Wairarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1938. UNITY OF THE EMPIRE.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 December 1938, Page 6

Wairarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1938. UNITY OF THE EMPIRE.

NOTHING that has been cabled of the speech in which the "*■ Secretary for the Dominions (Mr Malcolm MacDonald) dealt, a day or two ago, with the constitution of the Empire, comes within measurable distance of justifying the assertion ol the London “Daily Mail” that “amazed bewilderment will be the immediate reaction throughout the Empire to Mr MacDonald’s speech.” Air MacDonald spoke frankly of forces ol disintegration at work within the Empire, but in doing so he added that there were many counter-forces which made lor the continued association of the Mother Country and the Dominions.

Reported comments by our own Prime Minister on Air AlacDonald’s- speech, Though they stop well shorty of the rhetorical absurdities indulged in by the “Daily Mail,” are m themselves somewhat extraordinary.

“I do not know of any disintegrating forces within the British Commonwealth, but I was always led to believe that to be within the British Commonwealth of Nations was to enjoy the right of sengovernment,” Mr Savage is quoted as saying, with reference to the suggestion of Mr MacDonald regarding the force of nationalism in some Dominions.

It surely may be taken for granted that. Air AlacDonald has no inclination to question the self-governing rights, of the Dominions and the development of nationalism it implies. AVhat he said, in perfectly plain terms, was that “beyond a certain point nationalism could become a disintegrating force.”

If Air Savage has never heard of .disintegrating forces of that kind, he must have turned a blind eye on some parts of the Empire—for example Canada and South Africa. In Canada, as one of her own Ministers pointed out not very long ago, there are divisions and gradations of opinion as to the extent to which Canada should be . ready to identify herself with British foreign policy, or to make common cause with. Britain in the event of war. South Africa has a small, but perhaps not altogether negligible minority which aspires to a nationalism that would mean separation from the Empire.

These are examples of the forces of disintegration to which Air MacDonald referred, and they by no means exhaust the list. It is a matter of common sense and sincerity to recognise that the people of the British Empire do not always and everywhere think to a pattern. The strength of the Empire is not in set uniformity, but rather in factors making for continued association. co-operation and unity in essentials, which on the whole immensely outweigh the forces of disintegration.

It, may he taken for granted that forces of disintegration will make little enough headway in Australia and New Zealand. Our very existence in these countries may come to depend at any time upon the maintenance of Empire unity. In Canada, and'perhaps even in South Africa, not to speak of India, the issues are somewhat less clearly defined. In an enlightened view, however, every unit of the Empire has an ample incentive to uphold its unity. The Empire deserves to endure, and may be expected to endure, not as being entirely free from detail weaknesses, but because, as Mr MacDonald said in the speech which has been criticised sb extravagantly, it is “the greatest practical expression of certain permanent political principles which ought to inspire, the devotion and command the services of even the youngest and the most idealistic.” There is no obscurity as to what these principles amount to. In the British Empire there has been worked out, though not to. a point of completeness and perfection, a broader conception of citizenship and a more liberal and unforced association of men and of nations than the world had soon before. In that remarkable, though incomplete achievement the Empire is offering a lead to ail humanity.

Faith in the Empire may best be demonstrated, not by denying or ignoring its detail weaknesses, but by developing with courage and enterprise the magnificent opportunities it holds. Mi- .Savage has spoken, quite .justly, of the importance of Ihe. investment of British capital within the British Commonwealth of Nations. , Even more than that is necessary, however. The future of the Empire may depend upon an effective concentration of the total resources of the nation-— human as well as material —upon the development, and defence if need be, of the greatest heritage that any nation lias ever possessed. An aspect of the position that greatly needs attention at the present day is that the very freedom of our association in the Empire makes for or permits a certain slackness of organisation which contrasts with the mechanical regimentation of the totalitarian Slates. It may be possible and profitable to learn something in matters of method from the dictatorships, while avoiding their debasement of political standards.