DEVELOPING THE EMPIRE

Southland Times, Issue 23648, 25 October 1938, Page 6

DEVELOPING THE EMPIRE

Creation Of Union Of States FULL INDEPENDENCE OF DOMINIONS The dictator States have much to answer for, but, as happens frequently in this strange world, their actions have had helpful effects. One of these is the new impulse to Empire development which has moved the people of the British Commonwealth in recent years, writes J. Henderson Stewart, M.P., in The Christian Science Monitor. Britain was said, before the World War, to be Empire-conscious; British imperialism was even blamed by some for that calamity; and in terms of movement of population to the Dominions, Britons at that time were certainly not unmindful of opportunities. But all the activities of those days seem minor and haphazard when compared with the massive, deliberate inter-state planning of the present time. Whereas in 1913 the Empire “growed,” like Topsy, more or less of its own accord, today it is being nurtured and protected like a precious child. The char\ge is not, of course, wholly due to recent danger of aggression; there were powerful and war-like nations, ambitious for wider possessions, long before Adolf Hitler’s arrival. The first and most potent step in the transformation took place when Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand soook themselves free from the apron strings of London and gained complete sovereignty over their own territories. From that day onward the Empire became, instead of a group of colonies, a union of States, each enjoying the same independence in home and foreign affairs as the Mother Country itself. CHANGING OUTLOOK The altered conditions brought new and difficult problems in their, train. With independence came a desire on the part of the Dominions to conserve their resources and at the same time to expand their wealth. Their prewar role of modest primary producers no longer sufficed to provide employment and a rising standard of living for their people. Agricultural output had to be widely expanded. At the same time secondary industries sprang up, seeking markets in their own conn—tries. The trade of Great Britain, already feeling the blast of world depression, was immediately affected. Dominion orders, which once maintained thousands of workers in Birmingham,. Glasgow, Sheffield and elsewhere, were no longer forthcoming; - while imports of Dominion produce came to England in such quantities that farmers there faced ruin. In. the Empire countries agriculturists and industrialists alike suffered increasing hardship. The strain became such that the various Governments were forced to intervene. Popular opinion in all countries demanded an unravelling of the knot. It was in these circumstances that the Ottawa Conference met in 1932.

The agreement which resulted was the first major attempt to plan interImperial, trade. It was not an unmixed success, and many similar efforts have followed, the last of which, affecting Australia and Great Britain, took place a few weeks ago. The outcome of that conference can make no better claim than Ottawa to perfection and finality, but it forms one more link in the chain of intricate agreements which are gradually regulating tile entire commerce of the Commonwealth. The political disturbances of the world led in 1935 and subsequent years to a fresh series ’of discussions. Dangers grimmer than economic blizzards were now at hand; the peace and security of the Empire were threatened; the long lines of . communication were in peril. To the problems of ' trade were now added those of defence, and they were many and anxious. The Imperial Conference of last year, attended by the Prime Ministers and leaders of every part of the Empire, was concerned almost exclusively with these and related matters. It is not known what schemes emerged from the long debates, but they were no doubt, detailed and comprehensive, It may fairly be said of the present period that, from the point of view of trade and defence, the Empire has never been so carefully surveyed, so closely knit, so well developed. The efforts of our Imperial statesmen in these directions have been vigorous and decisive.

It is the more to be regretted that out of all their conferences nothing constructive has emerged to provide for that further development without which neither trade nor defence can be maintained, namely, the increase of man power in the Dominion countries.