The Dominion. MONDAY, PEBRUARY 16, 1914. AUTONOMY AND UNITY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1985, 16 February 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, PEBRUARY 16, 1914. AUTONOMY AND UNITY.

The statement made in the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for the Colonies {Mr. Lewis Harcourt) in regard to the recent crisis in South Africa is a most able and impressive utterance. It may be said without exaggeration (that it is from certain points of view a historic speech, for it lays down a numbei of great principles which form part of that unwritten.law which governs the official relatiens between the Mother Country a.ad the Overseas Dominions. The importance of the speech does not consist,in the novelty • of the attitude whieh-'it discloses, but in its clear and masterly declaration of the position, anil the cogency of the reasoning by which the -policy of non-interference i§ supported. As a matter of fact, there is very little that is absolutely new in Mb. Harcourt's pronouncement) but tho ccca*sion which made it necessary and the striking manner in which he described the nature of the bonds that bind the Empire combine to make it a valuable and convenient statement for future reference and for ciuotiition when questions of. a similar character arise in days to come. The great .problem of Empire is the reconciliation of t.ho_ ideal of Imperial unity in an effective form with the freedom of the self-governing ocm.;niunities of which the- Britannic alliance is composed. "Autonomy," said Mr. Harcourt, "cannot be divorced, from Imperial unity, and carries W immunity from public-criticism, but it-is entitled to the largest amount of relief from official interference and Parliamentary caisura." ■ Nothing can be more certain than that ex ternal interference with the purely .domestic affairs of the Dominions would lead to serious trouble,.and if the proposal of Mb, Ramsay Mag* Donald, that the British Government should instruct the Governor-General of South Africa (Lord Gladstone) to reserve assent to theJEndemftity Bill until a judicial inquiry had been, instituted, wore given effect to a pre< cedont would be created which would be strongly resented by all the Overseas Dominions. They all have tbeif own Parliaments, responsible to their own people, and any attempt by the British Government to override the jurisdiction of these independent Legislatures would not be tolerated, and, as Mr, Harcouh* remarked, such meddling would be the "worst cflment" that could he applied to the distant democracies. Mr. Ramsay MacDonai.d was. well aware of the weakness of his position from the democratic point of view. Only a few days aRO he admitted that it is not easy for members of the British House of Commons to •intervene', for South Africa h a self-governing colony, and "any interference from Downing St:><<t would ifti.mcdia.tcly b , ! resented, even by the victims of the tyranny." He contends, however, that the action of Lonio Gladstone in consenting to martial Jaw should be called in,question: but lln. rtAltCOURt's riply on.this noini is complete arid convincing- ,He points out that, if Lonn Gi.AhStojSE had to follow the advice o! his Ministers they would haw resigned, "leaving him a. solitary figure facing . the tumult he would be unabje to 'cojiciliatf! of quell," Mr. MacDosald > and his friends would be the fkst to

[ raise indignant protests if the King's ! representative in any of the Dominions should make use of his position i for the purpose of blocking some advanced measure of social reform which happened to meet with the approval of the Labour Party. When once external interference with tho purely internal affairs of any of tho self-governing British communities is permitted a precedent is set up, the use of which canuot always be controlled to suit the whims of any pa. - ticuiar political .party. Mr." McDonald's motion was foredoomed to failure, for it viola-ted tho fundamental ideals of dfimocracyj and also conflicted with that recognised prin-. diple of autonomy upon which the great structure of Imperial unity of the British type has been erected. It is not surprising that tho House ot Commons gave very iittlq support to the suggestion that the Government should endeavour to stop the passing of the Indemnity Bill until after a judicial inquiry had been held. Tho motion was defeated by 214 vfltos to. 60, and it is stated that Me. MarcpujCT's explanation of the Govern jiient's attitude was so satisfactory that the front Opposition bench did not think it necessary to take part in the debate. . /

The British Empire is to all in* tents and purposes an alliance of self-governing democracies under one Sovereign, AIJ are united as against the outside world, and they are seelp ijig for a workable system of cooper' atJon in dealing with matters of cofnrnon interest j but each claims tho right to rule its own household in ita owij way. pach Dominion must be aljpwed to work out .its own salvation, and at the same time to assist in shaping the destiny of the whole Umpire, The D<i»injons must trnst one another. In times Of unsettleroc-nt the authorities on thVspot are in a better position to jivdge 35 to the best way of dealing with the'situfetion than officials in.some other country, perhaps thousands, of ntil.es nway. and nagging criticism and ignorant, meddling from outside are not likely to do any gynfl, and aye sure to cause much unnecessary irritation and resentment. The policy of the life perial Government in modern times has teett to cqntp the British over- . communities with democratic institutions, And then to plac£ upoti them the, responsibility of themselves, This, m.eth-od has brought into existence a- -group, of self-reliant progressive young na-tiojis, gladly a.cknowiedging their allegiance-to the British Kino, and bound to the Motherland by bonds of race, scfltiment, and community of interest. Only a few years ago South Africa was engaged in fl, desperate struggle with Britain;but after the Boers had been, beaten they were freely trusted with full powers of self'-goyerh-ment anil it would- be mistake for the Imperial authorities to lrjterveq.tf, whefte'ver a, domestic Cfiibari-assroent iirosc Like New Zealenders, Australians, and Canadians., Biiton.s - and Boers in South Africa have their own contribution to make to the British ideal of nationhood. They have their own problems t«> solve, and will have to suffer for their own mistakes and profit by their own experiences, The responsibility has been laid upon them of shaping the future of the Union of South Africa. If they do their .work wcll.no ope can take the credit from them, and if they. fail, they will have no one to blamo but themselves. ■ '• .'"•'