Mr. Amery's Tour M R. AMERY returned from his Empire Tour
on Sunday. Since he left England in July last, the Secretary of State for the Dominions has travelled 55,000 miles and visited most of the important centres in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada and, wherever he has gone, he has addressed gatherings on Inter- Imperial Relations—in all he has made 300 speeches.
It is with no idea of detracting from the work of former Colonial Secretaries when we say that Mr. Amery's tour has opened an entirely new chapter in inter-common- wealth relations, and all stay-at-home Britons, irrespective of party, should say " Thank you " to him for the admirable work he has done. Mr. Amery's tour is important, not merely because it has enabled a member of the Government of the British Isles to establish personal contact with the British Governments across the seas, but because it has established a precedent which we hope will never be forgotten. In an interview in the Times Mr. Amery expressed this thought. He said " I do not think any Dominion Secretary in future would ,be really doing the work of his department if he did not make the time to visit the different Dominions." Mr. Amery has shown that it is possible for a member of the British Cabinet, occupying one of the most important positions at the disposal of the Crown to find time in a bnsy life to be _ absent from -Gieat Britain for seven months to study conditions in the British Common- wealth at first hand.
The tour of the Secretary of the Dominions does not in any sense supersede the Imperial Conferences ; rather does it supplement them. Too frequently in the past, inter-Imperial visits have been one-sided. Members of the Dominion Governments have frequently come to London, but the peoples of the Dominions have had to rely on passing visitors or on their own returning statesmen for up-to-date information about the Old Country. Mr. Amery's tour, following so closely on Mr. Baldwin's visit to Canada last summer, has shown that the parish pump era in Downing Street has gone for ever. A tour of the Dominions every two or three years should be considered part of the recognized routine of the Secretary for the Dominions in future, and while it may not be practicable to visit all the Dominions in one tour as Mr. Amery has done, it should be quite possible to visit one or two Dominions each year of office.
Mr. Amery's journalistic experience served, him in good stead and the fact that he was readily accessible to the representatives of the Press was one of the causes which contributed to the success of the tour. Mr. Amery visited South Africa and Canada at an important moment in their careers—a few months after the announce- ment of the new status of the Dominions at the Imperial Conference.- As far as we know, with minor exceptions, no serious criticism was addressed to Mr. Amery from any quarter, which says much for the tact that he displayed.
- With increasing facilities for travel, the task of keeping public opinion, both in the Dominions and in Great Britain, informed as to the common problems of the British Commonwealth should be much easier than it has been in the east. We are not without hope that in future it may be possible to arrange for the. Imperial Conference to be. held in the chief capitals of the Empire in turn, but whether this may be found feasible or not, sectional conferences will no doubt be held in different parts of the Empire. Second only in importance to the work of the Imperial Conferences are visits of the British statesmen to the Dominions, such as that which Mr. Amery has just concluded.
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