WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1917. THE IMPERIAL WAR CABINET

Thames Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 18384, 4 July 1917, Page 2

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1917. THE IMPERIAL WAR CABINET

A reJeait isaie of the London Times coanmeius' upon'the fact that an Imperial 'VV aa* t/a-biuet' had taken its place side by side with the Cabinet of the ■Bv.t..4>h Isks. The new grow in, it says, has been almost.; imperceptdbue,. na so many British constitutional developments have been. Wifh.n a few months the whole control of the war policy of the Empire has been changed. Even. now it .:s d.fficult to realise that so immense a forward step has been taken. There is really nothing! riiystevious or strange a.bout \ it. The ! time was i-ipe for the change and it was made, though it required the his'.ght and quick determination of i Mr. Lloydl •Gteoitig.e mid his colleagues in the new Government to bring it about. The process of constitutioiul 'dwelopuient is not in the feast lkely ■to stopl at: the precise -point which it has reached at the moment. s It is, of course, possible that the future may allow the expedient of a.n Imperial.Executive to be sufficient for the timer being to the-needs of the Empire. Sir Robert Borden hinted tHia.t- this miirht be so, but' it was no more than a, hint, and he would probably be tlhe last to say that he w:shed to be bound by ■ it. Both lie and General Smuts, very naturally and' properly, used the language of caution in the references to possible further developments of the Imperial system. The truth is, as General Smuts, indeed, expressly mid, that no filial form is likely to be found! for it. Nevertheless, it is inevitably much, in men's minds, both here and in the Dominions. It, is quite true to say, that an increasing! literature is begirniinc to gather around it. The more the better, few the more the future Government, of the Empire is studied the more apparent it is that the existing system is inadequate, ainl that security and, good Govern me'it in the future depend oai the ability of the peoples of the Empire to adapt the system to their apparent needs. There need, of course, be no fear that the present Conference of Imperial and- Dominion statesmen will be in the least inclined to take a premature decision on a matter of this kind. They recognise that change js inevitable. But they reco-aiiise too that it cannot, be made while the wa*r continues, that it cannot be forced, andl that, when it comes, it. must! be built up rm broader frunirla-tions tWin have been laid ■at present. For all that, there is no reason why tiiw should not br> fhinkinrr out the broad outlines of nn Imperial Convention to meet when flip. Empire is a<rnin at T>en<ve. To> such a Convention, including me

chosen men of all parties, tlie British peoples most inevitably come sooner or later.