49

A.—4

25 May, 1911.] Imperial Council. [2nd Day. Sir JOSEPH WARD— cont. concerned I speak absolutely) without ratification by Parliament, and without, in turn, Parliament recognising that that ratification has to be endorsed in the ordinary way by the people at the elections which take place from time to time. Now, in connection with the arguments that I am placing before the Conference upon this question of an Imperial Council of State, I consider that the different roads that the respective portions of the Dominions have taken regarding what they conceive to be best from their respective standpoints in the matter of naval defence—l would rather call them lines of national divergence—must, in my opinion, diverge more and more as these oversea Dominions develop to their full stature, unless British statesmen will set themselves to promote an Imperial partnership and some system of Imperial representation upon which, to my mind, such true partnership can alone subsist. If there is any spirit of reluctance on the part of the Motherland, the oversea Dominions—or, at least, New Zealand, for which I speak—will certainly not desire to obtrude themselves with this or similar proposals; but if we recognise that the hands of the Mother Country are stretched out to us inviting a closer grasp by us, that closer grasp will follow and the deep and genuine spirit of closer union will dissolve the difficulties and rise superior to all the obstacles in the way of an articulate and organized unity. What is first wanted is the will; the way, lam satisfied, can be found. If the United Kingdom desires an Imperial partnership, and it meets with the concurrence of the oversea Dominions, then I believe it is the proper function of the Conference, with the eminent statesmen of the Motherland here at this table, to join with myself and those who think with me in encouraging and assisting to devise a workable scheme. Mr. Asquith in his opening speech spoke eloquently of the development of our Empire along the broad ways of British liberty, and in this connection emphasized the elasticity and flexibility which marked our constitution and our institutions. I recognise as fully, I hope, as he how true those words are. A rigid constitution does not suit the genius of our people, but a rigid constitution is one thing and the entire absence of any definite Imperial system is another. I recognise that there must be given up by the constituent self-governing parts of the Empire to any central Imperial Council only such power as is absolutely necessary to deal with questions essentially Imperial in their nature —questions which cannot be dealt with satisfactorily or at all unless through collective deliberative action, and I would make the framework of the Imperial Parliament of Defence or Imperial Council of State as elastic as is consistent with efficiency and durability; but I am impressed with the belief that some such framework we must have. Mr. Asquith rightly preferred to ascribe the majestic development of the Empire rather to the genius of our nation than to the favour of Providence. I admit that there is a Divinity that shapes national destinies; but that Divinity can be profoundly assisted by the intelligent thought, foresight, and ingenuity of wise statesmanship, and I believe there never was a time in our history when a more splendid field has opened to that statesmanship than the present. If we admit that the fate of the oversea Dominions, so far as living under the British Flag is concerned, is dependent upon Britain's supremacy on the seas, then we must admit that the defence of the Pacific (and in connection with the defence of the Pacific, I include Australia and New Zealand in that term) is as important as the defence of the Atlantic Possessions or of the Motherland itself. lam not mixing up in any sense whatever, in the proposals which lam about to submit to the Conference, anything in connection with the land forces of the respective portions of the Empire; because I recognise Mr. FISHER : May I interrupt ? I understood by the earlier part of your speech that co-operation in every way was involved. Sir JOSEPH WARD : No; uniformity of system in every possible way in connection with the land forces I believe to be desirable, but I am not suggesting, in connection with the defence of the Empire, that there should be any interference by any one portion of it with any other in the matter of the system or of the methods of control of the local land forces.