The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. TUESDAY, JULY 26, 1927 ENVOYS OF EMPIRE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 106, 26 July 1927, Page 8

The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. TUESDAY, JULY 26, 1927 ENVOYS OF EMPIRE

THERE is now almost a tourist traffic in British envoys of Empire. Princes and statesmen, following in the pathway of a wise monarch, are going overseas fo acquire intimate knowledge of the King’s Dominions and the ways and aspirations of their peoples. It is a welcome sign of better times for Empire affairs. Incidentally, the fact that leading British administrators are able to leave the haunts of their activities and go roaming in far countries is appreciable proof that political and industrial turmoil has been composed at last, and that the nation is nearer to the ti’anquillity beloved of big and little Conservatives. Thus, Canada presently will be delighted to receive and honour the Prince of Wales, Prince George and the Prime Minister, the Rt. Ifon. Stanley Baldwin, as ambassadors of goodwill, while Australia and New Zealand, some time later, will hail in sincere friendship and pleasure a visit from the Secretary of State for the Dominions, Mr. Amery, whose main fault is his possession of more Christian names than the average man can remember. A shrewd American commentator, reviewing the great changes the World War wrought on the affairs of the British Commonwealth, recently observed that England is far from being the British Empire. Indeed, he even ventured as far as to say that England is much less of a factor in the British Empire than she was before the war, and that, with her coal and iron almost exhausted, her commerce diminished, her people partly impoverished and unemployed, she would soon go the way of Holland if it were not for the rest of the British Empire. That, of course, is an extreme view, for quite obviously, as even the Americans must learn in time, England is not yet in the slough of industrial or commercial decadence. There is truth in the observation, however, that England is now much more alert to the economic importance of the Dominions and Colonies and the great part they are destined to play in maintaining all that is best in British life and traditions. But by far the most satisfactory feature of the new outlook of British political leaders is their recognition of the fact that Empire unity needs something more practical and solid in sustenance than sentiment and the waving of flags on great occasions. There is among students of Empire politics much apprehension over the tendency in the various units of the Empire to be united in patriotism, but to move separately in respect of trade profits. Perhaps this phase of Empire development is exaggerated by pbservers, but in many things there certainly is a lack of unity. From a material point of view much is left to be desired. Out of Great Britain’s total imports of £768,000,000 last year, the British Possessions overseas supplied only £212,000,000 worth. In other words the Dominions take nearly half of Britain’s total exports, while Britain only imports less than one-third of her requirements from the Dominions. There is the field for the envoys of Empire to explore, rather than to waste time and words discussing the misty spectre of Canada or any other Dominion breaking loose from the Empire.