The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1919. REORGANISATION OF THE EMPIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1919. REORGANISATION OF THE EMPIRE.

According to the London correspondent of the New York Tribune, a Bill is being drafted for submission to the British Parliament providing for the reorganisation of the Empire. It is quite possible that, the enterprising American correspondent may be retailing gossip rather than fact, but the outline of the scheme he supplies approaches so nearly to what is required that it may not be I amiss to treat the cablegram serilousfr,,gvea g it torus pat |o be

either premature or unauthentic. Bearing in mind the unanimity with which the claims of the Dominions to become real partners with the Motherland in the administration of the Empire. have been endorsed by British statesmen, it is apparent that sooner or later, a definite move must be made in the direction indicated by the Tribune's correspondent. We have to go back to the Imperial Conference held in London in 1911 to find the germ of the movement which is to give the Dominions a voiee in Imperial affairs. The first matter of importance which was discussed at that conference was Sir Joseph Ward's proposal for an Imperial or Federal Parliament of the self-governing States of the Empire, with an executive responsible to it. It was to deal with defence and foreign policy, and funds would be provided by grants for ten years from the various national Parliaments (British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand): There was to be an Imperial Council of two members from each of the States to advise the British Government, and it is worthy of note that the scheme was opposed by Mr Fisher (Australia), General Botha (South Africa), Sir W. Laurier (Canada), and Mr Asquith (Britain), the latter insisting that "it would be fatal to the fundamental conditions on which our Empire has been built up and carried on," and would "impair, if not altogether destroy, the authority of the Government of the United Kingdom." It may also be mentioned that a series of proposals brought forward by Sir Joseph Ward, at the same conference, for the reconstruction of the Colonial Office was! withdrawn, in face of opposition from the Colonial Secretary, Mr Asquith, and some of the Dominion Premiers. To-day it is the , British Government that is moving in the direction advocated by Sir Joseph Ward, but it has taken the greatest war of all time to reverse the judgment of 1911. It will be seen that the essence of the scheme now said to have been evolved is unity, the supreme value of which was forcefully exemplified in the ' recent war. The aim appears to be to connect the sixty component parts of the Empire into one nation, with an Imperial Parliament for the purpose of co-ordinating military and naval business and the functions of the various Dominions, without in any way interfering with their individual Parliaments. Whether this representative gathering is designated an Imperial Parliament, a Federal Assembly or some other equally significant nomenclature is of no .importance, but it may be assumed it .will be quite separate from the British House of Commons, and will eqnsist of representatives of Britain \and the Dominions on a population, basis. According to the TribuneYs correspondent there would be hundred and forty representatives, but that statement need not ble accepted, for obvious reasons. \Reference to the chief duties of this Imperial Parliament are well worthy of attention, as they comprise the main matters in which thaj Dominions can justly claim to htave a voice. Step by step the Domlinions have been advancing towards the attainment of a right to a j>lace in the councils of the Empire, atad at last their patriotism and great sacrifices in the Motherland's/hour of need have broken down tfyose con- J servative barriers whic!) v/ers typified by Mr Asquith's statement in 1911 when he condemned Sir Joseph Ward's proposal for a Federal Parliament as being "fatal to the fundamental conditions on which our Empire has been built and carried on." The assistance of the Dominions in the administration ,of Imperial affairs would strengthen and not impair the authority of the Government of the United Kingdom. This principle has now been fully recognised, and though there may be some difficulty in settling the details of the scheme, it is beyond question that its materialising will very considerably solidify and coordinate the vital interests of the whole Empire.