THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE

Otago Witness, Issue 2993, 26 July 1911, Page 8

THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE

FIRST WEEK'S- PROCEEDINGS. LITTLE* INTEREST IN ENGLAND, j FATE OF NEW ZEALAND’S ) PROPOSALS. i CFbom Ctra Own Cobrbspondent.) LONDON, May 26. i The expected has happened The Imperial Conference, at its first f™ orl Tuesday, incontinently tnrew out the sug giestio <a that its proceedings should be open to the press. So the press of O eat Britain, in common with that of the outex Empire, has to bo content with the summary supplied each day by the Colonial Office. Except from the journalistic point of view, it is quite a satisfactory summary. But the journalist will not admit that any report ot anything is satisfactory that is not a free and first-hand, report—an account written without restriction by a man who may see without limitation. A QUIET OPENING. To a person privileged to be present, the luncheon with the King on Monday, when his Majesty received the oversea Prime Ministers and their colleagues, rnust have been the most inspiring event pt tne conference. It was indeed the , fo J ma o l ceremonial opening of the work, just a the brilliant gathering at the foreign Office in the evening was the less lormai inauguration of the festivities. The oxxming itself—or the assembly for the opening—was quite uninspiring. A group of about a dozen journalists in various garb, stood chatting and smoking in the warm-sun in the quadrangle cf the Foreign Office, near the rapidly-disappear-ing vestiges of the awnings effected for the' previous night’s reception. A- noisy motorrattled up, and a man whose name vas on every lip 10 years ago stepped out. It was within a few hours of the tenth anniversary of the battle of Vlakfontem. Botha has lost a good deal of flesh lately, and looks sallow and ill, like his political antagonist, Dr Jameson, who is also in England for medical advice. .The Boer chipf was accompanied by Mr Fischer, both being dressed in the orthodox frock suit, with silk hat. _ . , ~ A moment later Sir Edward Morris, the elderly and white-moustached Premier of Newfoundland, drove in with his Colonial Secretary, dressed in exactly the same style. The" next motor brought Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Sir F. W. Borden, and meantime the Australian delegation turned up from somewhere, apparently having arrived on foot. They were thoroughly democratic. Mr Fisher and Mr Pearce were in frock suits, but Mr Batchelor, who has shaved off his. moustache recently, was carelessly dressed in sao suit, with a tie that looked quite aggressive, simply because it was the only one there with any colour at all. At later meetings. Mr Batchelor has worn the orthodox. By the way, • it is whispered at present that the Australians- do not intend to wear levee dross at any of the Court functions. Sir Joseph Ward and Dr Findlay were the only two on the first day who wore morning dress. The British Ministers made their way to the meeting room tn foot, and were not observed. Probably they had been at work there for some time before the oversea delegates arrived. There was no move of the journalists towards the dcor of the room in which the conference met. They evidently took it for granted that there was no hope of being admitted, and wero not importunate.

MR ASQUITH’S OPENING. Without actually offering a prayer, Mr Asquith opened -his remarks by a pious hope that' the meeting would' conduce, “in the language of the prayer which we are accustomed to offer for the High Ooiurt of Parliament, to the safety, honour, and welfare of our Sovereign and his dominions.” He dwelt on the combination of local autonomy with loyalty to a common head, which was the feature of the British Empire system, and he made a trite remark which, has been seized upon by some as a veiled rebuke to the oversea States with regard to the integrity of British politics and by others as the reverse. “We are,” he said, “ and intend' to remain, units indeed, but units in a greater unity. Whether in this United Kingdom or in any one of the great communities which you represent, we each of us are, and we each of us intend to remain, master in our own household.” In his reply—each of the Prime Ministers replied for his own dominion, —Sir Joseph Ward referred feelingly to his recollections of Sir Henry Campbell-Banner-man at the last conference and to the great Empire work which he initiated. “ I want, in a humble way,” he said, “ to add my personal testimony to what I believe has been one of the greatest things in the century from the historical point of view of the British Empire in the bringng together of the divided States of South Africa into one whole.” In its result, he said, that episode made him feel very cheerful as to the probable outcome of this conference. He was one_ of those who believed that the difficulties which bad faced' British statesmen in the governance of the Empire were difficulties which could be overcome. In New Zealand they realised that they had always been allowed by the British authorities to do practically what the people of New Zealand wished to do, with certain reservations. “I want to emphasise the point, sir, so eloquently referred to by you that we, to the tallest possible extent, recognise the princmte p 3 being daughters in your house and mastress in our own. , , • I am in entire

accord with you in saying that we require, above all things,, to preserve • our local autonomy .... but it is essential for us to make a step forward if we want to prevent disintegration from taking place in the future. PUBLICITY BANNED. The first matter after sending a message of homage to the King was to consider Sir Joseph Ward’s proposal to open the proceedings to the press. .■ Sir Joseph suggested that when any matter which it was advisable should be secret cropped up they should clear the room. “On the occasion of the last Colonial Conference,” he continued, “ the people of New Zealand for a few days heard next to- nothing of what was going on, and that difficulty of obtaining information gave rise to considerable friction.” The trouble arose entirely from the fact that the press was without full knowledge. | Sir Wilfrid Laurier said Now Zealand was as well informed as Canada, London, or anybody else, and if the proceedings were open they would fall into the domain, if not of party politics, at least of public , discussion. Mr Fisher was sympathetic, but feared the proposal was not practicable. I After others had spoken in the same strain, | Sir Joseph accepted Mr Asquith’s suggestion and withdrew the motion, with the remark that he did not put it forward from any personal considerations, but the people of New Zealand were as much concernedi in what he was doing as the people of the other dominions were in their representatives. 1 THE IMPERIAL COUNCIL.

j Before the first day’s work closed Sir Joseph introduced his Imperial Council scheme. In the oversea States, he said, there were about 13,000,000 white people, j In the last 10 years the population of Scot- : land had not increased as much as that of New Zealand. Canada was adding from 650,000 to 700,000 per annum, and would probably in 25 years have more than 30 million people. By that time the oversea States would probably have more people than the United Kingdom. Countries ' could not be kept together by sentiment alone, and he suggested the Imperial Council of State as a means of welding the British Empire together.' j From the official report it seems as if 1 the Canadian Premier took Sir Joseph to i task on his statement that there was a ! tendency in the direction of foreign immigration into British communities. Sir Joseph explained that that was purely owing to the superior attractiveness of British countries. Canada, Australia, and South Africa amongst them could contain 300,000,000 people. “No statesman would deny that it was of far greater importance to the Empire that they should deal with the people themselves and with their settlement in the respective countries than with the purely material matters of money or property.” THE FEDERAL IDEA. | When Sir Joseph referred to the recent ' federations that, had been brought about, Mr Asquith pointed out that they were all instances of the consolidation of contiguous territory. Sir Joseph admitted the fact, but he would not admit that the difficulties which apparently stood in the way of a ■ complete federation could not be overcome. Resuming his speech on the next day of meeting, he took up the question of defence. The present relationship of the Dominions in regard to naval control could not rest on the basis of partnership, “as no partnership deserved the name which did not give the partners some voice in the management.” An Imperial organisation was absolutely necessary. Mr Fisher asked whether the proposed council would have power of coercion by legislative act. Sir Wilfrid Laurier understood that it would vote contributions which the Do- , minions would have to fix,- He would seriously object to that. I Sir Joseph said he wanted uniformity of I system for the preservation of the whole of our oversea interests, i Mr Asquith remarked that apparently the new body would have power to impose contributions and policy upon dissentient communities. , Sir Joseph said hia scheme was for the election, on a basis of 200,000 of population, of an Imperial House of Representatives for defence, Canada giving 37 members, Australia 25, South Africa 7, New Zeaalnd. : 6, and Newfoundland 2; while the United Kingdom would have, about 220. Each country would select two representatives to serve on the Council of Defence. Mr Asquith: On the council of 12 it no United Kingdom would have two representatives and the Dominions 10. After some further desultory discussion ; Canada, Australia, and Newfoundland all decided in that order that the proposal was impracticable, though General Botha spoke hopefuly as to what could be done ir. that direction. . “What would Sir Joseph Ward’s scheme come to in practice?” asked Mr Asquith. “It would impair, if not altogether destroy, tire authority of the Government of the United Kingdom in such grave matters as the conduct of the Foreign Office, the conclusion of treaties, the maintenance of peace and war. . .. . Speaking for the British Government, they ooilid not assent to a proposal so opposed to the fundamental principles on which the Empire had been built up and earned on.” Sir Joseph replied in the regular parliamentary fashion, withdrawing the motion in view of the categorical opposition which : had been expressed. 1 COLLAPSE OF THE CONFERENCE, j Perhaps tills is too sweeping a heading. I* is not too strong, however, to describe

the mental attitude of the public and the j press towards the conference during the last day or two. The defeat of Sir Joseph’s proposals and the improbability that there will be any discussion of importance on the tariff question ' knocks the bottom out of the agenda paper, and there is not likely to bo much more of interest to the general reader. ’ _ The official precis,, by the way, which is issued by the Colonial Office each evening, is fairly full, but evidently the other members of the conference have said very little so far. The precis to date, including the opening speech of Mr Asquith, which occupies five pages, totals 4-3 pages, and of this 22 are occupied by Sir Joseph Ward. THE PUBLICITY QUESTION. The rejection of the publicity proposal caused no stir here. Practically the whole of the press felt that the proceedings should not be open, and the opinions of oversea journals, which were collected by the editor of the Daily Chronicle, have created some surprise. The New Zealand papers which were consulted have all favoured an open door. Australia is divided:, Victoria being against publicity; and there is a similar division in Canada. The great objection tc- the official report is the fact tlxat members peruse their own speeches before publication, and the report does not roach the offices in Fleet street much before_ midnight. There will be no communicated, report of the defence meetings; Speaking generally, the London press has few comments to make on Sir Joseph Ward’s proposals. The Times thinks that the New Zealand Prime Minister b none the less to be congratulated on having given the lead to a valuable exchange of views on a subject of paramount 'importance. The Morning Post observes: “ Sir Joseph Ward rendiered a real service in bringing the subject up. Himself a consistent supporter of Imperial Preference, he has, by raising this discussion, cut the ground from \ under those who say that there are other 1 ways to closer union if only the p refer - entialists would consent to try them. The result of the discussion is to vindicate again, and—we may surely hope—to vindicate finally, the absolute truth of Mr j Chamberlain’s conclusion from his own experience, that all attempts at closer political union are foredoomed to failure unless they proceed from the basis of : mutual preference in trade and are directly prompted by the exigencies of that policy.” SIR JOSEPH’S IMPRESSIONS. NOT AT ALL DISCOURAGED. In conversation this evening, Sir Joseph told me that he was not at all displeased) ’ with the,result of the debates so far. It I must not be assumed, he says, that because i he withdrew his resolutions they were defeated. “ The conference adopts the system—and quite rightly, in my opinion—of not putting a question to the vote when it is apparent from the debate that it cannot be carried unanimously. This is done on the prin- . ciple that if a matter if of any importance : at all . it should not be decided upon if j merely brio out of the group of dominions I objects to it. Otherwise it will be quite impossible to achieve co-ordination or cooperation.” Sir Joseph said he fully recognised that a matter of this kind required time, and he did not at all contemplate its being carried. The public mind had to be educated, and the greater portion of the arguj ments which he used, would not be avail- ! able to the public until the Blue Books of ! the conference were published. “ It was for the purpose of education,” remarked Sir Joseph, “ that I was so anxious that the press should be admitted. Though the feeling, especially in the older countries, is generally in favour of allowing! things to remain as they are, still I have gathered from conversations with many representative men that there is a great change in public opinion in the direction of some effective form of machinery, perhaps at first in the form of an advisory j council.” A CASE IN POINT. As a case in point Sir Joseph mentioned the attitude o Canada in regard to the navy question, a matter which he brought up at the confc ivnoe, although there is no reference to it in the official precis. In the act of Grenada which makes provision for a local navy it is provided that Canada, is not to take part in any war in which Great Britain mav engage unless it agrees with the purposes of the war. _ “On the face of it,” says Sir Joseph, “ that presents a very difficult position. It means, in effect, that if there is a war in which ecme parts of the Empire are involved, one of the greatest of the dominions may elect by legislation to stand out, and to take no part. Now, i have no doubt that in actual practice Oanadia would come in the same as the other parts of the Empire, but still this anomaly exists that while one portion of the Empire would have the right to stand out of a war the others would be involved without even the privilege of consultation in a war determined upon by the British Government. I am convinced that the only way in which we can overcome this difficulty is to establish a system in which the people of all the dominions would speak through their representatives, a body wliich would report to their respective Govei’nments beforehand what the position WaS THE COMING DEVOLUTION. The Prime Minister states that in making his proposals before the conference he recognises that there is a great change imminent in regard to the government of the United Kingdom. The movement in

the direction of having- separate Parlia- ■: m©nts for the different national divisions of the United Kingdom and Ireland :s widening, and he believes that that is coming But there will always be the overriding Parliament, like the Federal Parliament in Australia and the Dominion Parliament in Canada. . “As certainly as I am expressing my views to you', a similar condition will arise ’in Great Britain. There will still be an Imperial Parliament when the national Parliaments have been established, and that ought to give an opportunity to the statesmen of England to formulate a practical scheme for the inclusion on practical lines of representatives from the oversea dominions. Of course, the Imperial Parliament would be reconstructed and reduced. T , 1 ■ j do not feel in the least deterred by the position that has been arrived at. I accept with perfect equanimity the views ot those who are opposed tc the proposals I lyiit forward, but I shall not cease to advocate the change, because I am convinced that the future safety of the oversea dominions, the safety -of the great British interests which are arising m the Pacific and the great British interests in the East (India) depends upon it. During recent years the navy of Great Britain has been drawn steadily closer to the British seaboard, and the supremacy of Britain on the seas is more important todav than it has ever been. “ Under the scheme which I have suggested the cost to the people of the dominions which do as New Zealand is doing towards the navy would be incomparably less than to those which are going in for local navies—that is, if the isolated effort to have their own navv is put in the form of fully equipping fleets for the protection of their own shores against any powerful fleet that may approach. lam more convinced than ever that the best way for the Empire as a whole is to have ore great navy, though the ships for the different dominions might possibly be built in those dominions and armed from the up-to-date ordnance factories of Great Sir Joseph considers the exclusion of the press bas robbed the conference of much of its educational value and public interest. In his own case the supplied report amounted to only about one-twelfth of what he actually said.