The Book of the Month. 



THE KEYSTONE OF IMPERIAL FEDERATION/ 



Sliall wf not take counsel together, jjian together, work together, and .so build up for the future 

 .111 limpire which in the past has done so much for civilisation, and which has so much left to do? Does 

 any man her.- believe that the British Empire has fullilled its mission — the mission of its own genera- 

 tions unborn, if you go no further — its mission to the world, for which it still has great things in trust? 

 I'iiis work lan only !« carried on by the fullest coojx-ration, and 1>\ calling ultimately to the seats of 

 council the Ixist experience that the whole Empire grows lieiieath its wide sky and upon its broad lields. 

 — Hon. Geo. E. Foster. 



the Empire. Viscount Esher has " never ceased 

 publicly and privately to advocate the representation 

 ol the Dominions ujwn the Committee." 



ARMAMENTS A MOST ODIOUS NECESSITY. 



i'lu- writer prefaces his remarks by stating " tiiat 

 no man who has regard for the individual or col- 

 lective hajipiness and pros})erity of his lellow- 

 countrymeii can look upon war otherwise than as the 

 greatest of all curses, and naval and military pre- 

 paration for war otherwise than as the most odious 

 of all necessities." 



He goes on to say that : — 



■' We are sometimes told that vast jjreparation for 

 war, expansive and burdeiusonie, crushing down the 

 full exj)aiisive commercial activities of a nation, 

 inflicting Iiardship upon every individual man or 

 woman and child comjxjsing a nation, is unneces- 

 sary, and is economically unsound, because the 

 economic results ot defe.it to the individual are not 

 .SO heavy as the economic weight of preparation. 

 'I'liis 1 honestly believe to be true, and, if men were 

 governed 1>\ economic c^>nsitlerations alone, would 

 furnish an unanswerable lea.son for abandoning pre- 

 parations for war. Men, and nations of men, how- 

 ever, are the slaves of passion and of unreason, 

 and the great drama of war often moves within a 

 sphere from which man's imagination excludes all 

 consiilerations of prudence. There is always the 

 odd chance in reserve, and there is always the haunt- 

 ing iK)ssibility of the ancestral hou.se and home in 

 ruins. (;i\en, then, that preparation for war is a 

 high jiremium which every nation governed by wis- 

 cl(jm and forethought is tKMiiid to pay for insurance 

 •igaiiist possibly tragic disaster, it surely follows 

 thai prep.iration, which is ijound to 1»- exix.'nsive in 

 any case, should lie as complete as it can be made 

 by all the ix>-ordinated forces that can he i-oncen- 

 trated at the critical moment upon the enemy. 



now THE EMPIRE IS GOVERNED. 



■ ( )ur coiintrv and our Emiiire ar<- not ruled in a 

 vacuum, but under conditions which some of us may 

 deplore, l)ut which in tlie main we are obliged to 

 accept. These conditions im|M).se upon statesmen, 

 upon eminent civil servants, ii|)on the lx)rds of the 

 .•\dmiralty, and upon the Cieiural StatT of the Army, 

 limitations which man> would Ix- glad tn tv free 



In this little lx)ok Viscount Esher performs a 

 ii.itional duty .iiid enables us to have a clearer idea 

 of the Imjxrial Defence Committee. This lK.)dy, 

 although pos.sessing none of the prestige and glamour 

 of one of thi- old State de])artments, is actually 

 jierhajjs the gr«'atest of governing forces to-day. 

 Freed from liamjiering traditions and remarkably 

 elastic in its constitution, the Committee yet re|)ri- 

 sents a Cabinet Council with the advantages of 

 technical advice and without the drawbacks inevit- 

 ably attendant upon a meeting of Ministers alone, 

 the majority of whom are amateurs in their office 

 and (jiiite under the guiiJing influence of their per- 

 manent olVu'ials. To convince a Cabinet Council 

 .irgument must l>e repeated for each individual mem- 

 lier beforehand, with the glorious uncertaintv as to 

 the lasting tffect of the conxiction when the Minister 

 is amongst his <olleamies around the council table. 

 In the Committee of Tmix^rial Defence, however, 

 tliose who know can talk to tho.se who do not, but 

 are in power in the Coxernment en bloc, and .see 

 decisions t.iken without d<'lay. While possessing no 

 I'xecutive authority, anil having been founded with 

 no definile .iitributes, the Committee has already 

 lieconie all |)ow<-rful, and offers jwssibilities in the 

 future of becnming the centre-point of the whole 

 rm]x?rial structure. It therefore is of immense value 

 to the world to have Vi.scoiint Esher's clear expose 

 of how it has d<v<'loped and to read his views as to 

 the Commitl«-e's (uture. For Viscount E.sher is one 

 of tlw mo^t aetive memf>t;rs of the Committe<-. 

 bringing to its work not only an exceptional experi- 

 ence, but al.so imiiarting to its deliberations an atti- 

 lilde of nun <.friii il iiwU-|»'iid<'iic<' I<»avening the 

 frfficial wh'il'- 



THE C(J.\1.\I1I lEl; A " NUCLEUS " BODY. 



The Coniniilt<-<- of Inifierial Defence has the .id- 

 Nantage of being, as Lord Haldaite descrifx-d it in 

 1907, a " niK-Uiis " bodv without any " fixed com- 

 |)asition." It therefore lends it.self excellently for 

 develoiiment into a true ImiK-rial Council, in which 

 representatives of all parts of the Empire will mc-et 

 and discuss with continuity the continuing needs of 



•"The Committop of Tmpprial Dofenoe: Its Funr- 

 tiong iind Vntontinlitiiw." By Vioooiint Eshor. 

 I Miirriiy. n<\. net.) 



