The Trend Within the British Empire

Notable among the realities brought into sharp relief by the present war, is the spontaneous display of loyalty on the part of the British dominions. These “new nations within the empire,” notwithstanding a natural pride in their embryo consciousness of nationhood, have enthusiastically and of their own volition rallied to the support of Britain the head of this same empire. The apparent anomaly inherent in this state of affairs merits notice in view of its importance as a bed-rock principle in the politics of the empire. Moreover, the unique political status enjoyed by the dominions invites attention by reason of its very disagreement with the traditional view generally held as to the normal relations between colony and parent state.It is only within the past decade and a half that the older of the British dominions, bursting the colonial chrysalis, have begun to emerge into nationhood. Amid the transitions of the present age none is more significant than that which is changing the structure and organization of the empire. That this transition has not been more generally recognized is not surprising. Even the inhabitant of the British Isles has found it difficult to understand the attitude and temper of his fellow-citizen of the colonies. To the Englishman of the past the notion of imperial union was based on a helpless and enforced “loyalty.”