THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 87, 1 June 1911, Page 2

THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

In u leading article on the colonies and foreign allairs, the London “Standard” says: —“In the Russian war we clici not sock colonial aid. In the Boer war we did, and we found it extremely useful. In our next war on a great scale it will he indispensable. As the colonial squadrons are organised we shall rely upon them more and more for the policing of the distant seas and the protection of the trade routes, and, perhaps, it serious inilitaiy operations arc required, ive shall look to the Oversea States to make.npt onr deficiency in trained men from their citizen armies. That is one side ot the matter. The athcr is that the moment we enter into hostilities we expose the Oversea States to loss and danger. An Empire cannot make war on a limited liability system. The enemy will not respect the coasts or the commerce of the Dominions, and if be finds it easier to attack them than to injure ns at a vulnerable point ho will not hesitate to do so. We are all agreed on promoting closer association with the colonies for Imperial Defence. But military and foreign- policy cannot be considered apart: they are the two aspects of the same subject. Diplomacy . and war cannot be kept separate, and those who may lie exposed to the risks of the one process should have some control over the other. That, we believe, is the feeling in the Dominions' at present. They object to leaving interests that may bo vital to themselves at the sole direction of “Downing Street.” For Downing Street, after all, means an English Ministry actuated and inspired by a party majority in an English Legislature which labours under an irresistible temptation to consult the interests and defer to (ho sentiments of the English constituencies. And if in the issue of peace and war and the treaty-mak-ing power the King’s subjects overseas are to have no voice, there is always the possibility of a sudden strain which might lead to the disintegration of the Empire. The. peril is grave enough to demand the most serious attention, and it will lie little loss than a calamity if the opportunity of dealing with it is not grasped and utilised at the Conference.”