advance was taken when the British Government invited the Dominions to send representatives to the Committee of Imperial Defence, and still more when the Prime Minister of Australia was invited to join in the deliberations of the British Cabinet, having previously availed himself of a similar invitation from the Canadian Cabinet on his journey through the Great Dominion. The Imperial Conferences held in the past have proved of decided value, and it might be possible to hold them more frequently-say every two years. The advantage of these being attended by the Prime Minister is that he knows what he is able to accomplish by means of his majority in the local Parliament, and is in a position to give undertakings which lift the Conference far above the level of a glorified debating society.' During his visit to London the Prime Minister of each Dominion might also attend the meetings of the Committee of Defence, and, on occasions when matters of moment were to be discussed, he might be invited to take part in a sitting of the British Cabinet. In alternate years, i.e. when the Imperial Conference is not sitting, the Minister of Defence might visit England, and in like fashion be admitted to the inner Councils of the Empire. In that way His Majesty's Ministers overseas would be made to feel themselves more truly Ministers of a great Empire. Every Dominions Minister who visits England will admit that he has gained by his contact with British statesmen, and that his mental horizon has been enlarged by the information he has acquired. Would it not be possible for members of the British Government occasionally to visit the outer marches of the Empire? The interchange of visits of members of Parliament promoted by the Empire Parliamentary Association is all to the good, and might be further extended.

The question of the future trade relations of the Empire is too large to be entered upon in this article, but it may be stated, without hesitation, that New Zealand, which for years has had a preferential tariff in favour of the mother-country, and whose Parliament last year gave power to the Government to impose a surtax of fifty per cent. (of course after the war) upon goods coming from countries which are at present our alien enemies, will gladly welcome any plan for bringing

about closer commercial relations with the mothercountry and other parts of the Empire. She will enthusiastically support proposals calculated to prevent Germany from again enriching herself at our expense, and perhaps thereby financing some future war of aggression. Judging by our experience in the past, however, something more than tariffs will be required to make our position secure. Evidence given before the Dominions Royal Commission showed that New Zealand's preferential tariff in favour of British goods was to a large extent nullified by the fact that British shipowners, to stave off German shipping competition, carried German goods from Hamburg to New Zealand at a much lower rate than that charged on British goods shipped from British ports. Probably as much could be done to conserve the Empire trade by making full use of our shipping supremacy as could be effected by means of tariffs.

There are other ways in which the Empire may be drawn together without an entire change of its organic constitution. The ideal to be aimed at was clearly seen by Prof. Seeley nearly forty years ago. 'If,' he said, 'the colonies are not, in the old phrase, possessions of England, then they must be a part of England, and we must adopt this view in earnest.' A New Zealander or an Australian in England is still treated in some respects as if he were a foreigner-for example, in being compelled to pay English income tax, not only on his English income, which would be perfectly just and fair, but on his New Zealand or Australian income as well, notwithstanding that he pays tax on the latter to the Dominion Government. It is only right to add that an Englishman who takes up his residence in the Dominions is, so far as income tax is concerned, treated in the same hostile and inequitable fashion. These are sources of irritation which should be removed by a reciprocal arrangement between the mother-country and the Dominions. New Zealand, it may be added, has already made overtures with that object in view. The Finance Act (1916) provides that, in any case in which excess profits are chargeable with excess profits duty, both in New Zealand and Great Britain, the Minister of Finance may arrange with the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the duty shall be collected in one country only-the one which levies the

heavier tax-and the proceeds shall be apportioned between the two Governments as agreed.

It may doubtless be taken for granted that after the war greater facilities will be given to lads in the Dominions to enter the Army and Navy, and that the system of interchange of officers will be further extended. But there are other directions in which partitions which at present divide might with advantage be removed. Immediately after the South African War the present writer, in a letter to The Times,' urged that, the colonists having shown that they were prepared to fight for the Empire, every opportunity should be given to them to work for it. He suggested that colonial candidates should be given equal facilities with the residents of the British Isles to enter the English and Indian Civil Service and especially the Department ruled by the Colonial Office. This, it was pointed out, could be done by holding the examinations at the chief colonial centres at the same time as they are held in the United Kingdom, the papers of the colonial candidates being sent to the examiners and judged with the rest entirely on their merits. At present, a young New Zealander who wishes to enter the Imperial Service must go to England for his examination; and few parents can afford this expense, especially with the possibility of failure to be considered.

The system of Rhodes scholarships has placed the benefits of a liberal education at Oxford within the reach of many colonial youths of promise. Trinity College, Cambridge, some time ago, generously gave a scholarship to be awarded by the Governing Body of Canterbury College (University of New Zealand); and this has made a desirable link between the old university and the new. Christ's College Grammar School, Christchurch, New Zealand, which has founded itself on traditions of the English public schools, is the pioneer of another form of educational interchange which bears the promise of much good, if funds could be found for its extension. An arrangement has been come to with the Head Masters of Clifton and Rugby for the interchange of masters. A Clifton master took one of the houses at Christ's College; and a Christ's College master, born and educated in New Zealand, had the great privilege of serving for a couple of years or so as a master at Rugby. The benefits of

such an arrangement extend far beyond what might appear on the surface. The advantage to the New Zealand master and the New Zealand school is apparent. But the master who has returned to Clifton will be far better qualified than before to talk to the boys there on Imperial duties and responsibilities. Some of them may intend to try their fortunes overseas; if so, the master will not only be able to give them practical advice from first-hand information, but, by means of the personal friendships he has formed in New Zealand, to assist them in obtaining a footing in the new land.

It is hardly necessary to emphasise the value of cheaper cable communication as a means of linking up the component parts of the Empire. The present writer, in giving evidence before the Dominions Royal Commission, especially urged the importance of cheaper week-end messages for social purposes. English parents who send their sons to the Dominions would lose to a large extent the sense of being cut off from them which they feel at present, if for, say, half a crown, or even five shillings, they could occasionally receive a brief telegram telling of their welfare. The Dominions Commission, in an interim report, laid great stress on the importance of cheaper cabling and expressed the opinion that the feeling of devotion to the Empire and of loyalty to the mother-country will be strengthened in proportion as increased facilities are offered for keeping in close personal touch with friends and relatives overseas.' Some concessions have been made, but we are far from Sir Henniker Heaton's ideal of a penny a word.

Such suggestions, slight as they may appear, regarding the more or less mechanical, or at least material, means of unifying the Empire, may have their use in the evolutionary process which in time may give us an Empire more theoretically complete and logical in its constitution than it is at present. But, apart from the ties of a common literature, the common liberties, and common traditions, which have bound us together in the past, our union has been firmly cemented by the bloodbrotherhood of the Great War.

(3) SOUTH AFRICA.

AT a Congress of the Nationalist Party held at Worcester in the Cape Province in September 1916 the following resolution was unanimously passed:

'This Congress, having heard of the movement in the United Kingdom and its Colonies in favour of the reconstruction of the British Empire, declares itself as strongly as possible against such reconstruction which may have the effect of any reduction of existing rights of Colonial self-government or any interference with the immediate power or rule of the people of the Union or our Government over matters of moment to the country.'

Mr Fremantle, who moved the resolution, remarked that, if a Federal Council or Parliament were established for the whole Empire, he foresaw both civil war in South Africa and war between the British Empire and South Africa. The sooner the British public and the public in the other self-governing Dominions realise what is implied by such a resolution, passed by such a body, the better for all concerned.

The Nationalist Party in the Union polled some 80,000 votes at the last general election. They at present occupy 28 seats out of 120 in the House of Assembly. They received these votes and achieved this measure of success, because, negatively, they carefully and consistently avoided any condemnation of the rebellion of 1914, and because, positively, they preached in season and out of season a doctrine diametrically opposed to that of General Botha-namely, that the South African is under no obligation whatsoever, political or moral, to fight for the British Commonwealth, and that no indissoluble identity of interest exists between the Union and the rest of the Commonwealth. This attitude has not been modified with the progress of the war. If anything, it has hardened. Were a general election to take place to-morrow, the Nationalist poll would probably be increased. Electioneering experts, not confined to the Nationalists, even go so far as to predict that in the next Parliament the Nationalists will have a larger number of representatives than any other single party. That view probably gives insufficient weight to the