The Daily News TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1935. EMPIRE RELATIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 September 1935, Page 6

The Daily News

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1935. EMPIRE RELATIONS.

OFFICES: NEW PLYMOUrS. Corri* Stre«fc STRATFORD, Broadway. HA’wERA. High Street

To-morrow will see the most momentous gathering of the League of Nations since its establishment. Upon the' results obtained will depend not only whether peace will be preserved between Italy and Abyssinia, but whether civilisation can depend upon collective international action and public opinion as a fair arbiter in disputes which arise between the nations, or whether they will turn back to that of the sword. Opinions will differ as to the 1 methods most suitable for making articulate the desire for peace and how far compulsion upon an aggressive colleague is permissible without becoming warfare. It must not be forgotten that there was justification in Signor Mussolini’s reminder last week that the League is a gathering of colleagues, all engaged in the advancement of civilisation, rather thari a “super-State” with world-wide authority. And. for colleagues to evolve a plan of action at once fair and practicable necessitates as a first qualification that they shall be frank with each other. For that reason there seems to have been more excitement aroused in Australia than yas warranted over the instructions sent to the Commonwealth’s representative on the Council of the League. It is the boast of the Empire that the British Commonwealth of Nations is an association of free States, and in such an association it is certain that viewpoints will differ, and the common policy of the Empire may require modification because of those differences. Australia is perfectly justified in advising the Imperial Government of the views she holds in regard to the grave questions of war or peace which will come before the League this week, and what action is likely to be supported by the public opinion in the Commonwealth. The official

I statement makes it clear that the Australian Government has no intention of holding up any decisions approved by the rest of the Empire, but even if the Commonwealth decided it could not support those decisions it would still be well within its rights in doing so. It is quite true that the application by the League of “sanctions,” in regard to which was sent the message from Canberra that appears to have caused so much discussion, is at present only a contingency that may have to be faced. Everyone desirous of seeing peace preserved will hope that circumstances will not arise necessitating such action. But to assume the unlikelihood of such an occasion would be to ignore the trend of events* during the past few months. There does riot seem any danger of Australia or New Zealand insisting upon decisions as members of the League Council which are unendorsed by the rest of the Empire’s representatives on that Council, but that the Dominions have the right to do so has been admitted by the leaders of all the political parties in Great Britain and by the Privy Council, the highest “Court of Appeal” in the Empire. The corollary to the exercise of such right is, of course, that the Dominion concerned, must feel strong enough to accept the consequences of individual action, whether they are economic or militaristic, and the value of Empire cohesion becofhes apparent immediately the question of safety is considered. It is. a phase of British relationships that is certain to have been given full consideration by the Commonwealth Government, and it is equally certain that frankness will be preferred at Westminster to any doubtful support by a Dominion of any. policy Great Britain may urge upon the League of Nations.