A Wider Commonwealth?
By SIR KARL KNUDSEN THE British Commonwealth as I see it is an association of nations and races practising the League Covenant and the Kellogg Pact between themselves. If so the ideas that imbue it know no limit, be it of race, creed, or country, and the only essential condition of member- ship could well be that the associates must be of like mind. That was Cecil Rhodes' idea of the Empire, within which he certainly saw ultimately the United States and possibly Germany. Probably he also visualized the adhesion of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Belgium. Out of that conception what possibilities arise ?
In regard to that I would put three questions : Can the British Commonwealth provide practical leadership towards the goal of organizing peace and world unity ?
Does that Commonwealth provide the key to the world's political problem ?
Can it become the nucleus round which can crystallize the efforts of those who understand, believe in, and are willing to trust, what we may call the League idea ? My answer to all three is unhesitatingly, yes. Obviously I do not mean that other countries should apply for Dominion Status, but such trifles as formalities have never hindered British statesmanship.
Both in the political and economic sphere regional agreements are coming to the fore. One such agreement has not received the attention it deserves, viz., the Oslo Convention. It was the sole practical response to Mr. Graham's appeal at Geneva for tariff reductions and a tariff truce. And the countries included in it went as far as .dignity allowed to remind Great Britain that they would be eager participants in efforts announced by the National Government programme for the freeing of world trade and for low tariffs or none. They were told .pretty clearly that the Empire ,was too busy to talk just then. Why has not the Oslo Convention received the attention it deserves ? The reasons are two-fold : one is the mental laziness which persists in thinking vaguely Of Scandinavia generally, although the three Norther.n countries have not, and cannot have, any political or economic Unity by themselves. They are in fact competitors and by no means complementary on the -economic side, and, in consequence their foreign policies have differed. They can only meet in a still larger unity. The second reason is the prevailing ignorance of their aggregate importance in inter- national trade.
In what direction, then, can the British Commonwealth move to enlarge a field dominated. by the idea which it represents ? Only countries democratically governed can be considered as being of" like mind." The approval of a dictator is no subititute for a people's consent. While it Must remain an axiom of British policy that all doors must be kept open for co-operation with America, recent events have proved that the time is not yet. While France is a democracy, her general attitude is so much that of a hermit among the nations and, in addition, her string of military pacts is so contrary to the Commonwealth idea that an approach there seems impossible. Again, Germany, which Cecil Rhodes visual- ized as a partner, has excluded herself since she became Hitlerite.
i What' remains s the Oslo Convention group. Why should not the Empire take steps to endeavour to establish a consultative political pact, coupled with an economic entente, it being understood that ' the door should be open for all " like-minded " nations to join ? That would strengthen the genuine League idea within the League of Nations, and the benefit to world trade through the banding themselves together of the Ocean nations might be immense.
On the economic side, figures which I could cite in detail lead to conclusions which may surprise many. The foreign trade of the 27f million people in the Oslo Convention countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium)—exceeds that of the 22i millions in the self-governing Dominions, and while smaller than that of the 122 millions in the U.S.A. during their inflation period exceeded it on the import side in 1932. Further, per head of population it equals that of the United Kingdom, and—last but not least—these countries import considerably more than they export, in this respect differing from the Dominions and resembling the United Kingdom.
The conditional abolition of the most-favoured-nation clause would be inevitable, and in any case it has very few friends left ; in its place we should have that clause operating among a number of nations joined together in upholding the League and Pact, aspiration, and because within their borders the highest standards of labour conditions obtain, tariffs against each other would be rendered unnecessary. It is futile to hope that tariffs could disappear at once, but their gradual extinction on the Ouchy model would be facilitated.
In the above figure no mention has been Made of the trade of India and the Crown Colonies. It would carry me beyond the limits of this article, but it may be claimed that their trade, coupled with that of the Dutch colonial dominions, adds considerable weight to the arguments advanced. But in weighing these propositions there are two aspects which mint not be passed over. The first is the strategic. As to that, I can" only say that anyone who—like myself—is brought into close contact with the importance of the North Sea and the territorial. waters of all the Oslo Convention countries is not likely to forget their significance.
The second and rather intriguing aspect which occurs to me is : how will the task of the Commonwealth of bringing different races into co-operation be affected ? Would the participation of Holland act as a solvent of what remains of South African mistrust ? And how would the important Norwegian and Swedish com- munities in U.S.A. react ?
There remains only one more point to consider, and that is the one which led me to put these thoughts on paper, the rise of Hitlerism. Its ambition to draw four of the Oslo group within its sphere has been made abundantly plain. Equally plain is it that those countries are repelled by it. But *hat will their position be if the British Common- wealth should become introspective and look away from Europe ? Hitler talks stupidly of the Nordic race as if the Prussians could be so classified. Saxon and Norsemen and Norman met in Britain, which is far more clearly entitled to be regarded as the Nordic centre. When a band of vikings landed on a foreign shore, they were asked : "Who is your master ? " Their reply was : "We have no master but a chosen leader." Who can doubt that constitutional monarchy as we know it is a perfect rendering of the viking ideal of leadership, while Hitlerism is its caricature ?
But if anything is to be done, the initiative must come from the British Commonwealth in its own well-appre- ciated interest.
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