The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1910-09-13

SUBJECT OF ueallnB WlJn Jne HOUSE Vi |
Lords the secrets of the conference !
have been well kept The extreme
radicals, the labor men and the Irish, !
who were all anxious for an imme-
date and final battle with the Lords,
made desperate efforts to learn what
was going on, but the members of the
conference met them with stony
silence. 1t has leaked out, however,
that the discussions of the leaders COW
cred far wider range than the pow
ers of the upper house. Home rule
for ireland has been discussed, and 1t
is significant that tip has gone out
to the Tory orators that they had
better drop this subject for a while.
The Importance of this will be realiz-
ed when it is mentioned that opposi-
ton to Irish home rule has been the
stock in trade of the Tory orator for
nearly 30 years.
Far more significant still is mani
festo signed by nearly half the Scot
fish NJ. P.'s, including men of all par
ties, demanding home rule for Scot
land The manifesto points out that
Scotland is neglected by the imperial
Parliament, and that when she is le-
gislated for the legislation is often
useless because Scottish conditions
are not understood by Englishmen.
Wales had for long time been de-
handing home rule.
King George a Keen Politician.
King George, it is said, is keenly
sympathetic with all of these demands.
He is a far keener politician than his
father was. Before he came to the
throne he used to spend three or four
evenings a week sitting in a gallery
of the House of Commons following
the debates, and he was nearly always
in his place in the House Of Lords
when a big debate was on. More
over, he is very seriously impressed
with the fact that he is King, not
only of England, but of the whole Bri-
fish Empire, and that each constituent
country, not excluding the overseas
dominions, has as much claim on him
as any other. He is said to be a
strong advocate of "devolution," by
which is meant the establishment of
Independent local Parliaments in va
rious countries comprising the empire.
The overseas dominions have them
already, so that it only remains for
them to be established in the four
countries comprising the British isles.
Information is that the conference has
been discussing a plan of this sort
and that when Parliament meets again
in the fall some such proposal may be
laid before it.
Of course, a corollary to such de-
volution would be the establishment
of a really imperial Parliament at
Westminster, which would deal with
subjects affecting the empire as a
whole In such Parliament the over
seas dominions would be represented.
Another sign of the times is the
launching of movement to add to the
titles of the King that of Emperor of
the British" when he is crowned next
year. The suggestion is fathered by
the London Express, which is often in
spired by the leaders of the Tory
party. OF course, it would only be a
recognition in name of what the King
already is in fact-the head of a great
federation of neutrality-suspicious. coun-
tries, in the same sense that the Ger
man Emperor is the head of such a
federation. His powers would not be
changed in any way, and the dignity
of the colonial republics, whose people
might conceivably object to being rul-
ed by the King of little England,
would be preserved.
Creation of the Empire.
When the Duchies of Lancaster and
Cornwall were invested with royalties
an empire was technically created
But there was actually no British EN-
pire until India was no longer the pos
session of the East India Company and
the colonies were no longer regarded
as merely such. Now Canada, Aus
tralia, New Zealand and South Africa
have really become great, and in near
ly all respects Independent countries
speaking the English language, loyal
to the British Crown and bound by in
Vulnerable ties to the mother country.
They are as independent as the king
doms of Prussia, Wurtenberg, Saxony
and Bavaria and the smaller states
making up the German Empire.
Empire" means, it is argued, strict
ly a collection of two or more indepen-
dent sovereignties. The sovereign is