The Daily News THURSDAY, APRIL 25. A HOPEFUL SIGN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 25 April 1907, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, APRIL 25. A HOPEFUL SIGN.

i.\ is a hopeful sign for the ultimate ' usefulne-a of the luperiul Conference now being held in London, when it is Men that Colonial Siate-mien are in nowise awed by tlie might and dignity of their Imperial confreres, the --tatcmen of Britain. It is s 'en .by a careful perusal of {he cabled precis thai cohmial premiers have emphasised their right vo tread isi the dusl. Lhc tattered shreds uf .Homeland eon.-orvat ism. That momiment of ponderous respectability, the Colonial OHice. represents to the minds of colonials the .Very thesis of conservatism, and the proposition of Mr. Deakin (who, by the way, has'as--eried his independence a* he never did in Australia) that the self-governing rulonhs, tin- "xi-t'r nation*"' of Ihiiain. should be r\\{ adrift iiom ihe Colonial ollice is one thai is revolutionary in its potential S'ope. On i\ larger scale, the Colonial ollice {r its ([.'alines '.villi Cue colonies is very much like a Xew Zealand Covcrnment Department iu iis dealings with the people. The Colonial cilice regards Xew Zealand iti the same light- as the Advance.', to Sellers ollice regards William Brown or Ceorgc JSiuitli or any other individual.

Xew Zealand is merely "work" Id Colonial olliee. just ,-s William Brown

is merely work to the Advances i<> Settlers olliee. The (.'oiouhil oilic:' lias a scholastic knowledge of Xew Zealand. It lms never seen"Xew Zealand. It is extremely probable that there is not a single colonial in the oHice. In its dealings with any colony, it generally believes in "keeping inciters steadily in view." The proposition, then, to establish an independent "secretariat" in London, vice the Colonial olliee, in its relation to .self-governing colonies, is. naturally a very hard blow tor the Secretary of State for ;,i!e Colonies, who, of course, is not able to see how any body of Colonials in Lomlon would be able 'lo advise their respective Covernments and run their London business better than the ponderous Downing street organisation can do. A permanent Imperial Council, as suggested by Sir Joseph Ward, to consist of the British Prime Minister, the Secretary ot Sta'ie for the Colonics and the Colonial Premiers, if carried into eiffect, would remove the sting from the pride of Lord Elgin, who as Secretary of State for the colonies has his headquarters iu the Colonial ollice.

The point is that up to now, the Crown colonies and the Self-governing colonies have been dealt wiUi at Downing street juso as if the whole lot were all peas in the one pod. .Jamaica, as a Crown colony is treated exactly as the whole Commonwealth of Australia is. and Bermudas is as important in the eyts Cif the clerks in the Colonial ollice as Xew Zealand. It Is evident that British statesmen still consider it dangerous for British people to know wjiat their servants say or xlo, and that stern measures are taken for the suppression of news. The Coloiaal ollice favoured giving the merest outline of 'the debates of the eonferemu—'"a few lines," as the cable put ii. Uappoy Colonial premiers insist on publicity, and as Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman has recognised in the premiers his equals as representing "sister-nations,"' it i>» certain that the colonials will carry g,alter weigh t than ever before. Kvidently Sir William Lyne. a notably blnlf man, believes it is the indention of the Colonial ollice to scorn this Conference, and lie has shown anger on several occasions when he has not been allowed to enter into discussionf. Indeed, if the cables are rem able, the colonial representatives all round are showing a somewhat uncompromising front, and are inclined to hattie very hard <for. a principle.

Mr Deakin above all the representatives has lieen inn-l decisive. He refuses scholastic honours, lie wants to cut adrift from the Colonial office, he doesn't care whether lie tyie-i to a banquet or 110, and altogether lie is as much unlike the usual Deakin as possible. Sir Joseph Ward, nhvavs conciliatory, has been a lit'; Ie less si; since he measured wits with the statesmen at Home, and tiic whole of the colonials, wiih perhaps ttle exception of the Premier of 4he Dominion, show a solid .front and desire that something delinite shall result from 'this Conference. The plain Kn.nlish of most of the-utternnccs of the premiers up to now is that the colonies, while desiring to share the responsibilities of Kmpirc and while wishing to be loyal 10 the frown do not desire ,o be tied to ill.? apron-strings of Mrs Downing Street. .Mr Deakin puts it lersely. The colonies waited "freedom in unity." it must be remembered while one is admiring the strenuous plea oi the colonials and their insistence on rights, that \hcir insistence carries no guarantee of delinite reform along any line. Although the Imperial Conference inuy be an advisory body and pass resolutions at a rate exceeding the rare of the Xew Zealand 'irados and Labour Council, those resolutions are merely the resolutions Of a comparatively small bodv of men after all.

It may be presumed that the British Prime Minister as President of t-lic Conference as it now exists or as l\m President of tliu Imperial Council as it may exist in ; the dim futuie would briny the matters resolved on oy the Council or Conference hoforo the Imperial Government. Uecause llr Deakin makes a brilliant speech and demands severance from Downing street, and even though his fellow delegates all approve, ihera is still the British Government in between. jSir Joseph Ward, it is expected, will nay some very warm tilings about a White New Zealand, and Air Deakin may be depended on to pass a few remarks about the Chinese and the Northern territory. Each or either may cnll the attention of the Conference to the J.i]) love of thesj parts and i f h£: Hindoo ail'eeiion for certain islands. His in ihe moral impression, and t)ic depth and lasting quality of their ad) | vice that Ihr Colonial premiers must I depend, l'j make any Imperial reforms possible. -John Hull is a siubburn old man. lie is \he be-i; colonist and the best <-oh»nHer in the world, when lie goos ulijoad. but when lie .nays at Home he is alwa\s under the impression that what is good for Ktiglatid is good for Xew Guinea or Victoria, New Zealand or tin; Dominion of Canada. Necessarily, Urn men who administer (he colonies in >o far as Downing street interferes are stay-at-homes and ii is because of this that they do not-, nor can tlicv ever u l iulVrsiand the first tiling about the "sister-nations" or the Crown colonics.

The fuel thai 1 .British Conservatism may give way a little before {ho onslaught of Colonial Radicalism is shown in many ways. The idea of Ue Minister of War admitting General Botha, Premier of iho Transvaal, to conference 011 the Defence of the t/iiipire is most significant. It may -he, of' Course, tha'i it was done as a maiter of policy, but the fact that this great soldier, wito Jiiis never hail the benefit of any military school but the school of aeiual wairfare, is hailed a* an expert to be consumed is extremely hopeful. Someday perhaps the democratization of the Army may take place, and then men like lVlarev, Do Wet ami Boilui, unspoilt by ativ cut and dried redtape system. will b»: a source of iniineiise Mrength to the Empire. JSOimi envy of colonials and colonial reforms has been shown. Lorn Beaiiehamp, who as a oiK' time Australian Governor ha.j ha,| an opportunity of seeing and knowing the colonies, wli.ii iliey have done and what their p"opl\.-s want, tablier pathetically .'•aid that ftngland wanted social reforms that l\;i,l already beon instituted in other parts Of the Umpire. There is hope thereforo illat a permaneiil Conference or Council or 'Secretariat' would do something towards educating public opinion at Home to the necessity of dealing more kindly with social question*. Jf it is posuUiJo 'to eliminate some evil conditions by legislation jji the colonies, it is also possible to dim-

I mate many evil conditions by the same | methods at Home. If a peer is democratic enough to see the reason tfor reforms that many colonies have accomplished, there is hope that other prominent or eminent Britons may be stirred to emulation of colonial strcj<upus« ness for the disabilities.

The greatest possible danger to Brltisi/ Supremacy is in the constant destruction of the rural classes. The congestion of cities means the depopulation of villages and the withdrawal of the people from the land. Th>? return of (he ! small freeholder system, the forcible repossessipn by ihc .State of the land an,] the equitable rerilstributton pf it, Kould immensely strengthen the' 014

Country ami remove the urgent necessity for dependence on outside supplies for more sustenance. The value of the Imperial Conference will be discounted if the proceedings are not made public throughout Britain. It is the prime reason for the Conference that the world shall know what is Happening in tne out possiS or the Empire, their importance in 'the up-keep of British pre-eminence, and their value as an Imperial immigration that there art, spots in til? "wide Kmpire where the sons of the Empire have in every degree the qualities that led the sturdy old 'timers to tackle tm> unknown in curving out homes in tlie wilderness. Ir' th,? Colonial ConlVremo can show to Iho poop e of the Empire that the allairs of 0110 part of it are the all'airs of all the ve4, that New Zealand or Australia should !>.' regarded by every Home Britain aa of a* much

importance as England as being assets of the same great Imperial business, ils delilx'vations will not be in vain. And with the enlightenment that must come j with the passing of years it may bo hoped that Future Conferences will be productive of great good.