Ottawa
BEFORE we can write again of the Imperial Economic Conference the curtain will be rung down upon the scene at Ottawa. We can claim that its end is better than its beginning if we go back to the last Imperial Conference when it was first suggested that there should be a further Conference on economic relations in Canada. It would be of no good to recall the details of what passed then and in the years between that date and this summer, but we shall not be duly thankful if we do not remind ourselves that some people saw in that last Conference, in the declaration then made which is embodied in the Statute of Westminster, in the repeal of the Colonial Laws Validity Act, a decentralization which must be a beginning of the end of the British Empire. We ourselves saw the risks of change, but also great hopes which should be seized to counteract risks of equal danger, those of standing still with honest pride in the ancient ways while the world continued to turn round and urge us to change and progress. We have somehow been so guided and enlightened that we avoided the decline and fall of the great Empires of Rome and Spain. We had not bled the limbs of the Empire, our Colonies, nor had we demoralized the centre and turned its heart to stone. With high hopes we decided to make the experiment of an Empire whose parts, scattered across the seven seas, should stand on a level of declared equality with each other and the Mother Country.
Others whose faith in freedom is the base of their political philosophy have seen in that same decentraliza- tion the salvation of the Empire, but have dreaded the spectre which they discerned in the constriction of liberty by contracts, by hard-driven bargains, and other inhumane ties. An Empire united not by ties of affection but by fetters of materialism, mercantilism, the pursuit of gain, sends their thoughts back to the Spanish Empire and to the loss of our American Colonies. We ourselves, who have fought for liberty, for freedom of the person, the freedom of thought and the freedom of exchange, are as conscious as any of this danger. During the last month we have almost trembled to think what hard bargaining was going on, what strains were put upon tempers there, what bitterness of disappointment might be aroused here or in some Dominion by the results or lack of results. We feel infinitely relieved now, for good temper and common sense seem to have prevailed to the end. More than that, where delegates might have dragged one another down to the level of customers and tradesmen haggling over their marketing, there has always been present a sense of the often hidden truth that trade need not always be a search for profit for profit's sake alone, but may be rather the supplying of each other's needs. Further, the independence of the parts of the Empire has never blinded the delegates to the unity of the whole. In every Assembly that was not given over wholly to prosaic business there has been enthusiasm in loyalty to the bond of Empire, the Throne. We earnestly hope that this fervour will add some lively sparks to the smoking flax in the saddest of the Dominions represented there, the one that sits apart to-day in the lc.-neliness that her leaders have chosen for her lot.
We will do nothing so invidious as to apportion praise for the results, but we may express some gratitude where we believe that we owe it. The Prime Minister of Canada, acting as an admirable host, has done more than we thought possible to overcome some of those difficulties to which we referred last week. In the British Delegation we suspect that Mr. -Runciman shares with us more than most the economic doctrines that we hold, and it is evident that, though they could net possibly prevail entirely, he or someone has kept then always before the Conference, We look there for some. thing that will, maybe slowly, influence the world. The more argument there is about Free Trade and Protection, the more the parties trace the results of the two alternative policies, discussing and handling examples as they have done at Ottawa, the more evident it always is that freedom of exchange is the ultimate ideal of commerce. We shall be deeply disappointed if Ottawa does not lead the world at least one little step forward towards Free Trade. One more tribute of gratitude we must pay : to Mr. Baldwin. We have not shared the Pro- tectionist views which he has sometimes expresssed vigorously in the past (we have seen some signs of grace in his views of late !). But he has stuck manfully to his view that increased preferences should not mean heightened tariffs against the foreigner. We thank him for that. Much greater, we believe, is our debt for the unequalled influence that he has as a peace- maker. The broadminded comprehension of his speeches seems to give confidence to opposing parties and smooth out the most difficult misunderstandings. He fits the role of Public Orator for us. His philosophy is never so profound that an audience of average wits is lost in it ; nor does it rise to rarified heights in which he cannot be followed ; his language can be lofty or homely as suits his occasion. Just as he has made past opponents in the House of Commons trust him in the National Government, so we believe that through him many suspicions have been dispelled at Ottawa. Here is a triumph of character that the whole Empire values.
We should be wrong if we let our feelings about the Conference as a whole lead us into writing a mere paean of satisfaction. In our chronicle of the " News of the Week " we have recorded some of the details of the Conference and of the conjectured results. Our manu- facturers and traders must not expect too much. If there is a gain in confidence and good will, let them seize it, for it will be worth much to them. Again, though in business one may find generosity and owe gratitude for it, one must not look for it as the rule or demand it as gratia. If Great Britain pleads that she has a population of over forty millions, many of them very poor, and three millions of them out of work, we must not expect that the genuine sympathy which we may arouse will be expressed in com- mercial concessions. The delegates of the other parties are either business men, whose lives have been wrapped up in keen competition, or are men who are perpetually reminded that they are delegated to make without sentiment the best bargain for those whom they represent. Lastly, trade is done by orders given by consumers or traders to traders or producers or manufacturers. Trade is not done between Governments. Governments can help or hinder trade, but ultimately it is men who produce, manufacture, sell, buy and consume ; just as, in a detail of trading, it is that important person, the bagman, not the Consul, whose business it is to get orders. We must not sit down and wait for Ottawa to make trade. It will not. It will be long before any bargain struck there will be ratified ; and it can be annulled again in time. Our manufacturers and traders must not wait upon the action of Governments if trade is to revive. Let them be stirred again by the smell of the battle afar off and arouse again the spirit of their enterprise. Taking gladly what advantage they can from Ottawa, let their reliance be upon themselves again.
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