The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. MONDAY, MAY 31, 1926. DOMINION STATUS.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16810, 31 May 1926, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. MONDAY, MAY 31, 1926. DOMINION STATUS.

Speaking recently at tho Stcllcnboscli University, General Ilcrtzog, Prime Minister of South Africa, dealt somewhat forcibly with the status of the Dominions in relation to the Empire, ile emphasised that the only lie holding the Empire was the Monarch, and declared that, although the international independence of the Dominions was recognised by the Versailles Treaty, "they have hesitated In put their new status to the practical test, owing to fear that the disruption of the Empire would follow." He further contended that, in order to obtain what he calls "full international independence," a declaration ol' the new status of the Dominions should be formally communicated by them to the outside world. That such sentiments should be expressed by the Prime Minister of a British counlry is somewhat startling. They certainly arc calculated to arouse suspicion us to whether the speaker really appreciates the advantages South Africa, in common with other portions of His

Majesty's Dominions overseas, enjoy by reason of their association with the Empire. They would have, much, to lose and little to gain by severing that connection. Unlike other colonising

nations, Britain puts no curb on her colonies and exacts no tribute from

them. They are left free to work out their own destiny in their own way. She offers them the protection of her world-encircling power, without demanding in return that the Dominions offer a single soldier or contribute a single shilling to the common defence. She gratefully acccpls any help they choose to give; hut, beyond that, she .stipulates for nothing. They may trade with her or lake their business elsewhere just as it suits them. It has hcen argued that the Locarno Pact opened up a new era for Hie British Empire, but it was 4 the gateway of a new peril, not of hope and it resls with the Dominions to say whether the 'Empire is to play I lie man and bang, bolt, and bar the gate, or whether it is to pass blindly and supinely through and follow the easy path to its inevitable end. Perhaps we understate the case when we speak of this downward march as blind. A temporary blindness may have overtaken some of the Dominions when their heads were swelled and their eyes dazzled by the glories of the new status that their representatives were supposed to have brought back for them from Versailles. But any suggestion that their faith in the Empire had been exchanged for unfaith would be repudiated with indignation. A little weariness, a little blindness, and a deal of eloquence were all doubtless inevitable after the war, but in view of that gross blot, from the Imperial standpoint,, upon one of the greatest of Britain's diplomatic achievements it is surely, time that wc all woke up, cleared the scales of self-complacency from our eyes, and looked the ugly fads j squarely in the face. The British Empire made no Treaty at Locarno. The Treaty was made by Britain alone, and so far as the Conference was able to do it, the Dominions were excluded from its obligations."

"The present Treaty," says Article IX., "shall impose no obligation upon any of the British Domnions, or upon India, unless the Government of such Dominion or of India, signifies its acceptance thereof." Sir Austen Chamberlain has, of course, been blamed for including in the Treaty a clause which is without precedent in the history of the Empire, but it cannot be contended that that clause would, without a definite declaration of independence on the part of each Dominion "alter in the least the fact, under international law, that they will legally be in a state of belligerency whenever the King, acting under the advice of his British Ministers, embarks upon a war as a result of obligations assumed under such a treaty." General llcrlzog apparently is prepared personally to cut the painter and declare for secession from the Empire, but if he and some of his colleagues do not value the Imperial connection it is evident that a large section of the people do, as was shown by the agitation aroused by the recent effort to eliminate the Union Jack. The Imperial Conference in October will, in view of such utterances as those of the Premier of South Africa and also reports from Canada, be intensely interesting, for the sooner it is ascertained which parts of the Empire arc definitely "on side" the belter it will be.