The League of Nations and the British Empire
Tan British Commonwealth of Nations is a part of that greater society to which we owe our loyalty—Western civili- zation. That civilization has been built up by the thought and labour of many generations of great men.. People speak loosely of " empire-builders " ; but it is not, as a rule, conquests and annexations and strokes of finance that have built up civiliza- tion. Soldiers and traders, yes ; but chiefly the soldier who has put the protection of the weak above military glory ; the trader whose word is his bond ; the saint, the thinker, the man of science, the millions of men and women who have done their daily duties well—these are they who have built up our civilization. Citizens of this country owe a duty to that civilization as a whole, but a particular loyalty to the British Commonwealth of Nations._ Fortunately, none but the narrowest mind could imagine that there is any clash between the two loyalties. If European civilization goes, then the British Empire will go too. If the British Empire 'were to fall, it is doubtful if Westernciviliza- tion would long survive. For, as the Prime Minister has very truly said, one more war in the West would bring not only the British Empire but the civilization of the ages down with a crash like that of Rome.
We have to face the fact that all the great Empires except our own have fallen. The German, the Austrian, the Russian, the -Turkish, the Chinese are gone. Japan and France are scarcely world empires. The British world-empire stands alone, with the forces which destroyed the others largely concentrated against it.
In some respects, indeed, it is hardly any longer an Empire, except in a few Crown Colonies. It is already freely spoken of as a Commonwealth ,rather than an Empire, Before the War, an Imperial Parliament and:a Central Government exercised a great, if ill-defined, authority over all 'parts of the Empire. All that is now changed. The absolute equality and inde- pendence of all the Dominions was laid down by the Imperial Conference of 1926, and the very phrase " Imperial Parlia- ment " expunged. To-day there is only a British Parliament, equal but in no sense paramount to the South African or Canadian. General Hertzog, formerly a professed Sepa- ratist, has declared that " the old Empire no longer exists. All that remains is a free alliance of Great Britain and six Dominions co-operating as friends. . . . The will binding us is our own will, and if to-morrow we want to get out of the the Empire we shall go out."
Whether we take the view that the Imperial Government has shown a high generosity in resigning its claims, or merely that it has recognized the limits of its power, we must accept the fact that it took the wise course. This, however, does not alter the fact that the bonds of Empire throughout themulti- form structure have been loosened as a result of recent develop- ments. It is somewhat shaken, it is loosened, and it is always growing. It needs tranquillity in order to solve its own problems.
The Revolution that overthrew the various thrones of Europe seems to have stopped. Europe is fairly stable. The persistent efforti'made by the Russian Government to produce revolutions in Poland, the Baltic States, Rumania, Bulgaria and, above all, Germany may be said now to have definitely failed. Little progress has resulted from the efforts made in India, and even in China the movement would appear to have been defeated for the time being. Over the rest of Asia, no doubt, the Soviet system has successfully established itself, and is not particularly dangerous.
Yet there are still many dangers ahead, possibilities o7 world war, or of violent convulsions which may, almost amount to war and which could not fail to haye their effect on the Empire. There is the clash of colour. How long, for example, will the negroes of Africa accept the absolute, and often harsh, domination of the white races, especially when the French have so obligingly taught them the use of the rifle ? There is the clash of civilizations : will the Moslem world, or the Hindu or Buddhist for that matter, stay always Passive under the rule of the Christian ? There is the problem of migration : how long will the overcrowded populations of the world submit to be excluded from the
empty spaces ? Of course, war would solve none of these problems ; it would. only make them worse. But any one of them, if rashly handled, might give rise to war, and such a war, wherever it arose, could hardly fail to disrupt the-Empire. .
Now within the boundaries of our own Cornmonwealth we can, so we hope, solve these problems patiently, without violence, by the • methods of fair play. But outside these boundaries the same problems are equally acute, if not more SO ; and if it were not for the constant moderating and pacifying influence' of the League of Nations we might at any moment find that one of them had broken into conflagration. It is difficult, 'for example, to over-estimate the value of the work of the Mandates Commission in steadily and con- tinuously keeping watch over the government of the weaker races by the stronger, and seeing that no violent and intoler- able oppression in any territory under its purview shall drive the subject peoples to acts of despair. The League is the great shock-absorber that protects the shaken and growing Empire.
. There are three possible relationships between the White and the other races • of the- world. The White may adopt a system of exploitation and virtual slavery over the rest, or they may grant a nominal independence and equality. which breaks down fatally in practice ; or, again, they may accept the principle laid down in. Article XXII.-of the Covenant of the League of Nations., This makes the welfare and progress of the less advanced races " a sacred trust of civilization2J The phrase was a British one and was - based on the practice, or at. least- the ideals, of the British. Empire- .at
its best. . • _ ,
Of course, no nation lives:consistently up to- its ideals ; and no doubt it is true that no nation is; strictly speaking, quite good enough to be another's master. Let us remember also that all Empires are hated, and that all except -the British have already gone down. It is not difficult to understand the existence of an immense and unceasing propaganda through- out all the subject parts of- the world, anti-Christian, anti- 1,eague, and above all anti-British.: _ The great advantage which our country now posSesaes this contest, as contrasted with pre-War days,-is that thronih the League of Nations we can now, as long as our cause just, confute false statements and appeal' to world opinidn. An example of this method is to be found in the action of Sir Austen Chamberlain in regard to the anti-British propaganda in China, in laying all his information before the Council of
the League. • '
But apart from all this we need to remember the immense international complexity of modern industrial and onni- nierciahlife and the dependence of Great Britain on over- ea imports. Peace is a necessity to the Empire. The abolitien of war among civilized nations is not assured; but it is within human power.: It is almost within reach. Judging from my own few years of experience • as a member Of -the' Imperial Delegation at Geneva, I: should say that the' inost • serious anxiety that troubles the minds of the Dominions in -the sphere of international relations is the fear of being somehow dragged into war again as they were in 1914. Everywhere there is a search for some agreement that will definitely banish and " outlaw " war. France, Germany, and Belgium have, in the Locarno Treaties, " mithiWed " war between themselves.. Over seventy treaties of a similar character are I believe, in existence. M. Briand hai made his celebrated offer to the United States of a treaty renouncing War between the two States, and Mr. Kellogg his replied with his proPosal for a general renunciation all round of war as an instrument of national policy.'
For every civilized nation the Most vital interest is to be free from the prospect of war. Most of all is this true of the British Einpire. We stand to gain nothing by war we stand to lose all. The way to preserve civilization now is not to prepare for war, but to advance boldly on the broad road provided by the 'League to permanent peace among the civilized nations,
GualzaT MunitAy,
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