made some generous experiments in self-government even among people accustomed to oppression and extortion. It is one of the most interesting problems of the future, whether these peoples will be able to rise above their tradition and guarantee justice to their citizens. If not, civilisation in those lands will quickly disappear. The whole apparatus of modern civilisation denends upon integrity in every rank. A railway, a power system, an irrigation scheme, gas works, cables—any of these can be destroyed by corruption. If the British peoples have a claim to efficiency as an Imperial people it is based upon a proud tradition in this respect.