Richard Jebb

“ At worst, to have to face the dilemma would be better than for our Government to persevere with a policy under the erroneous impression that the Colonies would support it. In future, as the consequence of the cooperation of the Colonies in the South African War, it will be much more important to us than hitherto to know how far the Colonies are with us, and how far we may depend on their aid. Likewise it will be more important than hitherto for Canada to know how far Australia and New Zealand, in addition to England, would be prepared to back her in making a stand against American pretensions. ”

“ Conversely, if the younger nations wish to obtain support for their own requirements in foreign policy, they must first recognise the case for equality of sacrifice, as between the autonomous States of the Empire. Since the several States are too unequal at present, apart from other obstacles, for federation to be an acceptable solution, there seems to be no alternative except a system of alliance, such as could be put into practice by the machinery of a permanent Imperial Conference. ”

“ To England, on the other hand, being the suzerain of the dependencies, and solely responsible for their administration, the interest is mainly 'internal.' This divergency between the points of view of England and the Colonies respectively seems to be a danger to the prospects of close alliance. It is essential to durable Imperial solidarity that the Colonies should acquire an interest in the dependencies of a kind similar to our own—that is to say, the sense of a national duty in the task of administration. ”

“ If the principle of the Conference offers the only alternative to a policy of mere negation, perpetuating the risks of the present position, then it seems futile to reject the Conference on the plea that, by recognising State independence, it prejudices the chances of a genuine Imperial federation. ”

“ An alliance which recognised equality, if only in the sense of an equal national status, might be regarded as a step towards federation. The other essential feature of federation, namely, the association of citizens as units, distinguished from the association of States as units, always on the basis of equality, may take a long time to appear in practice, as Mr. Deakin admits. It never can appear as the outcome of a negative policy. ”

“ It is manifest already that Imperial defence can be organized only on the basis of allowing each nation to keep entire control of its own naval and military forces. Canada, the leader of the younger nations, seems to have made it clear that she cannot be induced by any offer of representation to surrender any portion of her control to a joint authority. That is a definite fact with which Imperial statesmanship must reckon. The question of fiscal policy is in the same position. No single nation is willing to surrender the power of taking such measures as it thinks fit for raising revenue ”

“ But in the United States and the Commonwealth the conception of independent States is fundamental, and so the residuum of sovereignty—i.e., all powers not taken away from the former Colonies by the Commonwealth Act—remains with the State Governments. The assumption of State independence and equality finds expression, again, in the American and Australian Federal Senates, where every State, regardless of size, has the same voting power, so far modifying the citizen-to-citizen conception which governs the election of the other House on a population basis. ”

“ Examples are furnished by the commercial relations between Canada and the United States, including not only tariff questions, but such minor matters as railway bonding privileges and the like. Again, our own commercial arrangements with European countries can be settled by our own Government, without the assistance of colonial Governments. In such matters no common policy is possible until we have commercial union, which is not in sight at present. ”

“ But it may be left open to each colonial Premier to make his own arrangement for the purpose of the Conference. Whenever critical questions were under discussion, the representative in London would have to make a free use of the cable. On normal occasions he would act more on his own discretion, always being responsible solely to his own Government for the policy to which he committed his country. The Colonial Office, of course, would not have any regular locus standi in connection with the Conference, at which the executive heads of States would be associated on equal terms. ”

“ The question of Imperial telegraphs already has proved capable of successful solution by the familiar principle of the joint-stock company. In the Pacific Cable, which is owned and operated by the Governments of Australia, England, Canada, and New Zealand, the States are associated simply as shareholders, and have control in proportion to their respective financial interest in the undertaking. The intermigration of white populations might be controlled to mutual advantage by the institution of a joint board. ”

“ The common feature in all the above classes of Imperial interests is that organization implies the cooperation of several independent Executives which actually exist. None of these Executives seems to be in need of further advice than is at its disposal already. That is where I think the plan of an advisory council, which Sir Frederick Pollock has put forward, misses the mark. Already we have the Committee of Imperial Defence, an advisory council which lately has played a prominent part in the shaping of our own national policy. ”

“ Apart from other considerations, it is obvious that an alliance with a bond of sentiment, namely, the sentiment of a particular national duty in common, would be more secure than an alliance held together by material interests only. ”

“ There seems to be no reason why the system of the permanent Conference should not be initiated at any time, whenever the British Prime Minister sees fit to attempt the experiment. It can be discontinued at any time if it does not seem to promise success, and renewed under more favourable conditions. Doubtless there will be some reluctance at the outset on the part of colonial Premiers to take the responsibility of committing themselves to a line of foreign policy. ”

“ Therefore it seems that the system of the Conference, although open to all manner of hypothetical objections, at least would be an advance upon the present haphazard system, under which it is a mere speculation whether the States will back each other in any particular line of foreign policy.
The relations of Canada with the United States have always been a source of Imperial risk. Whenever the negotiations over Canadian-American questions have been conducted by Englishmen, the result almost invariably has been disastrous to Canada, and therefore to the cause of Imperial alliance. ”

“ It is a mistake to protest that such distinctions are more dialectical than practical. They are necessary to clear thinking and progressive discussion, for the extremely practical reason that the Imperial question concerns, and is followed with eager attention in, certain countries where the terms 'federation' and 'confederation,' as the case may be, have an official and therefore popularly recognised meaning. ”

“ Hitherto colonial Governments have claimed our support as a matter of course whenever their own special interests have been threatened by foreign aggression, while sometimes asserting their right of giving or withholding reciprocal support just as they think fit on each occasion. ”

“ Again, no nation with ideals of its own can surrender its right to exclude or admit certain classes of immigrants out of deference to the interests, opinions, or prejudices, of people living in other countries, thousands of miles away, under wholly different climatic or geographical conditions. ”

“ Such one-sided reciprocity obviously is no sure basis of alliance, or of any kind of political combination between autonomous States. The natural outcome of the old colonial system is seen in the present distribution of the defence forces of the Empire So long as England insists upon dictating the Imperial foreign policy in every case, so long must she expect to be saddled with a corresponding share of the defence burden. ”

“ If it is inadequate, the mere acknowledgment of its inadequacy, being common to all the scattered sections of a certain Imperialist school, makes it a safer aid to discussion than any term which has a localized official meaning. ”

“ In the first main division, that of 'external' interests, I regard 'political' interests as demanding joint action in almost every instance, because they are always matters fraught with the risk of serious foreign complications. ”

“ The essential point about the existing position is the fact of independent Executives—exercising powers, such as the absolute control of separate armaments and antagonistic fiscal systems, which make the actual relationship more like mere alliance than anything else, despite the common Crown. ”

“ Any discussion of Imperial organization must start from some fairly definite conception, not only of the present inter-State position, which is the hypothesis of the problem, but also of the ideal which it is hoped to promote, or at least not to retard, by the scheme proposed. ”

“ In 'vital' questions the Conference would enable the executive heads, not to devise a common policy for the Empire, but each to frame his own national policy with a view to cooperation. In the matter of defence, there is need of consultation to obtain uniformity in types of ships or guns. ”

“ The dependencies themselves constitute an 'internal' Imperial interest which seems to belong to a class apart From the point of view of Canada or Australia, the interest, perhaps, is mainly 'external,' because those countries have no direct connection with the dependencies, which, however, may become a cause of war with foreign Powers. ”

“ It is quite possible that our existing confederacy may last for some time to come, and may have to suffice pending the adoption of federal principles. There is not yet a rigid antithesis between them, and we need not create one. ”

“ In the same way other men of authority might be invited to attend, but would not thereby become members of the Conference, which must consist, as an executive body, only of the responsible heads of Governments. ”