The Dominion. TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1909. A WELCOME NOTE

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 540, 22 June 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1909. A WELCOME NOTE

;• We-have had sttch;a; surfeituof -imperialistic sentiment lately—mtiichCof it of. a thin and irinutritious'character—; that • any : break in '.';■ the ..chorus 'of highflown rhetoric.' is very ; greatly .to;bo welcomed. Particularly 'refreshing: was' the sober common-sense of the speech deiiy r ered at the Ship Canal banquet'by Mr. Ashtvobth, thq President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. According to the inadequate cable report of his speech which appeared yestorday; Me. AshWORTh;deprecated: the process, of ''heating the Imperial drum," and he wont on to observb that commercial circles in Manchester gave no countenance ' to the ''dire forebodings 'of a; riipturo between the; Motherland and her'dependencies." That is always a welcome note in the Imperial' chorus.. Leading Imperialists will of course, dissent from; any ; suggestion 'that their rhetorical energies . are inspired by "dire forebodings" of any sort whatsoever. But the tendenoy of our Imperialists has been to speak as if the Empire were sick.' ; ; The constant; professions of loyalty of which' wc have before: now expressed our weariness are quite without warrant unless those who make uso , of "them consider tljem to be. necessary. If they arc necessary, then the Empire' is indeed in a. bad way, and' badly in need of repair. A visitor from.another planet, observing the vehemence and volume. of Imperialistic eloquence, could hardly fail to'conclude that tho Imperialists were putting a brave face on a desporatc position—that they wcro affirming the solidarity of the Empiro out of their fear that the Empire was. in tho last stages of decay precedont to a final dissolution.! Tho multitude of prescript tions and solidarity specifics, and the zeal with which they aro urged, assist to create' a sick-room atmosphere. : The Empire is not on its death-bed. It was never stronger than it is at pro-

sent. A littlo silence, and a little quiet reflection—end even the most "jumpy" Imperialist will realise that the Empire is thoroughly sound. The cohesive forco ie one that legislation cannot supply, any more than legislation can supply sap to a tree. Tho Empire will endure against every reasonably possible combination of circumstances. Nothing stronger can bo said on this point than that it is sufficiently durable to injury from the attentions of even the clumsiest of its friends. Nothing short of a universal madness can rupture the bonds or shako the foundations that were, laid centuries ago. There is one danger, of course:, the liability of party, politicians in the Mother Copntry or her Dominions to invoke the name of Empire in their party quarrels. In Great Britain there are politicians and newspapers which have not scrupled to represent opposition to their views as opposition to the Imperial ideal and to the Imperialist cravings of the Dominions. In this country there are newspapers which have charged the Parliamentary opponents of the Government with "parochialism" of an anti-Imperial kind. ,The Empire can take damage from thdse reckless people, although the forces making for solidity must in the end overcome tho forces of disintegration. What has to bo guarded against just, now, and, what our Imperialists' energies should be directed towards preventing, is, not a slackening of effort, but a prematjire hastening of development. If the v cnthusiastis will only remember that'the 'Empire can'" well spare afj' least a part of their rhetoric, all;will"be well. That is why such reminders as; Me. Ashworth's are neces-sary-as well as agreeably refreshing.