AN IMPERIAL OPTIMIST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 324, 10 June 1911, Page 10

AN IMPERIAL OPTIMIST.

(By William Maxwell.) Enthusiasm is catching, and no people spread the contagion more quickly than New Zealanders. Five minutes' talk with one of 'them and you are a confirmed optimist.

I remember, when in New Zealand ten years ago, how the late Mr. Richard Seddon, or "King Dick," as ne was called, dominated everybody with his gigantic person, his hearty manner, his untiring energyj and his incurable confidence that never failed or faltered. Under his spell all things seemed possible—even enfranchisement of women.

There must, lie something in the air of Xew Zealand to produce this optimism, for here is Sir Joseph Ward, "King Dick's" successor, with just the same enthusiasm and compelling convictions. I made this discovery after a talk with Sir Joseph Ward, who has just arrived in London for the Coronation and the Imperial Conference.

Irishmen, like Scots, have the habit of success when they are caught young and transplanted. Sir Joseph Ward was born in Australia of Irish parents, and settled in Xew Zealand when three years old, so that, like Mr. Gladstone, he may claim three nationalities. At the age of twelve he was a telegraph messenger, and at fourteen he was earning £136 a year. From the -telegraph office he passed into a store, where, among other duties, he incidentally looked after the business side of three newspapers! At seventeen he left the store and the newspapers and took to the railway. At twenty-one he abandoned the railway to start an export and general business of his own. At twenty-two ho was Mayor of Campbelltown, and held the post for five years in succession. At -thirty he entered Parliament, and in six yea,rs he was responsible for the direction of the Poet Office where he had been a boy messenger. When Mr. Richard Seddon died in 1906 his natural successor was Sir Joseph Ward. Is it true that a rolling stone gathers no moss? With such a career it would be the basest ingratitude not to have confidence in one's country. Sir Joseph Ward believes in New Zealand and in the British Empire. You will usually find that the man who has confidence in his country lias confidence also in the Empire. But faith without works is dead. If you look at the programme of the Imperial Conference you will see that in New Zealand faith is not dead. New Zealand means business.

New Zealand, though the most loyal and generous of the Dominions, has always had her own idea of Federation. She declined to become a part of the Australian Commonwealth mainly for trade and fiscal reasons. "My idea," said Sir Joseph Ward, "is a close confederation in which the Dominions shall preserve their autonomy and shall be united for purposes of defence. A War Union is possible if a Tariff Union is not. New Zealand is a protectionist country, but I recognise that in some parts of the empire this doctrine is not accepted. Imperial defence is ; however, the question that interests the New Zealand Prime Minister more than any other. "People in the United Kingdom," he thinks, "do not always consider this problem from the standpoint of the outposts of the empire. If Great Britain was at war and were to suffer defeat, these islands would still be able to maintain their independence. But what would happen to the distan/t Dominions who have not the means of protecting themselves against a powerful enemy? In Canada, Australia, and New Zealand we have established a system of national land defence. In New Zealand we have created a force that could rc-pe] any foe likely to attempt a landing. But that is not enough. The enormous growth of naval armaments in other countries is undermining the naval supremacy of the British Empire. It ia unreasonable to expect that the people of the United Kingdom should continue to carry the whole burden of Imperial naval defence." If each of the Dominions were to undertake its share we could build fifty Dreadnoughts without any great effort." "And what is your opinion about separate naval administration!" I asked. "New Zealand has not adopted the policy of Canada and Australia, who retain control over their national navies in time of peace. We regard this division of naval programmes and of naval responsibility as involving unnecessary expense and weakness."

"I see that at the Imperial Conference you are going to raise the question of an Imperial Council."

"Yes, we attach the greatest importance to the question. The foreign policy of the Empire, upon which may depend peace or war, is at present determined by the British Government. The Dominions have no voice in vital questions of peace and war, of international law and treaties, other than commercial, with foreign Powers. In these matters the Dominions are practically disfranchised. Until we have a voice in Imperial affairs there can be no satisfactory system of contribution to Imperial defence. There cannot be taxation without representation." "What is your scheme?"

"An Imperial Parliament of Defence in which the United Kingdom and the Dominions shall be represented on tne basis of population. We must create a real partnership in the protection of the Empire. It must be obvious that the Imperial Parliament cannot do the work of the United Kingdom and of the whole Empire. The whole business of foreign policy and defence must be transferred to an independent Parliament of the Empire. There is no reason why such an Empire Parliament or Council should not meet alternately in the different capitals of the Empire. Distance has ceased to be a barrier."