The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1910. HOME RULE IN THE EMPIRE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 891, 10 August 1910, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1910. HOME RULE IN THE EMPIRE.

It is difficult to guess, and, of course, impossible to know, the strength of the foundation for tho rumour that the "Veto" Conference is discussing, as a means ~of settling the Constitutional difficulty in Great Britain, the establishment of ."Home Eule all round." Hardly less difficult is it to see how, from either the Liberal■ or the Unionist point of view, "Homo Rule all round" can be a satisfactory compromise upon the issues that tho "Westminster Eight" carried to the Conference table. It is almost as if last year's conference between the liquor trade and the Alliance had resolved to settle their dispute by combining to support the granting of the freehold to all Crown tenants. The question at. issue is, or at any rate was, what extent of legislative freedom should be permitted to the House of Lords. . So far as principles are concerned that question is just where it was when the Budget was rejected last year, and just as far as ever beyond the reach of a compromise that would satisfy the various parties in the House of Commons. But there is no occasion to go into that dreary question again just now. The rumour that "Home Rule all round" may be one result of the' Conference has a more reasonable appearance than any rumour that it will be the only, or the main result. Whether it is a reasonable inference from Mr. Birkell's advocacy of Devolution in his speech at the Eighty Club is, however, as we have said, a'very difficult question. It is true that the Spectator and the Observer, which are weekly papers, have so interpreted the 'Minister's speech, but _ we have not been given any indication that the dailies have _ seen any gravo meaning behind his words! : So far as the overseas Dominions are concerned, the granting of Home Rule to Ireland and Scotland cannot bo of any' great consequence. Nor, to the colonial eye, would such a change in the government of Britain involve any, change in the existing conceptions of Empire, although it might hasten in some direction's those developments in Imperial relations which everyone knows are inevitable, but. which most, of us know also should be. allowed to take place naturally and without any artificial stimulus. The effect upon the domestic .politics .in Britain would of course be enormous. The strongest argument against the establishment of Scottish and Irish Parliaments, as it appears at this end of the world, is the natural unity gf the British Isles. ' If the Irish Channel is wide enough to separate, it is' also narrow enough to be merely a localstrip of water: if may bo a natural frontier, but it is equally a natural bridge. The granting of Home Rule to Ireland would undoubtedly make impossible tho refusal of Home Rule to Scotland, or even to Wales; but by the same reasoning it follows that tho case for Irish Home Rule is no stronger than tho case for Welsh Home Rule. There has for some years been growing a volume of evidence that is claimed to indicate a weakening of the old official Unionist hostility to Home Rule. Good writer* on the subject have, indeed, inclined lately to the opinion that the sober Nationalists have more to hope from the British Unionists . than from , the Radicals.- British opinion, however, is still opposed to the granting of Home Rule to Ireland, and no compromise based upon that policy can be accepted by either the Government or the Opposition without the risk of disaster.

. The broader question of Imperial "federation" is too difficult to dogmatise upon. Until->we have much more light than any of the thousands of theorists have yet provided for us, the. safest attitude for the selfgoverning colonies is the Spectator's. The average thinking man's faith in the Empire, as an Empire founded on something that the politicians cannot reach, no matter what they do, is too firm to admit that "ruin" ■ will follow "a dissolution of the Union and. the restoration of a heptarchy, plus a premature federation," but that such, a violent mixture would lead to serious difficulties' cind dangers is beyond dispute. The Spectator may rest assured that if the.feeling in Canada , , Australia, and South Africa is the same' as the fooling in New Zealand, there will never Tie any bullying in thename of Imperial Federation. ' At times, during tho fiscal controversy, colonial statesmen have been tempted to let a note of command creep into their speeches upon the_ colonial attitude towards preferential trade with Britain, but there has always rolled up in response a yavc oi stern protest from the colonial peoples' through their press.. The desire of the overseas Empire to let Britain command her own destiny is very real and deep, and it has its foundation in a sentiment which even the specious attractions of an Imperial Federation will fail to seduce. Nothing, of course, will stop the ambitious colonial politician or the restless publicist from meddling with the Imperial organism, but we hope, and almost believe, that the day will come when it will be the mark, not only of patriotism, but also of wisdom, to rebuke the importunities of the imperial quacks;