EMPIRE PLANS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3025, 12 March 1917, Page 6

EMPIRE PLANS

ORGANISATION AFTER THE WAR

TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

FEDERATION OR LAISSEZ FAIRE? INTERVIEW WITH SIR JAMES ALLEN Problems of Empire organisation were discussed by Sir James Allen (Act-ing-Prime Minister) in an interview which he gave to a Dominion reporter on Saturday. "There was some discussion of problems of Imperial organisation after war at the time of the visit of the representatives of the Dominion Parliaments to England in 1916," said Sir James. "A report of these discussions is published under the authority of the Empire Parliamentary Association, and it makes very interesting reading because it summarises the views of leaders in the two schools of thought which have developed. Briefly, it appears that there are the extremists on the one side who want to leave things as they are, and the extremists on tho other side, like Lionel Ourtis, who want to have an Imperial Parliament constituted of representatives from the Home countries and the various Dominions, to deal with all Imperial questions like peace and war and diplomacy, the control of the Navy and the Army, and such matters, and to allot to each constituent portion of the Empire its share of the burden by way of taxation, and to collect that taxation by force if necessary.

The Only Safe Course. "My own opinion is that some midway course will have to be found. I cannot conceive that the Dominions v/ill allow any representative . body, even if they had their own members on it, to impose taxation on them by force. 1 believe that the only safe step to take at tho present moment is to forman Empire Council, with repreßentatives_ from the Home Country and' the various dominions on it, and it must'not be too large a body to havo control of the Army and Navy, diplomacy ,_ and questions of peace and war. With respect to the financial , part of the problem, I think that this i Imperial Council ought of itself, or through the medium of experts appointed specially for tho purpose, to allocate, to the Homeland and to every Dominion its share of the necessary expenditure, and that tho Council should inform every part of tho Empire of its sham, and ask the Governments to provide the money in their own way. They would then be put in a position of having to decide to find the money or to make up their minds and say: 'We are prepared to break the Empire up.' My opinion is that if they are put in that position they will find the money rather than see a collapse of the Empire. They will fipd men or money, or ships of war. or men for'the ships. From my point of view, the contribution cnuld be made in any of these ways. As a matter of fact, we shall keep our Territorial scheme going in New Zealand, and I hope we j shall get our naval scheme goiue;, with our own men, trained by ourselves, as nart of our contribution to tho Imperial Fleet, just as our troops are part of the Imperial Army to-day. The Creat Obstacle. "Viscount Milner, with whom Mr. Curtis is in close touch, in an address which he gave to the representatives of the Empire Parliaments m 1916, makes the statement, that the. Empire must have at it? head an authority which onn d.--a: for it v;itb the rest of the world a-, ibe representative of all its self-go>'?>ju;'»!r peoples. And th.cn he goes on to say: 'Such a Government cannot grow its?!v. but can onlv ho the result of a grest' and deliberate effort iof constitutional reconstruction.' He j realises the financial difficulty of Curl t-'Vs scheme, boc.r.:so he says:' 'Tho last jibing any Dominion Parlia- ! rr-'-nJ, _ woiild bo prepared to part | y:th _is the exclusive right of taxation.. Tjsere is no cliance whatever of tho pson&s of tho Dominions or of tho Tjnjtsd K.ijirdom making them-s»!v-cr. liable hr the large amount required, v.yi'os? the nppoitionment of the burden cnuld be determined at the outset on principles at onco clear and equitable. The apportionment is no doubt a question of the greatest delicacy, hut if it can once he agreed upon the back of the financial problem is broken, for the function of the Imperial Parliament, and. of members of the Tmnerial Parliament, will then bo confined to determining the amount required for Imperial purposes. With the methods of obtaining the moner it will have nothing to do. So that Viscount Bryco cannot go as far as Mr. Curtis is prepared to go. When he comes face to face with the issue us to whether the_ Imperial Parliament can bo armed with authority to obtain tlie. money duo to it fiom the several comiMiients of tho Empire, he says: 'I should be finite prepared, to tako tho risk of making no provision for such a contingency because I believe it win nevnr arise.' He cannot, contemplate forcing any Dominion to pay its quota. The Imperial Authority. "Viscount Milner is the man whose opinions are nearest to Mr. Ourtis's proposals. Others go to the other exIrenie. saying in effect, ! Do nothing,' 'Let things alone.' For mv part I am not much concerned whether tho authority is an Imperial Council or an Imperial Parliament, though I favour the former. T cannot conceivo that thp latter would be satisfactory. Viscount Bryco, on this question, says: 'It would he bettor to keeiv tho United Kingdom Parliament much as it is and to provide for the common needs of tho Empire—foreign policy and s, joint army and navy —Lv the creation of a new body to he called an Imperial Council.' In this I agree with him. T.ord Bryce's idea of the Imperial Council, however, seems to be rather of an advisory body than of a body With power to net. Pn that, Viseomit Bryce approaches somewhat to those who would lea-re Miivgs nhwe. Qu the oilier hand, the Earl of Selhourne, discussing Hip Imperii! Psrlininprrb scheme. d-'*n"i ;i - to '•r.'-hinkphle that that Parliament should he 'other i than Hie lineal n;:t,'. |ii>red:vas\v s-.'.ws.. j sor of tl'p present Tmnerial I'nrh's. ; ment.' Mr. Arthur .Stools Maitbnid ] does not approve o r the br.perisl An- I thority hnvir;~ ivm-rr te imivrse taxos. but savs.it would lie iiossible to aaree noon the enot-a *.-. be tributed by the various nnrts of the Empire to tb.'-'i'pntea! exelieoiier.

"Lord Islington raises rnipsotiorn about India.- Ho says that Vhnv'.ypr Ihe pronosnl for Tmnoriel consolidation made

botwoon the Mother rV.nn'.'rf :>-,;d the Dominions, it will in tin; end bo found to be incomplete, and >nadoeu?li-. for its purpose. i r Tivlia is not allowed to find a place i" it '

T|u! First Sti'p. "It would appear, thorrJore." siid Sir .Tames Allen, in conclusion, "that tlicre is more than a possibilitr of some definite and more or less satisfactory conclusion being como to 'ibout the Imperial organisation of the future, and prohnbly the most, Hrec'ivo st-> that ciiii bo taken towards [rotting. M»> idea, into uoiicrclo shape will he by

calling a conference in London of delegates from the Don.iuions as coon as this is practicable. I don't say that this conference or council which is to meet shortly will bo competent to deal with tho question, becauso Australia will not ho represented at it, and it would not bo possible to have a conforenco of this kind without full representation."