The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1916. IMPERIAL RELATIONS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2726, 22 March 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1916. IMPERIAL RELATIONS

Though they giye free and sometimes powerful expression to i sentiment that is undoubtedly general throughout the Empire, current utterances by public men on'the subject of Imperial relation's, now and in tho future, are apt to leave an unsatis.'ecl • feeling in the minds of those who read or hear them. Obviously the way is open for some such amendment of the Imperial org'inisaticn as would* give tho Dominions a more effective voice in the great affairs or war' and foreign policy in which they have shown themselves capable of taking an active part. On tho one hand we have tho Imperial Government stating that it is ready to admit the. Dominions to a share in its decisions and policy as soon as they desire admission, and on the other hand the. Dominions have riiade it very plain that they do desire such a voice as is here promised them in the councils of the Empire. So far it is all plain sailing, but the problem at once arises: What course aro we to set now that these initial obstacles to progress have been so completely swept away 1 Eloquently as some of them have spoken,- most of the public men whojiavo lately addressed themselves to this subject leave their auditors facing this problem. All- are agreed that the Dominions must be given a moro definite voice in imperial affairs, but the problem of how best to realise this ideal in working practice remains unsolved, and,'at a direct view it seems almost insoluble. As the Manchester Guardian says:— One of the most difficult problems of the future will be the thinking out of an organ of government which, while leaving internal matters to the control of each part of the Empire, will bring foreign policy and defence under the guidance of «oiiic common council chosen by those responsible in all parts of the Empire; that internal autonomy must extend to the Mother Country as well as to the Dominions.

This is a succinct statement of opinions which seem now to find universal favour. At the same time it would be easy to take an exaggerated view of what is practicable and possible on the lines suggested. As matters are ordered, and are likely to be for a very long time to come, there is no way of setting up a governing body in London which would bear the same'relation to the people of the Empire as a Parliament bears to the people of a country enjoying representative government. It would hardly be necessary to make this point but for the fact that the term "Imperial Parliament" has been very freely used in past discussions on this subject—if not in the immediate past, at all events in the days before the wai'i In order. that practical results may be achieved it is very necessary that tho idea of an Imperial Parliament should be dismissed as chimerical so far as the future with which we have to do is concern-

With the narrower limits that i;e- j main there is a great deal to be done in the way of building up and strengthening the Imperial organisation, but it is much more to the purpose to recognise these limits than I to indulge in glittering generalities about the absolute necessity of giving the Dominions a definite voice in Imperial affairs. It is first of all impossible to give the Dominions a truly representative voice in Imperial policy and affairs because no means have .yet been devised of giving the people of Great Britain such a voice. British foreign policy is controlled, for .practical purposes, not by the Imperial Parliament, but by the Imperial Cabinet—a state of affairs not so much due, as some Radicals assert, to the existence of hard-dying institutions of an oligarchical type, as to the supreme difficulty of applying representative principles to the conduct and control of complex international affairs. If the problem had no more difticult aspect than that of securing full assent to democratic principles of representation, the solution would be s'imple. But obviously the difficulty [a not so muoh hof« cs in some efficient and p.racfcieal method of

bringing popular representation to boar upon the conduct of international affairs. Much that has been said in recent days about the need for greater openness and publicity in the conduct of international affairs is no doubt justified, but when all is said that can be said on this subject, the need remains for compact handling of these affairs by a body invested with executive powers. Except to a limited extent, such matters as the negotiation of treaties an.d defence organisation (as distinct from the determination of broad underlying principles) do not admit of popular handling. They arc often handled clumsily enough as matters stand. It is difficult, to see how they could be handled at all if they were thrown down to bo quarrelled over in the Parliamentary arena. Above all, while the world is atits present stage of progress, a nation must possess an executive entrusted with the duty of determining questions of peace or war. No one would pretend that the arrangement under • which the British Cabinet determines these a perfect, or even a particularly good questions and controls in its details the foreign policy of tho Empire, is arrangement, but, with tho proviso that it may be possible to confine secret diplomacy and negotiation within narrower limits, it seems to renresent the best method in sight of dealing with a problem which for the time being dofies more satisfactory solution. The opportunity now offered the Dominions of sending representatives to share even to -a limited extent in decisions relating to Imperial affairs is a step forward, but it is a very short and tentative step towards organic federation of tho Empire. Dominion Ministers in London, particularly if they .remain there for any length of'time, must of necessity bo even less under the control of the democracies. they represent than their colleagues of the. Imperial Government. At the present time, it is true, Ministers from' overseas ai'3 in a position to speak for- their Dominions in very clear and explicit terms upon questions connected with the war, but this docs not mean that the foundations are being ; laid for a smooth-working and effective system of representation after tho war. That .is a _ distant ideal, and so far as political factors are concerned it is not likely that it will be rapidly approached. Swell a conclusion will seem disheartening only to those who take an ; unduly narrow view of the Imperial ' relationship. That ». mechanically perfect Imperial Constitution is not at this time a practical possibility does not mean that organic federation of the Empire in the best and truest sense is'impossible. On the contrary,. it h a living reality and it bids fair to expand and develop, independent of the progress made in formulating an Imperial Constitution. It is natural that attention should be fixed for the time being upon the concession, of representation which will give the. Dominions a voice in determining terms of, peace when, the war has come to an end. But it is to be recognised that the strength of the Empire does not depend upon its political constitution, but upon the common interests as well as tho common sentiments by which tho people of the Mother Country and those of the Dominions are united. We are faced by political problems which will take a long time to solve, but there'is a wide and open field of practical endeavour in "cementing the trade and other relations which, tend to unify the people of the whole Empire, and 'if. this 'field is worked as it should be, the foundations of lasting'lmperial unity will be laid broad and firm and strong. There is no royal road to Imperial unity, and the presence of Dominion Ministers in London will be at best a rough-and-ready approximation to representation; but as their interests como to ho more and more identified by interchange in trade arid otherwise, the people of the Empire will be doing far more to strengthen and perfect Imperial unity than could be accomplished by any hard and fast political device. The root foundation .of the Empire's strength is the ability and natural inclination of its units to act in concert as they are doing in thisUvar. Therefore, tho-task of the Imperialist to-day is not' only to wrestle with intractable political problems, though these, of course, deserve attention, but to concentrate whole-heartedly upon the factors of inter-Imperial trade and other everyday relations which 'aro no less potent as a binding force than the sentiment of race. '