ABSTRACT
The principle of diversity in Union, which is the characteristic of the British Commonwealth of nations, has been especially exemplified where a priori one would expect its intrusion to be most dangerous in the subject of naval and military defence. We have seen how disinclined were the self-governing colonies to adopt Mr. Brodrick's scheme of a military force in each colony, earmarked for purposes of imperial defence. The British Government wisely determined to strike while the iron was hot and to hold a subsidiary imperial Conference on the one question of defence. Mr. Asquith explained in the House of Commons on 26 August the results of this Conference. It was recognized that in building up a fleet a number of conditions should be conformed to. In considering the Canadian naval proposals that were the outcome of the Resolutions set out above, the real question at issue was, how far the necessity for dealing with the German menace was immediate urgency.
