COUNCIL OF EMPIRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 38

COUNCIL OF EMPIRE.

FIRST MEETING OF THE IMPERIAL DEFENCE COMMITTEE. (From Oub Own Cohresponbent.) LONDON, July 30. ! The first sitting of the conference of Ministers on the' naval and military defence of the Empire was held at the Foreign Office on Wednesday morning, the sittings being regarded as strictly private. ' It is understood that the Prime Minister welcomed the delegates and gave a brief outline of the proposals of the Imperial Government. Lord Crewe was present, as also Mr M'Kenna, Mr Haldane, General Sir Wili Ham Nichol&on, Lord Lucas, and several | other representatives of the War Office, j Sir Francis Hopwood (Under -secretary for i the Colonies), Sir William Arbucke, Mr j Just and Mr Robinson, (of the Colonial i Office, who were joint secretaries of the , last Colonial Conference), Sir Joseph Ward, ' Sir Frederick Borden (Minister of Militia and- Defence for Canada), Mr Brodeur (Minister of Marine and Fisheries for Canada), with the naval and military experts for Canada, Sir E. P. Morris ' (Premier of Newfoundland), Mr Merriman (Premier of Cape Colony), Mr J R. Moor (Premier of Natal),* assisted by Colonel Greene (Minister of Railways). Colonel Foxton (representing the Commonj wealth of Australia), with his naval and military expert assistants. The Transvaal and Orange River Colony were represented by General Smith. General Botha was prevented from being present through indisposition. The proceedings lasted an hour and a-quarter. BRITISH EMPIRE CLUB INAUGURATED. A banquet was given on Wednesday night at the Guildhall by the British Empire League and the British Science Guild to inaugurate the British Empire Club. j The Duke of Devonshire presided^ having ,on his immediate right and left Sir j Joseph Ward and Mr J. K. Merriman, j and the gathering was a large and disi tinguished one. j Mr Haldane proposed the toast of " The ' Imperial Defence Conference." i New Zealand's Prime Minister, who replied to the toast, said that in refer- [ euce to Imperial defence they would, he fell sure, agree with him that he could | jnost fittingly confine himself to the colonial aspect of the matter. As the • result of Tecent events the people of thisoountry were slowly but surely awakening , to the fact that the oversea dominions i were no longer the useless encumbrances they were^once supposed to be. Time was when they were helpless, but that time was past, and the day was dawning when it would be seen that they were ready and willing to .absist in their own defence. ! and, thereby, in the common defence of ! the Empire. — (Applause.) A prudent i prophet never prophesied until after the event. He (Su- Joseph) was neither a ! pr-oph-et nor th& son. of a. prophet^ Imt, peering into the future by the light of the past, he thought it not very difficult to forecast what might be expected if wise and prudent counsels prevailed in the relations between the different portions of the Empire. A hundred years was a short time in the life of a nation. It was nearly 60 years since the Crimean war, and many Crimean veterans were alive to-day. He asked them to consider, then, what would be possible a hundred years hence in the '■ development of the Empire. Taking I'anad.i, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, their total population to-day probably did not much exceed twelve to thirteen millions. In the ordinary course of events it would be over one hundred millions then. He asked those present to consider the effect, not only on the . strength of the Empire itself, but on t the peace of the world if those cqmmunities were then integral portions of that J Empire, thinking and acting with the t United Kingdom in the spirit they manifested to-day. Not only would the Eml pire itself be impregnable to attack, but, I with the co-operation of another great j sister nation, the peace of the world would j be kept, and an international disturbance in Europe would be very easily suppressed. — (Cheers.) Sir Joseph went on to say that he was not at liberty to discuss anything that had transpired at the Defence Conference that morning. Instructions had been given regarding the non-divulgence of I what was being discussed at the conferi ence in the interests of the Empire, and , rightly so. But he wished to emphasise the imperative necessity of the confer- ' ence arriving at a definite scheme, and j not passing resolutions that might be only left on record and not acted upon. — (" Hear, hear."l It was, he said, suicidal not to recognise that the evolution going on in other countries called for a marked forward movement on the part of the old Motherland, and co-operation with the dominions beyond the seas. The old policy, which had up to now been sufficient to meet the protective requirements of the Empire, was not now adequate, and he felt confident tluit British statesmen, in co-operation with those from the colonies, would at the conference evolve a scheme — necessarily it would have to b« of a flexible nature to meet the local circumstances, — one that would make for the strengthening of the navy, and consequently for the enhanced solidarity of the Empire. He said that the goal may be distant, but it existed, and could be reached. There were difficulties in the way, but with prudence, forbearance, wisdom, and moderation they were all surmountable, and surmounted he believed they would be. In the words of a great English writer, he would suy :

1 Oome the 'three corners of the world in arms, 1 And w« shall shock them. Xough. shall make us rue, If England to herself remain but true. SOUTH AFRICAN UNION. GfcneraJ Smuts, with whose name Mr j Haldane had also coupled the toast, had j a great reception when he rose to reply, and several minutes passed beforb the cheering company allowd him to speak. South Africaus, he said, had come to this great and important conference more in an attitude of business than in that of putting forward any constructive scheme. ! They had not yet succeeded in forming a united South Africa. No policy could be formulated at this stage, and they had only come to listen and acquirt wisdom at the heart of the Empire. Although that was so, they had in recent years gathered a certain amount of experibnee, not, indeed, in connection with the defence of the Empire — (laughter), — but which yet might become useful in connection with the defence of the Empire. — (" Hear, hear.") "We pray." he said, " that you may ever be spared the horrors of wars in these beautiful islands. I hope you may never acquire the knowledge of war as we have acquired it. But I hope that more and more the people of these islands will understand that they must learn to dtfend them* selves. Without becoming a military or aggressive Empire — God forbid that, — I hope that they may yet train themselves for thost contingencies which may arise in the years before their country." Proceeding, General Smuts deprecated the spirit of panic and aggression, and made, a humorous reference to balloons seen at night." Violent expression of fears sometimes gave rise to the, suggestion that the British Empire itself was forming some aggressive design against Empires with which it had traditionally been at peace. " There should be no reason," the General adda-d, "in a great and powerful Empire like this, for fearing any foe, or for any citizen using aggressive language against other nations. — (" Hear, hear.") The Defence Conference is a peace conference so far as we are concerned. I do not know of any intention on the part of that conference of hostility to any other part of the world. We havt come together to consult quietly and peacefully ; not for aggression and war, bnt for the peace of the world." — (Cheers.) SECOND MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE. The second sitting of the Conftrence on the Naval and Military Defence of the Emoire was held yesterday morning at the War Office, and it is understood that the/ questions discussed were largely • those dealing with military matters. The delegates sat until 1.30, and then adjourned until next Tuesday. -It is understood that the Government place memoranda on the subject of military defence before the delegates, and that the sittingwas almost bntirely taken up with a discussion upon the' general lines of the memoranda. Military defence in its broad line was practically the sole subject of conversation. Mr Haldane, as Secretary of State for War, took a considerable part in the discussion, but he delivered no formal address to the delegates. Tht general question having been dealt with, the conference decided to appoint committees of experts to go into the various details Of military defence.