EUROPE OR EMPIRE?

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5322, 7 February 1947, Page 4

EUROPE OR EMPIRE?

rrilERE is a school of thought in political England that sees i in Mr. Churchill's advocacy of a j United States of Europe a turn- ! ing from the support of the I British Commonwealth. This is j an attitude of negation, if not of j despair, and if the proposed - partners in the European con- 1 federatioh also read at as such, that defeatist spirit will spread. That it will react to the detriment of the Empire as a whole is also certain. Britain is fighting for life in a struggle that is , as real and urgent in its way as the war from which she has justemerged, .short of money and of ; the ordinary comfdrts of life which she herself could largely supply were it not for the clamant necessity of recovering her export trade. It would be folly of the first order to turn away from the concept of the Commonwealth of British Nations in favour of a political and economic eonfederation with Europe — which means France in the rnain. The proposed new alliance with France is to be welcomed, but Britain alone could not commit herself e'ntirely to the support of a European ally without guarantees, and what guarantees could any country offer ? Three hundred years ago, when the French were nearly always in the opposite camp to England, that nation comprised one-fifth of the total population of Europe. Now, it eonstitutes less than a twelfth. The rehabilitation of the country is proceeding but slowly and the political future is uncertain. There must be some concrete evidence that the weak vacillating spirit of 1916 and 1940 has been replaced by the flaming enthusiasm of 1791 ancl 1872. This is the only guarantee of security and of French ability to discharge the duties of a stabilising Power 011 an uneasy Continent that Britain could accept. But assuming that the phoenix rises from the'ashes of Vichy and all it represented, it is5 still not enough to persuade the Homeland to orient her policy to this concept. Russia is still an enigma, Sweden is 'self-sufficient, the Danes are disillusioned and disgruntled, the Duteh nation is in danger of being dismembered and Italy and Greece will long continue to be a liability to the protecting Powers; the United States in the one instance and Britain in the other. During the debate on the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act, passed in Wellington last session, the Prime Minister said that a committee of experts had been set up to deal with the question, "as the law of nationality is very intricate." Mr. Fraser . added that some understanding had been arrived at with other countries of the Commonwealth with regard to nationality granted in New ZeaIancl being acknowledged in ■ other British. countries. More lately, it has been retforted that talks are going on in London regarding some kind of common Empire citizenship. If some thing concrete comes of these discussions, it will offer a real basis of united action to create a complete and lasting community of interest. With that . established, the part that Britain could play not only in European but in world affairs would be much more significant. 1