Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1938. EMPIRE RELATIONS.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 September 1938, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1938. EMPIRE RELATIONS.

r pilE British Commonwealth Relations Conference, which has just opened in Sydney, is meeting at a time almost as critical as the Empire and the /world have ever known. Naturally in these circumstances, the Federal’ Prime Minister (Mr J. A. Lyons) and other speakers at the inaugural gathering laid full emphasis upon the immediate dangers by which the world is faced and upon the need for a unity of purpose which will enable the Empire to bring its full strength to bear in an active campaign for world peace. It is not, however, on account of the present international emergency that this notable gathering of delegates from all parts of the Empire has been assembled. The conference, brought together by the Australian Institute of International Affairs, with the active sympathy and encouragement of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, has been described as “a meeting of influential citizens ready to ascertain by interchange of views the problems of the component parts of the Empire.” While foreign policy and defence naturally will command attention —from the standpoint, it may be taken for granted, of enabling the Empire to do everything that is possible to safeguard and maintain peace—questions of trade and financial policy, defence, and migration also have their place on the agenda. The conference has been described as a kind of “lay retreat” of a fortnight’s duration, devoted to consideration of the relations of the British Commonwealth of Nations. In view of the calibre of the delegates it is taken for granted that the exchange of ideas at the conference will exercise ultimately an important influence on the development of public opinion in all parts of the Empire. Some one has said justly that it is unwise to examine too critically the formal relationships in which the Empire is united. The true keynote of Empire unity is, and it may be hoped long will be, one of opportunity—the opportunity to combine and co-operate for mutual benefit. From the standpoint of any Dominion the advantages of membership of the Empire far outweigh any obligations involved. This is hardly less true of Canada, which conceivably might shelter under the wing of the United States, than of Australia and New Zealand, to whom membership of the Empire or its loss is frankly a matter of life or death. It may be hoped and believed that the people of Canada, while the choice remains open to them, will never dream of exchanging the status of a British Dominion for that of a province, in name or in fact, of the United States. At the Commonwealth Relations Conference and in its aftermath of the extension of informed and developed opinion due emphasis no doubt will be set, not only on what is most essential in the fundamental relationships of the Empire, but upon important detail aspects of these relationships which, from the broadest standpoint, demand practical attention and consideration at the present day. Where the continuing development of the Empire is concerned, questions of economic development are supremely important and it may be anticipated that the proceedings of the Commonwealth Relations Conference will do something to promote a genuinely liberal and clear-sighted view of these questions. The conference will not be concerned with trade agreements nor with the actual negotiation of plans of economic development, but its delegates, whether they come from the Mother Country or the Dominions, may be expected to appreciate clearly that one phase of Imperial development has given place to another in which it is flatly inconsistent with the welfare of the Empire at large that the necessary development of the Dominions on lines that will enable them to carry larger populations should be opposed or impeded on account of possibly temporary Joss or damage to particular branches of trade or industry in Britain or elsewhere. There is need today of a practical conception of the lEmpire as a great estate to be developed to the bestadvantage for the benefit, not only of the whole British nation, but of people of foreign birth who are prepared to share and be loyal to our democratic heritage. Provided the energies and resources of the Empire are brought vigorously to bear upon its unhampered development, there need to be no fear of the immediate or more distant future. The proceedings of the Commonwealth Relations Conference should help not a little to foster the enlightened outlook and the spirit of firm resolution that the tasks of Empire development demand.