A British League of Nations
O'Leary, M. Grattan
*5* A BRITISH LEAGUE OF NATIONS By M. GRATTAN O'LEARY AFTER sitting for more than a month in the historic precincts of 10 Downing Street, the British Empire Conference has thus...
...At Christmas, 1916, on the initiative of Lord Milner, as Colonial Secretary in Mr...
...Under the heading, General Conduct of Foreign Policy, it has declared: "We felt that the governing consideration underlying all the discussions of this problem [foreign policy] must be that neither Great Britain nor the dominions could be committed to acceptance of active obligations except with the definite assent of their own government...
...Ought they to shoulder responsibilities involved in European and world arrangements, whether they had a voice in their making or not...
...As the war dragged on, making more and more drastic demands on the national life of the dominions, the determination of their peoples grew stronger and stronger that never again would they be content to have no voice in what had been proved to be the greatest of all their concerns...
...But, as invariably happens with the handiwork of men, the new order did not fulfil the high hopes of its authors...
...and its meaning was made instantly and unmistakably clear in August, 1914...
...If, therefore, in consequence of such a treaty as Locarno (which Canada, South Africa, and the Irish Free State have not accepted) Britain should become involved in war, it is not impossible that these dominions would be automatically neutral, instead of being at least technically at war when Britain was at war...
...And so misgivings arose...
...In any case they could not be neutral...
...Long before the war was over, the anomaly had been removed...
...and that to all intents and purposes the dominions are full sovereign states, exercising the rights of full sovereign states in the world...
...Before 1914, the British dominions (not to be confused with British crown colonies) were equipped with national governments...
...It was not until the Conference of 1911 that the dominion statesmen were even informed of the secret cardinal facts on which British diplomacy turned...
...In Canada and other dominions, particularly South Africa and the Irish Free State, there is a fairly strong demand that in the future they shall not become too much implicated with European affairs...
...and that it is still more difficult to provide "effective arrangements for continuous consultation" in matters of common concern...
...This position was bound to seem intolerable to any vigorous and self-respecting democracy as soon as its meaning was clear...
...That, beyond any question, is the most important thing that has come out of this conference...
...In other words, a dominion of the so-called British empire, having declared its neutrality, would, when Britain went to war, be obliged to make no distinction between Britain and her enemy...
...From being in a position, only twelve years ago, where they had no voice in British foreign policy, yet were responsible for it in blood and treasure, the dominions have advanced to the point where the British government has no control over them whatever, and where they may adopt any foreign policy that suits them...
...A resolution was accordingly carried by the Imperial War Conference in 1917, on motion of the Prime Minister of Canada, that the post-war organization of inter-imperial relations must assign to the dominions "an adequate voice in foreign policy," and to this end should provide "effective arrangements for continuous consultation in all important matters of common imperial concern, and for such necessary concerted action, founded on consultation, as the several governments may determine...
...In the imperial war cabinet which met in 1917, and in the British empire delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, the dominion premiers sat as equals beside their British colleagues, and shared equally with them in settling the decisive issues of the war and of the peace...
...Thus, unmistakably, the idea of a common empire foreign policy, in which all of the dominions should have a voice, and for which all should be consequently responsible, has been abandoned...
...Whether such an alliance could sustain the shock of war, no one, of course, can tell...
...In other words, was the status achieved in 1917 the last word for the dominions...
...The Imperial Conference that has just closed its sessions in London, has answered those questions...
...The implications of this are obvious...
...To get a true comprehension of what this means, it is necessary to go back to pre-war years...
...To all intents and purposes their local autonomy, their control of their domestic life, was, as Mr...
...A vast deal will depend, however, upon whether Britain is prepared to sacrifice European entanglements for the sake of empire unity...
...But that was all...
...In its stead—and marking the farthest advance that has yet been made in the evolution of the British empire into a mere loose alliance of states—has come the principle that each nation in the empire shall be free to act as it pleases, and that none shall be in a position to bind all or any of the others...
...One of them, unquestionably, is that the British empire today is an empire in name only...
...But over external affairs, over foreign policy, except when it was concerned purely with matters of trade, they had no control at all...
...It was agreed, it is true, that the dominion governments and Parliaments were entitled to decide what part their countries should take in such a war—whether they should remain inactive, or whether, as happened in 1914, they should join in it with all their strength...
...It only remained for this new status to be given formal endorsement...
...The statesmen of Britain may not now fully grasp that fact, but ultimately, it is believed, they will realize it as being of vital importance in maintaining the British league...
...It was not a question of challenging the wisdom of British foreign policy prior to 1914...
...Finally, to make it manifest that such concert in action should be a concert of equals, it was agreed, again at the instance of the Prime Minister of Canada, that separate plenipotentiaries, separately empowered by the king, should sign the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of each of the dominions...
...A landmark had been reached in the constitutional development of the empire...
...152...
...This was an anomaly which in any event could not have lasted much longer...
...They are autonomous communities within the British empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the crown and freely associated as members of the British commonwealth of nations...
...In all essential respects save one, those governments were already on a footing of equality with the government of the United Kingdom...
...that a dominion voice in British foreign policy is not easy of achievement...
...Was it wise, it was asked, for young communities, so far away from Europe, to link themselves so closely with its fate...
...Lloyd George's government, the prime ministers of the dominions were invited to join with the British war cabinet in conducting the policies of the war...
...and almost in the same breath that the British Prime Minister avowed the absolute local autonomy of the dominions, he declared that they could not share with the mother country in the indivisible responsibility for the management of foreign affairs...
...5* A BRITISH LEAGUE OF NATIONS By M. GRATTAN O'LEARY AFTER sitting for more than a month in the historic precincts of 10 Downing Street, the British Empire Conference has thus defined the alliance between Great Britain and the self-governing dominions: Their position and mutual relation may be readily defined...
...Asquith said at the Imperial Conference in 1911, "absolute, unfettered, complete...
...It was a matter of principle, of self-respect, of national duty...
...Should Canada, in particular, being a North-American nation, mix herself up in European concerns—especially in military compacts...
...For its meaning, stated plainly, was that the dominions might at any moment be involved in war as a result of a course of policy which they had had no hand at all in shaping...
...The moment the king declared war, as a result of the policy and upon the advice of his ministers in Britain, every subject of the king was at war, shackled by the diplomatic and economic restrictions of belligerent status...
...Could there be a common empire foreign policy...
...How the new doctrine (separate foreign policies) will work out, only the future can tell...
...Eight troublous post-war years revealed that there may be a difference in the theory of equality, and its actuality...
Vol. 5 • December 1926 • No. 6
