AN EMPIRE WAR CABINET.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 September 1941, Page 4

AN EMPIRE WAR CABINET.

ACCORDING to a cablegram from Ottawa, Mr Fraser stated at a Press conference that New Zealand has an open mind on the question of an Imperial War Cabinet. He is also reported as saying, however, that though the present, method of visits to London by the Prime Ministers of the Dominions at separate times had its obvious disadvantages, it also obviously, was impossible that they should be permanent members of an Empire War Cabinet continuously in London, because they could not be absent from the respective Dominions for long periods. Mr Fraser might have added that even if it. were possible for all the Prime Ministers of the Dominions to assemble in London for lengthy periods, this would not open the way to the establishment of an Empire War Cabinet in the sense in which that term apparently' is being used at present in London and elsewhere. In the constitutional evolution of the British Commonwealth of Nations, the autonomy of the Dominions has become a very important reality. As matters stand, voluntary co-operation is proving an excellent basis for united and cooperative action by the .Mother Country and the Dominions and it may be doubted whether anything is io be gained by attempting to improvise constitutional machinery for which no foundation has been laid and which may never be needed. The problem actually raised is not that of creating an executive capable of acting for the whole Empire, but rathe] 1 that of developing methods of consultation to the highest attainable pitch of efficiency. With that fact duly emphasised, unreserved approval is likely to be given to Mr Fraser’s statement that the New Zealand Government is ready to consider any proposals for close) 1 contact. The practical aim must be to improve and extend by every means at command facilities for consultation between the Mother Country and the Dominions.