Chapter XXII · IMPERIAL FEDERATION

It is impossible for anyone to visit Australia without speculating upon the future that awaits a country possessing such enormous natural wealth and resources. The rapid development that has taken place in every part of this continent during the past thirty years—a development for which there is no parallel in history—makes it certain that before long Australia will form a very considerable item in making up the balance of political power throughout the world. Already she has become a financial power of the first magnitude, and the annual yield of gold in Victoria alone has no small share in determining the value of money in every market from Hong-Kong to London.

It is obvious that a country with the natural advantages of Australia, inhabited, as she is, by the only race who have ever proved themselves able to rise from a colony into a nation, has before her, if she choose to claim it, an existence as one of the independent powers of the world. The question, therefore, naturally arises as to whether she will elect to remain a portion of the British Empire, or whether she will prefer to sever the connection that binds her to the mother country.

In the whole history of the world there has probably never been a question raised of such stupendous importance. The remarks which apply to Australia apply with equal force to Canada, and the subject involves a consideration of the British Empire as a whole, its possible development, its possible disintegration, and the relation of both these contingencies to the future of England herself, of her colonies, and of the whole world.

The Imperial Federation of the British Empire is too vast a subject to be considered at any length in a work of this kind, but it is one with which the future of Australia is so intimately connected that it is impossible to pass over it in silence. Imperial Federation has long been regarded as a mere vision of theorists, sufficiently alluring as a sentimental idea, but wholly incapable of being worked out as a practical problem.

Because no definite scheme has as yet been propounded, the unthinking majority, a class ever the foremost to criticise, have sneered at the notion as utterly unpractical, and relegated it in their own minds to the Millennium.

Opinion on the subject may be divided into three classes.

Firstly, there is the opinion of those who believe that the existing relations between England and her colonies are sufficiently close to secure the permanent unity of the Empire, in spite of the causes which at present threaten to break it up. This opinion may fairly be taken as an epitome of the ignorance of those who know nothing whatever about the subject.

Secondly, there is the opinion of those who recognise the likelihood of disintegration, but who face it with perfect equanimity, and entirely deny the possibility of framing any scheme of Federation that will avert it. This is a much more comprehensive class of ignorance than the first, a species of perverted knowledge which has been crystallised into drivelling similes. Colonies are compared to children who leave their parents as soon as they are grown up, or to fruit dropping off a tree when it is ripe. It is impossible to condemn too harshly such mischievous fallacies as these. Our Colonies are not the fruit, they are the branches of the tree itself—stalwart limbs of a mighty empire—and they drop off, not when they are ripe, but when the connection between them and the mother country is rotten.

Thirdly, there is the opinion of those who share neither the false security of the optimists nor the apathy of the pessimists, and who, while they see clearly the disintegrating causes that are undermining the fabric of the Empire, have set themselves resolutely to work to elaborate a practical scheme for reconstructing its political organisation upon a permanent basis. These are the men who, with a full recognition of the danger of doing nothing, and of the difficulty of doing anything, have rescued Imperial Federation from the misty regions of dreamland, and brought it within the scope of practical politics.

The standard of Imperial Federation has been set up, and the alacrity with which men of all political parties, in every part of the Empire, have hastened to enlist in the ranks of its supporters, proves conclusively how powerful a hold the idea has over all the leading spirits of the age. The extraordinary support which it has received at the outset has almost entirely silenced the enemies of the League which has now been formed. Here and there some editor of a newspaper, determined to prove that his ignorance does not arise from want of information, but from inability to digest it, exposes the petrifaction of his intellect in the shape of an article sneering at the promoters of Imperial Federation, because they have as yet laid down no definite scheme.

Fortunately it is not by babbling critics such as these that the matter will be decided.

Imperial Federation is a question that will be tried entirely upon its own merits, and if ever any practical form of it be carried out, it will be due to the “masterly inactivity” of those who forebore to hamper its development at the outset by any premature discussion of details. The time is rapidly approaching when some well-defined and precise scheme for the Federation of the Empire must be laid down.

But in the meantime it is the wise policy of the League to arouse popular enthusiasm in every British community, to point out the dangers that threaten, and the necessity for immediate action; so that when the time comes for the details of any scheme to be considered, the various portions of the Empire may be prepared to make mutual concessions to avert a common evil, and to secure a common good.

The ever-increasing majority in whose hands the power of deciding the destiny of their country has been placed, are men who, in the struggle for existence, have little leisure to devote to the consideration of politics. When a fair statement is laid before them, the working-classes are marvellously shrewd in discerning in which direction their best interests lie; but it is too much to expect them to evolve, out of their inner consciousness, a knowledge of what may be termed the unwritten current history of the world.

It is the solemn duty of every statesman worthy of the name to enlighten the minds of the working-classes upon those momentous questions which have now, by an extended suffrage, been surrendered into their hands for decision. The masses of the people have not the means for forming an independent judgment upon foreign affairs, and are only too ready to take their opinions at second hand from those who, from their position, are supposed to be qualified to direct them.

A change so momentous as the dismemberment of the Empire of Greater Britain is not accomplished in a day. It is a process so gradual that, unless we look carefully both at the past and at the present, we do not recognise that it is taking place. He alone reads history aright who, observing the events which conduce to the rise and fall of nations, traces those events back to their true cause, and applies the experience so gained to the solution of the problems of the present. Unfortunately the people of England at the present time are likely to gain but a scant insight into Imperial policy, from observing the flounderings of a Ministry whose actions have alienated every single European Power, and who have carried War with Dishonour into almost every portion of their own Empire.

Whatever questions of Colonial policy have been brought before them have been treated by the present Ministry with a mixture of stupidity and indifference which clearly proves them to be unworthy of the name of statesmen. It is evident that in the hearts of more than one of them the cry of “Perish India” finds only too ready an echo. The importance of retaining India is a question which cannot be discussed here, for its abandonment is bound up with the Disintegration of the Empire, and with the ruin of millions of the working-classes in Great Britain. It is sufficient that “Perish India” is identified with the name of a veteran agitator, a retrospect of whose long and still unfinished career shows that, under the mask of hypocritical friendship, he has never neglected an opportunity of injuring the working-classes.

We should be sorry to believe that the present Ministry in any way represents the feeling of England toward the Colonies. Most of its members neither know nor care anything whatever about foreign affairs, and the few whose political and geographical knowledge is not entirely bounded by the “silver streak” are consistent in nothing but a fixed determination to alienate the Colonies.

Mr. Gladstone repudiates the idea of Imperial Federation as “wholly visionary,” and declares that the most he hopes for as a statesman is to effect a separation from the Colonies without bloodshed.

If Lord Derby and Lord Granville are allowed to pursue their present treatment of Colonial interests much longer, it is probable that even the modest hope of Mr. Gladstone will not be realised.

The Colonial correspondence during the last twenty years shows that neither Lord Granville nor Lord Derby have ever lost an opportunity of insulting Colonial susceptibilities and injuring Colonial interests.

In 1870 it was openly stated in the Dominion Parliament of Canada by Sir Alexander Galt and Mr. Huntington that it was with unfeigned regret that they were obliged to conclude that it was the deliberate intention of Her Majesty’s Ministers to effect a separation between the two countries. Even stronger was the feeling which was aroused in New Zealand at the same time.

But all previous blunders of Colonial policy fade into insignificance when compared with the New Guinea question, and we can conceive nothing better calculated to produce a revolution in Australia than the conduct of the English Government in the matter. That it has not done so is entirely due to the fact that the Australians are able to discriminate between the English Government and the English people.

But no one can pretend that distinctions of this kind are a basis upon which the unity of the Empire can be long maintained.

Those who imagine that the existing relations between England and her Colonies are satisfactory will do well to study the New Guinea question, for it is one which conclusively proves that the Empire cannot remain united upon its present political basis.

The main facts connected with the case are well known to all. New Guinea is an island off the north-east coast of Queensland. Its southern shores form one side of Torres Straits, which is one of the main approaches to Australia, and altogether the island bears about the same geographical relation to Queensland that Ireland does to England.

For many years New Guinea has always been looked upon as belonging by natural right to the continent of Australia; but it was not until the danger of foreign annexation was felt that Australian statesmen realised the importance of at once securing the island for their country.

So great was the scare lest France should secure a foothold in the island, that even the delay of applying to the English Government was felt to be dangerous, and Queensland annexed the whole unoccupied portion of the island, with the full consent of Australia, and then invited the English Government to sanction the annexation.

The contemptuous incivility with which the Australian proposals were met proves, not only that Lord Derby had no sense of the delicate relations between a mother country and her colonies, but also that he entirely failed to realise the intrinsic importance of the question.

Setting aside any question of good feeling or decent behaviour, so as to bring the matter as far as possible within the scope of the present Foreign Office, it was surely most impolitic to irritate Australia by an uncivil demurrer to her just claims, when there was nothing whatever to be gained by opposing them.

Finding that open opposition was arousing a feeling in Australia which it would be difficult to deal with, Lord Derby then had recourse to treachery to accomplish his object of thwarting the wishes of the Australians. Yielding so far to the pressure which was brought to bear upon him, he annexed a portion of the island, and allayed the fears of Australia on the score of foreign intervention, by giving the most unqualified assurances that no other Power should be allowed to touch New Guinea.

While these very assurances were on their way out to the Colonies, it now transpires that Lord Derby and Lord Granville were engaged in handing over a portion of New Guinea to Germany, for no other conceivable purpose than at once to insult and to injure the most loyal of communities.

We look in vain for the motive which prompted this betrayal of Australian interests, but the result is, unfortunately, only too apparent. The question is not one of sentiment, but of real and tangible interest.

In annexing New Guinea, Australia was simply making a wise and politic effort to avail herself of geographical advantages, to secure a peaceful future. But the presence of the most powerful military nation in Europe, in an island adjacent to her shores, has entirely altered the prospects of Australia, and has inflicted a lasting injury upon her future.

It is not by the geographical advantages of an isolated position, but by an enormous addition to her naval and military force, that Australia must in future be prepared to secure herself from foreign aggression; and for this she has only the English Government to thank.

The surrender of Australian interests to Germany by English statesmen has aroused a feeling of bitter resentment and humiliation throughout the Colonies, and the feeling is not likely to be weakened by the discovery that while the action itself was discreditable to statesmen, the manner in which it was done was unworthy of gentlemen.

The recent offer of military assistance from the Colonies must awake enthusiastic admiration in the heart of every true Englishmen for the patriotism and loyalty of our kin beyond the sea. But the joy with which we in England hail the offer must be considerably lessened by the reflection that while the troops are embarking in Sydney for Suakim, the Colonial Secretary is being burnt in effigy in various parts of Australia.

Too many of us will be only too ready to jump to the conclusion that because the Colonies have shown themselves willing to take an active part in fighting our battles, therefore Imperial Federation is a fait accompli, and that nothing more remains to be done. A more mischievous delusion can hardly be imagined, and it is of the utmost importance that the present attitude of the Colonies should not be misunderstood.

The present offer of military assistance proves, indeed, that the Colonies are able and willing to bear their share of Imperial Defence. But we must remember that the offer is coupled with a protest against the recent action of the English Government, which no statesman will be wise to neglect.

The tone of the Australian Press with regard to the New Guinea question is a solemn warning that the present relations between the mother country and the Colonies cannot exist much longer.

The enthusiasm which prompted Australia to send her money and her men to help England in the Soudan, while still smarting under her betrayal to Germany by the English Government, is indeed the triumph of loyalty over exasperation. It is, in fact, a direct overture for Imperial Federation, and we shall do well to accept it as such, and as nothing more.

The sixteen Cabinet Ministers who have brought dishonour and disaster upon their country in every quarter of the globe, and who still cling desperately to office like barnacles to the bottom of a wreck, undoubtedly do not represent either the intelligence or the feeling of the country which they still pretend to govern. This the Australians recognise; but while their loyalty at present remains unshaken, they see clearly that where such a state of things exists their own interests cannot fail to be compromised, of which fact they have lately had a most disastrous example.

Let all those who believe that Imperial Federation now exists ask themselves if it is likely that the Colonies will continue to supply men and money for wars in the conduct of which they have no voice, and which are carried on upon purely party principles by a Government in whose imbecility they originated.

Is it likely that, after the warning of New Guinea, the Colonies will continue to surrender their interests to the arbitrary control of statesmen who betray every determination to repeat the blunders which caused the American Revolution?

It is possible that in years to come England may alienate Australia in the same way that she alienated America. Undoubtedly a prolonged succession of such statesmen as at present guide her foreign policy would have the effect of forcing every one of England’s Colonies, who were strong enough to do so, to declare their independence.

Fortunately, however, Imperial Federation is not a matter that will be left to be manipulated into a party question by politicians whose blunders have made all Europe merry for four years. It will be decided by the working men of Great Britain and her Colonies, whose interests are most deeply affected by the question; and it is probable that when the time comes, as it shortly will, that the matter must be settled one way or the other, they will decide in favour of retaining their respective positions as portions of one Empire.

There exists in Australia, among all classes, a feeling of loyalty and affection for the old country that has been well described as a passion. To those who look below the surface, there is something very instructive in the sentiment that prompts all Australians, born and bred in the colony, invariably to speak of England as “home,” though very possibly they may never have been there, and never intend to go. But although sentiment is undoubtedly an important element, there are other and far more weighty considerations which nearly affect the future of England and her Colonies.

The cardinal point upon which Imperial Federation turns is Imperial Defence; and the more closely we investigate both questions, the more impossible we shall find it is to separate them. The growing population of England, combined with her fiscal policy during the last thirty years, have made her dependent upon foreign supply for the necessaries of life, to an extent that it is impossible to contemplate without the gravest misgivings.

The only precaution that could neutralise the danger would be an enormous addition to the strength of her navy, and this has been neglected. At the same time the increase in the navies of other Powers has been so great that it is now doubtful whether, in the event of war, England could defend her own shores and at the same time afford sufficient protection to her commerce to avert the horrors of starvation.

It is evident, then, that if the Empire is to hold together, the Colonies must be prepared to contribute their due share towards its defence. That they are perfectly willing to do so there is little doubt, provided that their true position as integral portions of the Empire be recognised. England lost America because in the days of her weakness she never made it worth her while to continue as part of the Empire. She made the fatal mistake of treating her as an outlying estate, from which as much as possible was to be squeezed for her own benefit; and the consequence was, as soon as America was strong enough she severed the connection.

The slightest attempt on the part of England to repeat the same tactics with regard to Australia at the present time, or to treat with her otherwise than as an equal in the matter of Federation, would inevitably be followed by separation. And very justly so; for the question of Imperial Federation, though it is undoubtedly for the advantage both of England and of Australia, is of infinitely greater importance to the future of the mother country than to that of the colony. Both Australia and Canada have before them a glorious future, whether they remain portions of the Empire or become independent. But the future of England herself, deprived of her Colonies, is too gloomy a picture to dwell upon for a moment.

Indeed the Disintegration of the Empire would be a sufficiently deplorable catastrophe, supposing that it were inevitable. It is rendered doubly so by the brilliant prospect that is opened up by the possibility of Federation.

There is now, outside of England herself, a population of 10,000,000 of Englishmen, inhabiting a territory of almost boundless extent, and with unlimited capabilities for development. In about fifty years these 10,000,000 will have increased to 50,000,000, which, with the population of the mother country, will make a total of at least 100,000,000.

The question, therefore, for Englishmen in every quarter of the globe to ask themselves is this: Are we, by a wise and far-seeing policy, going to unite this enormous nationality in the close relations of an Imperial Federation; or are we, by neglecting the lessons of the past, and by ignoring the warnings of the present, going to allow the vast mass to resolve itself into hostile and helpless fragments, most of which will fall into obscurity among the increasing Powers of the world?

Shall our children and our grandchildren see the sublime spectacle of 100,000,000 of the most highly-civilised race in the world, inhabiting an Empire upon which the sun never sets, united by the bonds of race and religion, and still more closely united by the interests of an inter-dependent trade, secure from the attack of any foe from without, and developing an ever-increasing prosperity within; or shall they be forced to mourn over the ruins of the finest Empire that the world has ever seen, to watch one after another of its provinces detached from their centre, whether alienated by England’s own folly or torn from her by a Power which she can no longer resist; and, finally, to watch England herself, shorn of the strength which her remote Dependencies alone can give her, sinking beneath the burden of a paralysed trade and an enormous population, into an obscurity among the nations from which she will never rise again?

A Federation of all parts of the British Empire would form by far the most mighty Power that has ever existed in the world, and could laugh at any possible combination of hostile nations. England’s future as one of the leading Powers depends upon the success of the movement that has now started; and we believe that although an independent existence is open to more than one of her Colonies, they will one and all prefer the still more glorious future that awaits them as portions of the Empire of Greater Britain.