The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1900 THE GREAT MYSTERY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 524, 3 June 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1900 THE GREAT MYSTERY.

Amusement and astonishment in about equal quantities will represent tho public's feelings to-day when it reads the correspondence which has passed between the British Government- and the Dominions in relation to the impending Defence Conference. For weeks the Now Zealand Government and its friends have been sedulously fostering tho impression that, when it was made public, this correspondence would show itself to bo of such gravity as to irresistibly overpower the objections of those who have • been so rash and blind as to believe that the Empire was not on the Verge of, dissolution. what the Prime Minister's feelings must bo when ho finds that the very simple and commonplace correspondence has been published by the Australian Government we would not care to say. He is probably realising, if a guess is permitted, what tho emotions of Madame Humbert wero when tho famous safo, that was thought by everybody to contain millions of francs, was opened and shown to.be empty. The public at first will be more inclined to laugh than to grow angry at the exposure of the Government's stupendous bluff. Later it may show its resentment at tho trifling with its feelings in a matter of such concern. For tho reason's which we gave yesterday, most thinking people will have realised for some time past that there was absolutely nothing tangible behind the portentous hints of Sir Joseph-Ward and his colleagues. But it ia just as well that the-real truth has been made manifest, beyond argument or question, to the more impressionablo who have been so miserably deceived by the campaign of mystery that began with the famous confidential telegram to tho editors, We should like, by the way, to hoar, what that telegram contained.

The correspondence speaks for itself, but it will bear annotation. The outStanding feature calling for notice is the cntlro absence of any suggestion that there is any vital urgency in the matter, or.any necessity' for the Pmmr Minister's personal attendance. It is quite obvious from Mil. Asqjjitii's message of April 30' that tho Conference would not have been summoned SO promptly had it not been that the Canadian Government was then on the point of- dispatching delegates to confer'with the Homo authorities upon the resolution carried by tho Homto of Commons .011 March 20;' We print that resolution in another column, and with it a cable message of a recent date which makes it quite clear.that tho British Government was only anxious to avoid em-

barrassing a future general schcmo of Empire defcnco by entering into a special arrangement Avith Canada. The Canadian Government was ■ manifestly a little annoyed at first by this skilful interception of its intentions, ,b:it it gave .way. With all :tho,fact's bofo?c him, 1 as they are riow, no reasonable person can any longer doubt that it was not tho urgoncy of the naval-problem, but Canada's action, that forced upon tho British Government the necessity'of acting promptly. And the Prime Minister of this country has been encouraging the public to believe that it was the. dire peril of. the Empire, concerning which he had spccial information, that rendered urgent, not only the summoning of' tho Conference, but also the postponement of the Parliamentary business of this country! There might havo been some excuse for tho Prime Minister's action if he-had any information that savoured of gravity. But there is not a word in tho dispntbhes to lend him any excuse for permitting the public and mombe-rs of. Parliament to be so grossly misled. Indeed, Mr. AsWJTH'fI messago makes plain, amongst other things, tho fact that tho purposes; of the Conference did not . even necessitate the porsonal attendance of Sin Joseph Ward as Prime Minister. Let us sco what it was that Mr Asquith said:

' 'Tho objcct of tho'Conference will bo to discuss general questions of naval and military defence of tho Empire, with special retercnco to tho Canadian resolution, ailil to proposals from Australia and New Zealand, to which I have referred I assume that, as THE CONSULTATION- WII.I, HE GENEI'--ally • upon technical on quasi-technical NAVAL AND .MILITARY. MATTERS, that •' tllO other iinl CD 1 t t 6 Bolf *y°verliiiig dominions will elect to be represented, as m tho case of Canada, by their Minister for Defence, OR I'AIUNO THEM BY So3l£ OTHER MEMBER OF THE GOVliftN'MEh'T, AfISIBTED }JY AN FX* pert TO aiWise; but it is entirely for the Government of Australia to decide the precise torm of its representation. The ConFERENCE WILL BE OP A PC RELY CONSULTATIVE CHARACTER.

■ Here are several - points worth noting, I The Conference is to be "purely consultative." What becomes of the talk of urgoncy ? The British Government does not insist on Prime Ministers; anybody with knowledge of defcncc matters will do. Thero is ono very significant passage in one of the later diapatchos from Lord CitEWB. An attempt may be made—although the oxposure of the Government's want of candour makes this improbable now—to show that tho British Governmo&t Suggested or advisod or cordially approved the manipulation of our sessional arrangements. Sin Joseph Ward apparohtly angled for such a suggestion by expressing tho opinion "that it would bo a matter for rmioh regret if, through Hot being able to postpone tho meeting of tho new Parliament, New Zealand could not be represented." Lord Oeewe concurred in believing that the non-represon-tation of this 'country would be rcgrctable, but he was very careful to make it cleaV that tho reference to the postponement of the Parliamentary session came from tho New Zealand Government. There' haß been 'some later correspondence between our Government and the Homo authorities, but it is not disclosed. , \Vo wonder whether tho public will be asked to believe that it is in this correspondence that all tho startlingly urgent ihformation is concealed. Even if it did not know that its contents arc only the British Government's cordial and courteous l'espoiiso to Sir Joseph Ward's suggestion that he should attend tho Conference in person—even if .it did not know this, the public would bo unlikely to give ready credence to any further assurances that the situation really necessitates tho gon- , oral dislocation of bualncto '*-Kiit in (Jifcafc-

oncd. The public credulity has been overtaxed by the Government already. Even Madame Humbert could not haye worked the "safe tri6k" twice.