BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2884, 23 September 1916, Page 6

BOOKS OF THE DAY

n! THE:COMMONWEALTH OF :- ; : '_'-j. NATIONS... *'. I '' " :,' ' ; ~ '. ..' y •:.',-,'■ - Recently there was reviewed in these ■ . columns a book entitled! "Tho Problem■r: of the Cornmonwealtb,". in which Mr. ;.:'": .Lionel- Curtis, who a few weeks ago .'..' .visited the Dominion and delivered ;-; 'several interesting addresses on ques- >: ,tions of Imperial importance, gave a ;>;. icsumo or anticipation of the main- .:£:■. .points ; elaborated in a report which ..•had been drawn up dry the various \,' ''Bxmnd Table" groups. Those groups, '■'}'- in the ovorsea dominions and elsewhere, . .'. have long been, engaged in the study ;'•'.':•- ..of th Imperial relationship as it at prev : sent exists, and as it may exist after .".:. the war. As the result of their labv, ours theTo has now : been, published ,;. ■''■. (Maomillan and Co.) Part I of.a col;;>1 laborated report or summary, in which ,:i; the development of the Empire up to ;,;.., about the end of the eighteenth ccn-' !'/ -tury is dealt with most exhaustively. :v : . --The full title of the "Tlie ,:';•■ Commonwealth of Nations, an inquiry f ;: into the iiatutc of citizenship in the y'J- British Empire and as to tile .-mutual ;'.',. relations of the several communities --'- thereof. Part I. Edited by L. Curtis." ;:'■■ It is safe to say, that if the second, .section of the work undertaken by the •-; ' "Round Table" staff is as efficiently ..':' done asis this initial instalment thoro :'X-.w/lI bo gathered, togotber a corpus of ■;•'' carefully compiled and scientifically ar« ;'!•: ranged information oh the subject of '-.imperial government and the political :' : delations between the various off-sboota ; t ': of the Empire and the/patent body sucli ' ? us cannot be found anywhere else in the ; .-English" tongue. . Mr. Keith's well- ■>• ..known work on "Responsible Govern- : .':' ment in the British Dominions" is ox- 1 ,';■•'celleiit..so far as" it goes,./but tbe ."■; '"Round Table" collaborators have gone '.'-'.• far outside Jhe scope'of Mr. .Keith's '" .work and supplemented it most use/;■'M\y. '.'..■.:■ ( ' '".'.,. Tbe w.ork. is one which would easily ■ material for a good'balf-dozeil ''■■; .critical essays, but spaco limits pre---':ven.t more than a.Tesnme of; its lead- ;: bg characteristics. Tho' "General Li- ■'■ " traduction," laying down as it doestha , ,-.! difference between an autocratic gov-> ' 'crruneht and one in which the common;, wealth principle is the dominant fac- ..; tor," is very, ably written.... The theo. ',' /cratfc standpoint from wbieh- tbe Orien. .''-.tal'regards the. principles/ of govern. '■*>".' jnerrt. is quite opposed to that from :•/,.'which .Europeans regard, its '-"duties and its powers. This is ox./plained by the editor,(Mr; Curtis) as •/• >~ ; /'•' ''Tho.Oriental," says Mr. Curtis, "re. '■''• Rarding: the framework of society as di- ,■: .vinely ordained, has treated ; man as :>/.'though he were : mado for the law;- the .'.:':■.. European has treated the law as though -it.were made v for man, as ''■ a, framework ■which must not be allowed to cramp so oial methods and habits, but which ~i-.Hrast,'. when necessary, be modified to : miiti and ind,eed to foster, ohange. The ,v;-fdea"that the law. is., human and subject ""■■ Jo-alteration has necessarily, led to a con- ■ ception'that "-the changes'must be effect ed in accordance with the experience of-.-.the .'people.it/affep.ts, determined so fat -.- "as possible by themselves, aid "ultimately in accordan'ce-with their wiU. But the - ; essence .'of a law is that it is a' rule 'controlling jthe'eohdnct of a number of people,, and it "obviously cannot be modi- ■ fied to suit the interest, or in response to the. will, of each separate individual. i.The European conception of government, :'therefore,. assumes the possibility of a /public opinion whioh is as much en- -< titled to provail over individual wills ' f,85 the edict of an autocrat to command '■■.;*• r .the unhesitating obedience of his sub:;P iects. But, to command obedience, pubV ! /:"'-. lio opinion must bo capable of formula-■ ,; tion in terms as precise as those of an The further assumption is thore^ ".'V".:lfore involved that a certain-number of / • titizens are capable of formulating phb- : J/'.lic opinion in the light of experience. To */;'do this they must have some inteUeotual ; ' capacity for judging- the public inter--.."..e5t, and, what-.is.no less important, ",V. some moral;.capacity for treating it as. r;;pararaount',to their own. It follows that -."jail citizenswho have tho necessary quali- ,"/'. fioatiohß might, in the interests 'of the :/ ; whole/community,, to. be .admitted'to a ..•/'share in the work of formulating public -..■--/°P id k , %. .S-'he principle is one whioh ./..'travels.'in the direction of democracy as .ft:. naturally/as tho tbeooratic- prinoiple towards despotism. This "briefly -~-->/is the principlo .of the commonwealth, ;-.:':and its fundamental notion is, that so/'sicioty is at its'best when able and free t ; ~to adapt iis own structureNto conditions '../■as they change, in accordance with its //own experience of those conditions, Free- ...;■/ dpm is the power of society to control /circumstances, and that is why freedom and the institution of the commonwealth ' /•«* l"""™. inseparably, and together con .;'. etitate the distinctive ideal of Western ...;. civilisation. Blazing forth in the mornr:.ing of history with a, startling but trans- ■■:- story brilliance,-the principle of the com.monwealth has with many vicissitudes .//gradually prevailed, over that of theo- •■■ cracy in Europe, and already shows pro- '~< S of ef to^S, tho contest to Asia ■ ) u P' 6 s tr «gß' e of Principles, each it superseded, is -■; in truth the ultimate theme of history." ■<■-: After an explanation of the plan _;:upon which the "Round Table" inquiry •:■:■ .v/as condueted, wo oome to the report ''; O ,or w' : P le ' ti ' iles °f" th o chapters-' ;.•.■. Ihe Earlier Relations of East • and ":;iyvestj "TJig English Commonwealth," .-.-. The Opening of the Seas," "The Com- . :mercial System" (tbe inter-comraercia] ,: relations of the Mother Country and itbo colonies receiving special attention), ', The Inclusion of Scotland in the Brit ..',. ish Commonwealth," "The 'Amerioan _ / Colonies", (a partioiilarly fine and ex- .- Ihaustive historical study), "Ireland Sand the British Commonwealth," "The lAmorican Commonwealth and the Schism of the Commonwealth in its (After Effeot3," afford some idea of the .. general scope of tho inquiry. Speoially ;;'. interesting to us New Zealanders, and, ■'.-...'.indeed, to all who dwell in the oversea ,-:■ pominions, is the final chapter, with ---its -insistence upon the importance of ■:■/■ extending responsibility for peace and \ war to the Dominions. Those who have /read Mr. (Jurtis's work, "The Prob- ; lem of the Commonwealth;" will now be "able to seo upon what foundation / 'of statistical anil other information the' ■''■;;'-author based tho. arguments and con- \ /tentions sot forth in bis work. Apart : from the interest attaching to tfi6 spec/ .'■•■" ial plan or spbome of Imperial co-rc-,;.".'lationship advocated by the "Round . SPable" writers, tho now work wilt be found of great value to students of historical, political, and sociological questions. A number of maps and diagrams are givon, and groatly enhance the interest and utility of the text. Recent additions to' Nelson's useful little French series are Edward Rod's / "L'Ombre s'etend sur la Moutagno" (first published in 1907) and a military "'story, "Hien lo Maboul," b«i Emilo ■;« aNolly. (C*p%iiis/-Dei.anger)'. --:To;T-Nis.^ BShet's capitai§little-,. ! sones, iJ'Wjifcers of Igthe Day,"?to -which Illiave/frequoiitly .l.tmade allusion 'in thoso coliumis; has .-. s: 'been added'a.Useful little biography ■ ■■;-' and appreciation of the late Honry James. James, like Meredith, may ' no;' 'caviare ?to • the m illion, " but • cer- . 'fedn iof his etories well deserve to live.