IMPERIAL PROBLEMS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 201, 18 August 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

IMPERIAL PROBLEMS.

THE LESSONS OF THE WAR. IMPORTANCE OF CONSERVING EMPIRE RESOURCES. The British people have a goodly heritage; but are they making the best use of it? The war has shown that in many ways we have been lacking in a zealous stewardship of our heritage, and that point of view is argued with much knowledge and ability by Sir Leo :hiozza Money, M.P., in the "British Dominions: Year Book." ~ . . . , Amongst the many striking object lessons which the great war has thrust before the .-.ttention of the British public, the neglect of ttnir Imperial resources takes a prominent place," says Sir Leo. "Those who have followed the war in detail have learned with amazement that important materials, the produce ot the British Empire, were wantonly alienated before the war, and so neglected by our governing powers as to be ne yond their reach when they wanted them to carry on hostilities. The eleven million square miles of British Empire form one-fifth of the wSrld'sTand surface. The^people, ot the British Empire according to tne careful estimate made by the Board of Trade, numbered 345 millionsi In 1891; 385 millions in 1901. and 41 f Sions in 1911. In 1915 the Imperial population was probably about 430 millions, or about one-fourth of the entire population of the world. A large part of the area, bu only a small proportion of the population, is sifted with complete self-government. The British self-governing Colonies Lveanarea of 7,446 000 square miles, and a population of aboul9. 000,000 people. Thus the British Imperial Government is still directly responsible for the control and development of 4 million square miles of area, and of 411 millions of peopleIt is a charge and a trust for which we are responsible, not only to out own posterity, but to the world at large. It is, after til, a small worla we live in and when one Government has in its' hands f.e destinies of so much territory, it ought not to neglect the development of so great a part of the world's resources. If British Imperial resources are to be fully and properly utilised for the benefit of our teeming peoples, we must. In the first place, seek to ga*i the faculty of dealing with large problems in* large way. In our little islands in the North Sea we have failed to keep pace with the growth of scale which has come to mark the world's economic operations. This failure has resulted from our insular position, and from the verv fact that our islands have necessarily presented a small "eld of endeavour. I do not know if this Is a sufficient excuse, but it is the best I can find. In many of the major industries, the British industrial establishment has fallen etatljrtr to that of Germany or America. This is true not only of trades in which we had no particular natural advantage, but ot trades such as the iron and ='<- " dustry where our geographical situation and magnificent power supplies gave us commanding advantage, it was this failure to grasp scale and proportion, which led, in the years before the war, to the neglect of armaments—a neglect which went perilously near disaster. Many people, even thoughtful people, did not realise for example, that Germany had in the early years of the twentieth century applied to the Navy a large-scale treatment which had become a commonplace in connection with many of her industries. The German Naval Laws of 1900-1912 set up a new standard of naval strength. Many British public men could not be induced to face the fact. They were as unaware that Germany was attempting to take the lead in naval matters as they were innocent of the fact that Germany had already left us far behind in iron and steel, engineering and electricity work, chemical, zinc, and many other things that might be named. It was incredible to many English ninds that it could really be possible for Germany tj build a better fleet than we had, for they had not conceived that the "big British Navy of not many years ago was not really big at all on the modern scale. So it came about that it was possible to see in the House of Commons, as I saw it, in the years before the war, a reluctant audience listening in coldness and distress to the speeches of a First Lord of the Admiralty, who realised the danger. 1 have said that the war has brought Its lessons, but I doubt whether one man in ten thousand in the country yet understands that before the war Germany had secured the control of ■the greater part of the world's metals apart from Iron and steel, and that In the iron and steel trade she had an output which was dwarfing ours by comparison, and steelworks with which we had none to compare, tl is a big measuring rod that we must apply to our Imperial affairs if we desire to do them justice. There muse be an end to pettifogging in a world which we had none to compare. It is on a world scale. When you are dealing with the development of eleven million square miles of territory it is useless to think in thousands, or in hundreds of thousands. The welfare of our posterity is at stake in the matter. Great as are the resources or' the Empire, we r.innot and must not allow them to lie despoiled and wasted. It Is the ease that in connection with many of the metals supremely useful to man, the best or the world's supplies has been already mined. The reason why Germany, possessing so much native Bine, stretched out her hand to secure the 7 inc of Australia, is that she desired to conserve her own metal resources. That is an object Va«on for the thoughtful Imperial citizen. We cannot afford to waste anything that the Empire produces, ami in especial it u* ne" essary to conserve its m.nera sand metals, for they cannot be replaced. 5 5 fl profound mistake to srppose l J :■ 4i ethe Imperial hentage is {Z, ~ ran with impunity he wan■r, exploited. The rise in prices P. h occurred before the war. in•i was In brge part due to the

fact that the world's demand for many essentia] materials had increased more rapidly than the world's supply. Mankind as a whole is answerable for the manner of use of the world as a whole, but we are responsible for one-fifth of the world. As far as the world at large is concerned, its proper common development is hindered by racial divisions of interest which make it difficult for concerted work to be done. Within the British Empire, however, we have the inestimable advantage of being able to' make common plans for mutual advantage. What it Is difficult for the world as a whole to do, ought not to be difficult for the British Empire to do. It is possible for us to bring under constant and continuous survey the entire resources of the Empire, and to organise every device and aid afforded us by science to produce wealth from the resources, with due regard to posterity. As to home industry, the United Kingdom badly needs the establishment of a welldowered and generously equipped Ministry of Commerce, charged with the active stimulation and development of British industry. Such a body could not allow the melancholy but true stories which I have related to remain true. The Minister at tne head of such a body would as much deserve impeachment, if he left Britain wtihout a zinc industry, OV without a dye industry, or without a proper chemical industry capable of supplying explosives, as though he were a Minister of War cought In the act of keeping the Navy short of shells. For the purposes of the war v> nave had set up a high explosives committee to save us from disaster, simply because before the war we had a chemical industry which was insignificant save in relation to the alkali branch. It was not necessary for Germany to do any such thing, because war found Germany in the possession of a giant chemical indu&try built up by scientific method and fed lavtshlv with cnpital by far-seeing men. 'i repeat that I cannot imagine a Minister of Commerce worth the name, content to see our country lack industries of essential importance. But if there is to be a proper balancing of economic forces, as letween the United Kingdom and the outlying parts of the Empire, then we must have either Imperial federation, or some Council of Empire in constant touch with an Imperial Development Commission. I picture such a Commission constantly surveying the field of enquiry, aided by the first scientists of the Empire, counselling where enterprise and capital should be directed, studying the supplies and materials and their economic rise, and seeking ever to make the most of our eleven million square miles of Empire in the interests or its hundreds of millions of inhabitants. I can conceive no greater honour for a man than to serve on such a body. I can see also in such an institution the ennobling of industry and commerce — the final realisation of the conception that the supply of the means of life to a great people is a task demanding the faithful services of cs best men," —"Pubic Opnon," Feb. 13th.