The Daily News. SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1917. POST-WAR EMPIRE EVOLUTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 May 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1917. POST-WAR EMPIRE EVOLUTION.

The war has brought home to every unit of the Empire the fact that henceforth there must be not only the closest bond of unity, but an actual co-operation in Imperial affairs by means of direct representation in the supreme council of the Mother County. It is recognised in Britain—and it will never be forgotten—that the people of the Dominions, at the first note of war, sprang to arms like one man, not to fight for the Motherland, but to fight with her, because the ideals of both were the same. No better evidence could be afforded than this to show how profound is the union that exists, and in the very strength of this union is to be found the force that must inevitably operate the lever of Empiro evolution. Hitherto the Dominions havo been merely arteries supplying the main trunk; henceforth they must be part of the brains of the united British federA hndmark in the history of the Empire wiu when Ministers of the Dominions sat with (he British Cabinet, and from that point of progression there is no going back. The Crown Colonies, India and the Dominions, while sharing the Motherlands burdens in the war, must hereafter share in the direction of Imperial affairs. As Dr. G. R. Parkin recently remarked:

IThe nation is going through the greatest ordeal it has ever gone tliroug'i in the whole course of its history; it is going to be tested not only through this period of the war, with the prospect of being called upon to make even greater sacrifices in the future than in the past, but after the war a vast burden of debt will have to be borne, hundreds of thousands of shattered lives and shattered homes will have to be provided for, the great industrial system of England will have to be reorganised, this Empire itself will have to receive a new organisation. . . . Nothing can take | the place of our vanishing youth who have shed their blood in the war, and the vanishing age of these who are rapidly reaching the limit of their activities, but some great uplifting of our whole people in the sense of duty and in the ability to think out clearly our obligations to the Empire and to, the world. . . We know now that we have the same fibre in ourselves that made the Empire in the past. Now w: have a still greater ordeal—the task of reorganising this Empire in the face of its responsibilities . . . No words can measure the ordeal we have yet to go through before wo reach the true ideal of national purpose, but if we can see how necessary it is to burn up all the rubbish of life and turn our thoughts on the great realities, England will indeed 'be a new England, and the Empire a now Empire."

For a long time past the Colonies ami Dominions have been knocking for admission at the Imperial door and asking' to remain in and be a real part of this Empire as first advocated by Sir Joseph Ward. Now, while the Empire is white hot, is the time to put the Imperial house in order. It must take time, but we can wait, provided tjie process is taken in hand in the same whole hearterl and sympathetic way in which the Dominions flocked to fight under the Oil Flag. Why did they forsake hoiiK, country, possessions an.l loved ones to fight against Britain's enemies? Because the existence of the Empire was at stake and to uphold the ideals it represents. The war will not only leave an indellible impression on the minds of the youth of the Dominions, but will have a permanent and far reaching influence o. the development of national character and the future of the Empire, All those who emerge from this struggle 1 will come forth with an immeasurably

wider horizon, a clearer vision and si deeper insight from service in a high cause. The unity of spirit with which the youth and manhood of tho Umpire sprang to arms may be regarded as a most precious asset which, when peace holds sway once more, can be utilised to the 'best advantage; It is diilicult to conceive that any more fitting and serviceable use could be found for this new spirit of union than in the direction of Imperial consolidation and the elucidation of tho problem of a permanent system of organic unity. It is in the arrangements made in this direction that the real test of Imperial faith will be found. The time will come—in the not for distant future-—when the popula-

tions of the' various Dominions will be vastly increased and may probably surpass that of the Motherland. Foreign markets will have to be shared to an over-increasing extent with foreign rivals. Imperial markets and Imperial resources, if we do not reserve them for the exclusive use of the Empire, can at l«ast be primarily utilised for its benefit, for the potential value of an Empire that is self contained has no limit. Now that the first steps have been taken and the venerable barrier of British conservatism removed the evolu-

tion of the Empire only requires Bound, practical common sense. The war has shown the need of an organic union In place of a sentimental, and the problems requiring solution in connection with peace terms and post-war conditions, as well as those connected with Imperial obligations, and external policy, necessitate the actual co-operation by all parts of the Empire, and the new blood, with its vigorous and progressive predictions will infuse added strength and mana to the Britain's world-wide Empire.