THE IMPERIAL ESTATE

Hokitika Guardian, 2 July 1929, Page 5

THE IMPERIAL ESTATE

A2& ENGLISHMAN’S SURVEY.

In “The New British Empire,” Dr Hit Jen Guest gives an interesting ae r count of his. experiences in Canada and Australia, with some reference to his visit to the other outlying dependencies,' such us South Africa,

ccyion and Palestine. Written , while \

J)r Guest was still a member of the Labour party, this book is a - strong, and often eloquent appeal for a p.ugressive and enlightened imnenaiism; and the sentiments that the author expresses are a sufficient expian-. A ation of the.fact that lie has since felt impelled to dissociate himself ■ from the Labour party and to seek d more congenial political allies. ‘ The V description of Qtjna.ua,. its cities and.;': its prairies, its. people and '"its re- . sources, is illuminating and inspiring •• and the ohhpter on Canadian Nation-. ‘ a I ism deserves the careful study of' all interested in the great Dominion’s . , future. It is sufficient to note hero )■ that in Dr Guests’s, opinion “while the British Empire ■ .retains anything . like its present status, power a’M p’restige, there seems no reason for ' thinking that Oanada* will desire to change her status either in the direc- £

tion of independence or .of fusion witli

the U.S.A,”

The section dealing with Australia ' includes an . account of an aeroplane .V \ trip over Western Australia, a sympa- * ,'. . thetic and admiring sketch of Caitr.y ■’.]• berra, and a most instructive; descrip- 1 A fion of the irrigation settlements" , along the Murray. Dr Guest finds Australia j “very British,” but he deals most sug-. f

gestively with the complex and fascinating problem of the development of a new and distinct national type in tlie Commonwealth, r As to immigration, lie holds that. Australia and the other { Dominions must co-operate with Blit- ‘v aih to ensure the sucoess of, this cUffi-fA cult and delicate exp£rimfent, and he . • foreshadows something in the nature of an Empire Development and .Migration

Commission, to handle the whole- vast ’■ question, on comprehensive lines. Tii his concluding chapter, Dr Gifest niaintains the thesis, now stoutly Upheld by If the . advocates of preferential fy-ade,

that Britain has • long been . losing ground to her iforeign. rivals in the;, carefully protected markets of the Old

World, and that she can best indem-j . nify herself for her losses and ensure her commercial . and industrial pros-

perity* for the future by establishing herself in those “ sheltered markets ” which the loyalty of the Dominions has

already opened for her beyond thb seas

Tlie conclusion 1 of the whole matter,.in Dr Guest’s opinion, is briefly that . the chief use of the Empire should be A to improve the conditions of living for ■>' f all men and women .of the British j?ace, - and he argues with great force f, “ effective co-operation with the DonAvifTf inions and effective .use'of the natural v' ;j; resources and , fnari-potyef .of the colo- ;Jc nieshwilU.place of the V:; Empire, on a d'flfeji4hti basis and at a much higher standard -of- life than gen- '. erally prevails.” - ' , • - i