IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11670, 10 April 1916, Page 4

IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT.

POSITION OF SUBJECT RACES. Presiding- at ft lecture [by Philip H. Kerr on "Commonwealth, and Empire/' ; at King's.College -recently, Lord St Aldwyn : said, they all desired that in the Empire everything should tend m the direction, not only of .local autonomy, but-of one great scheme of Imperial Govemmont, maintenance and control, by uniting all the various races in-the Empire. ' Every part of the Empire bad contributed to' its defence and maintenance in war and that must have a far-reaching effect. This had Uappened.Lord' St Aldwyn declared, not because the United exercises a Prussian; domination over the rest ot the Empire, but because the Empire is based on the plan of doing to our neighbours as we wish them to do to us. Ihe Empire, he continued, was based on the desire to promote the well-being of mankind all over the -world. So far as the whit© races were concerned, great progress had been made in turning the Empire into a, Commonwealth. As'for the subject races, they must endeavour to bring them, by their local government, to Imperial responsibilities in future, as rapidly as it could be given them for the good of those concerned and with true regard to the maintenance of the Empire. The inutual sacrifice of all parts of the Empire had done an immense- deal to cement it together. The people of the United kingdom must be prepared to bring the representatives of the dominions into a joint control over then: foreign affairs with- themselves. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS. In his address ;Mr Ken 1 , who.is .editor of the " Round Table," said :—Extreme Imperialists or jingoes were represented exactly by the latter day Prussian, their notion of' government being dominion. .The glamor and the negation of the Imperialist creed were to be found in Nietzsche, who, hod he. preached with all his spirit and courage, not the will to. power, but the steadfast will to lore and truth, might have been one of the greatest of hutuau benefactors, instead of the inspiration of the greatest infamy ever- perpetuated by man. Regarding future developments in the Empiro, Mr Kerr said that the dominions would not be content with a 'constitutional'position -which gave them local autonomy.'• but left the issues of war and peace entirely in the hands | of a Foreign Minister- who entered office I as tho result of the domestio party scramble- of the British Isles. There could be no true union ot the selfgoverning nations of tho British Commonwealth unless the Rouse of Commons were ready to surrender its control of purely Imperial affairs to a new and representative Imperial body. It was also certain-that the peoples of the dependencies, and especially of India, would seek some formal definition of their status within the Commonwealth and some further advance toward selfgovernment.