35« 



The Review of Reviews. 



Secretary of State, for advice on any local ques- 

 tions in regard to which expert assistance is 

 deemed desirable. 



" That whenever so desired, a representative of 



the Colony which may wish for advice should In- 



summoned to attend a.s a member of the Com- 



■ mittee during the discussion of the questions 



raised." 



" A long step was taken in this direction," writes 

 Viscount Esher, "when, in 191 1, the Pri'ue 

 Ministers of the Dominions were invited to attend a 

 sitting of the Committee, and were addressed by the 

 Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, the First 

 I.ord of the Admiralty, and the Secretary of State 

 for War. 



CHOOSING FOREIGN ALLIANCES OR FEDERATION. 



" The rise of a great sea power in competition 

 with the British Navy — that force upon which, 

 hitherto, the security of Great Britain and of tin- 

 Britisli Empire has rested — has rendered imperati\e 

 the consideration of Imperial Defence as a problem 

 which cannot be solved by Great Britain alone. 

 Statesmanship has ibefore it the choice between 

 foreign alliances and a practical federation of the 

 'Empire for purjwses of common defence. The 

 matter is urgent, and a decision cannot he post- 

 poned. 



" National safety and national ilignity indicate 

 the right path. Mutual help between the component 

 parts of the Empire demands mutual confidence and 

 a common resjionsibility for Foreign Affairs. 



FUNCTIONS AND POTENTIALITIES. 



" If the functions and potentialities of the Com- 

 mittee of Imperial Defence are clearly grasped the 

 liroblem is not insoluble. 



" Two conditions are essential — first, that there 

 should l>e no concealment of policv or intentions 

 between the Prime Minister of this country and the 

 Prime Ministers of the Dominions. 



" The sei"ond, that no new departure, in for<^ign 

 policy, involving Imperial interests, should lie taken 

 without the approval of the Dominions. 



" In order to achieve the.se results some modifica- 

 tion of practice in the government of this country 

 and of the Dominions would l:>e necessary. Som<' 

 concessions would ha\'e to be made ; some sacrilici^ 

 of the old-fashioned pride on the one hand, and 

 some abandonment of exaggerated independence on 

 the other. 



" British Ministers should realise that they can- 

 not be free and untrammelled in future to choose a 

 foreign policv which may land the Empire in war, 

 and exj)ect material help from Canada ; while Cana- 

 dians should understand that, if thev desire to fl\ 



the Union Jack, they must face the fact that Great 

 Britain is a European Power, . and be ready to 

 shoulili-r a share of the European burden. 



DOMINION PRIME MINISTERS AS REPRESENTATIVES. 



" .Although the shrinkage of the world increases 

 rajiidlv, I do not believe that time and distance 

 would, at present, [lermit of constant and adequate 

 representation of the Dominions upon the Committee 

 of Im))erial Defence, if by that is meant the attend- 

 ance of Dominion representatives at every important 

 meeting of the Committee. The only adequate re- 

 presentative of a great Dominion is its Prime 

 Minister. 



" For this reason I suggest, as the first step, 

 comjilete confidence and free communication between 

 the British and Canadian Prime Ministers upon all 

 first-class questions of Foreign Policy. .Annual 

 visits, or biennial \-isits, to London m July, to be 

 followed bv a series of meetings of the Committee 

 of Imperial Defence, in order to ventilate and deal 

 with technical questions, would be an admirable 

 de\'elopment and sufficient for our present needs. 

 It would test the strength of our Impei-kd bonds. 



THE COLONIAL OFFICE AN ANACHRONISM. 



" The dav cannot now be far distant when the 

 affairs of the Colonial Ol'fice should be relieved ol 

 the affairs of the Dominions. 



" The Colonial Office, in that sphere, is an ana- 

 chronism. Every consideration points to the Bureau 

 of the Prime Minister, to the Secretariat of the Com- 

 mittee of Imperial Defence, as the suitable 

 machiiierv for keeping Great Britain and the 

 Dominions in touch, and as a means of establish- 

 ing more intimate, more confidential, and more 

 binding relations between the mother country and 

 the Dominions, which verv shorth' will .surpass her 

 in ])opulati<iii and wealth as tln-v do alread\ in area 

 and extent. " 



FEDERATION BV MENACE. 



Viscount F.sher concludes his survey of construc- 

 tive Imjierial jiolicy thus : — '" In order to federate 

 more or less independent groups of men of the same 

 race and speech, some menace is required to their 

 pride and independence. 



•' First, iIk' ('hauvinism of the Napoleonic tradi- 

 tion ; and, secondly, the French spirit of Reranche, 

 f<'deraterl and have kejit together the German Em- 

 pire, 



" Bismarck, far seeing, of esprit fiosiiif. found 

 in .Alsace-Lorraine the instrument he required to 

 hold together the South and North German jieoples. 



" His successors ha\<> provided us with a weajxjn 

 equally ])0lent for our ]iurf)Oses. No British states 

 man could ha\'e federated the British Empire. 

 That object is going to be accompli.shed by tli'.' 

 menace ni the German Fleet." 



