COMMON ACTION

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 59, 7 September 1926, Page 31

COMMON ACTION

IN CONCRETE PROBLEMS

HOW UNITY MAY BE ATTAINED.

I believe that the Imperial Economic and the Imperial Shipping Committees are the nucleus of what is possible in the British Empire—common action by tho respective Governments, based on a common inquiry, the result of which is that they all attain the same view of the facts. This is the considered view of Sir Halford J. Maekinder, chairman of the Imperial Economic and Imperial Shipping Committees, as given in a recent interview in the "Empire Mail." Sir Halford added that the view of facts attained would include, the different aspects as they appeared to the various peoples of the Empire, one of the essentials being that in any given problem Great Britain should understand Dominion points of view and the Dominions understand the viewpoint of Britain. Those different aspects were of the balanced truth. The Mother Country and the -selfgoverning Dominions were virtually independent, and there could not now, or in the near future, be an Imperial Government in the true sense of "government," which implied the exercise of power. Among equals there could only be co-operation.

must not, in any degree, become involved in the responsibility of a Government to a Parliament in any one part of the Empire, even thought that be the Home Country. In the words of the resolution adopted at the last Imperial Conference, the two Committees derive their 'authority from, and report to, all the Governments represented at the Conference.' They investigate and they tender advice, but any intervention in relation to executive action in any one jurisdiction of the Empire would at once involve an infraction of what I regard as the fundamental condition of the healthy operation of these Imperial bodies. "It is possible that this constitutional aspect of the question is not everywhere appreciated. Sometimes I have seen criticisms of the fact that a second committee has to be set up to carry out the policy suggested by the first. Let us be quite clear: the Imperial Economic Committee is not the servant of the British Government; tho I Empire Marketing Board is. As long as we maintain, that distinction, clearly, I cannot conceive any objection to the work of the Imperial Committees, even from those who take the strongest view of the practically independent status of the self-governing portions of the Empire. "But—as was said by the present Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs at a dinner on the occasion of the eightieth meeting of the Imperial Shipping Committee—the committee, while a purely advisory body, has acquired great practical authority. Both of these committees must win their way to practical authority ..within the Empire in exactly the same way that a scrupulously constitutional monarch, while nominally impotent in th« management of the State, may as a fact,

exercise very great influence in national affairs. "One last point I would make, and that is in .regard to the necessity for patience. A vast and far-flung organism such as is the British Empire can only move slowly, either in action or thought, exactly as a big man in usually slower in his movement than a man of small stature. We know, too, that a certain amount of time is necessary | before a coherent democracy such as, nay, the people of England, can come to a wise decision. I trust the decision of our people, if you give time enough for information to penetrate and for judgment to ripen; butj if time is necessary in the r.ase of a single nation, how much more necessary is it for a group of nations, each situated differently in regard to geographical and economical circumstances ? "Nor must it be forgotten that we have somehow or other to evolve a British Imperial system which will permit of very considerable divergences, even as regards foreign policy—Canada, Australia, South Africa, ai compared with the Mother Country in Europe, are each placed in a different world as regards their immediate environment. Time, to be measured often not merely in months but is years, is necessary before all the local and minor considerations fall away and the few great fundamental principle! having a common bearing on the whole Empire stand out clearly in the minds of all thp Empire people*. Telegrams are sent by individual journalists from remote places, giving impressions of th» moment, and they are read by millions on the other side of the world. They must not be read as having greater sigrnifioance than should attach to them, and in any case should be- read with a large background of sympathy and understanding."

ADEQUATE ECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS.

"If this British League of Nations is to hold its own in the world—and that it should do so is, I think, of fundamental importance for all humanity—it must be based on adequate economic foundations," Sir Halford declared. There must be no confusion of thought on this subject. The British Empire is not an all-powerful organisation in the world. Standing by itself, the island of Great Britain would be a small item in the world balance of power. But the whole British Empire can be th» equal of the United States; of Gormany, as Germany will inevitably be in the course of a few years; or of a Bussia, as she may be (as regards power, at any rate) in a generation; or, let us say, of a league of Latin races, European and South American. These are the kind of nnits that, in the course of a generation or even sooner, may form the balance of world power. "If," he added thoughtfully, "the British Empire and the United States remain friends, and, without formal alliance, acquire the habit of co-opera-tion, they may together undoubtedly become the most powerful factor in the guidance of humanity. . . . '' Here, then, we have the two conditions which must govern any far-sight-ed British policy. On the one hand is the fact that the nations of the British Leagne are equal and independent; on the other hand, the fact that only when taken together and held together will they form an effective unit in the political system of the world." Leadership, but not over-rule, must come for a long time from Westminster.

THE SEARCH FOB TRUTH.

"In my belief, it is only in the twilight that our British nations will so far go astray as to lose touch with one another. It is for this reason that I feel it the highest privilege of my life to be associated with the great experiment which is represented by the Imperial Shipping and the Imperial Economic Committees. They are not instruments of government but of inquiry; or, to take the old expression of the law, they are Imperial 'inquests.' Inquiries are conducted before juries drawn from all parts of the Empire. The verdicts of the jury in this instance are necessarily complicated. They are called 'Reports.' They seek to express the truth, but the truth is many-sided, and often has separate Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South African, Indian, and British facets. The whole truth implies an appreciation of all those facets in their due proportions. What is wanted, therefore, is that the Governments and, if possible, the peoples of each part of the Empire shall understand not merely their own particular side of the truth, but the whole truth in relation to any common problem. The important thing is that such problems should be the subject of impartial inquiry before they become in any part of the Empire subjects of contention, arousing prejudice and party passion. "In my belifef, the future of the Empire can be regarded with confidence if we acquire the habit of submitting our problems to timely and statesmanlike inquiry. We hava the wntiment; we have the lead. These have been bequeathed by our forebears. It is for us to maintain the light. Decisions must be taken by tha Governments; to decide is an. act of authority and power. Thay may be taken either after discussion by cable or wireless, or after the face-to-face discussions of the Imperial Conferences, but in either event the ground must be prepared beforehand, andi at the least, opposing arguments scientifically marshalled for the decision of the Court.

DEVELOPING ECONOMIC STRENGTH.

"If, then, we follow such a method, seeking alwayß the greatest common measure of accord, I believe we can evolve a degree of economic strength for the Empire that will secure for us a race of Al people among the populations, of the world." "What, then, Sir Halford, must be the next stop?" "I deeply disbelieve in academic generalisations, whether they take the form of Free Trade or Protection. The concrete fact of adequate prosperity in the economic sense is going to be built up by the life of the people under a vast number of detailed decisions, Tbo Imperial Shipping Committee, which has now been at work for nearly but. years, has succeeded mainly because it hits steadily refused to consider abstract questions but has dealt with each concrete problem as it was referred by this or that Government of the Empire. The whole body of reports issued by that committee may now, no doubt, be taken as giving in no small measure a general view of the problems involved in the sea communications of the Empire. But theory comes afterwards, and not at the outset, and in this case will certainly be left to professors and their classes if they think it worth their while to study the documents." •'And you think the Imperial Economic Committee can do equally valuable work?" ''The Imperial Economic Committee is, of course, still in the initial stage, tts potentialities are undoubtedly great, but oven more care than in the case of the Imperial Shipping Committee will be necessary to secure that it acts on strictly constitutional lines. It is for that reason that a separate body—the Empire Marketing Board—is to be set up beside it, to advise the British Government as to executive action in tho spending of the one million pounds a year which is to be devoted to the development of the marketing in the United Kingdom of Empire foodstuffs.

NO INTERVENTION IN EXECUTIVE ACTION.

"The Imperial Economic Committee