“In Her other Realms and Territories”
| Author | John Conway |
| Published date | 01 September 1959 |
| Date | 01 September 1959 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070205901400303 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
"In
her
other
Realms
and
Territories")
JOHN
CONWAY*
'HE
unfolding
Commonwealth"-this latest
addition
to
|the
vocabulary
of
Commonwealth
relations
is
not
to
be
confused
with
an
earlier horticultural
metaphor,
which
likened
colonies
to
fruits
which
cling
to
the
tree
only
till
they
ripen.
Today
the
idea
of
growth
is
still
retained;
but
we
prefer
to
think
rather
of
buds
which
blossom
forth
into
full-grown
flowers,
while
still
keeping
the
link
through
the
roots
with
all
other
off-shoots
of
the
parent
plant.
In
other
words,
there
is
now
a
general
hope
and expectation
that
colonies,
when
they
reach
independence,
will
not
sever
themselves
entirely,
but
transfer
into
the
new
relationship
of
Commonwealth
partners.
It
is
possible
that
in
the past
we
have
been too
much
con-
cerned
with
the
Commonwealth
as
a
given
number
of
members,
and
have
concentrated
too
often
on
seeking
the
will-o'-the-wisp
of
Commonwealth
'esprit
de
corps'
amongst
them.
But
there
can
be
no
real
watershed
in
our
concern
between
the
"dark"
days
of
Colonial
Office
rule
and
the
sweetness
and
light
of
Common-
wealth membership.
It
is
increasingly
obvious
that
the
successes
and
failures
of
the
independent
Commonwealth
member
are
pre-
conditioned
by
the
extent
of
experiences
and
achievements
under
colonial
rule.
To
take
merely
one
example,
may
it
not
be
claimed
that
the
reason
why
parliamentary
democracy
has
failed
or
is
under
extreme
pressure
in
Pakistan,
the
Sudan
or
Ghana,
is
because,
under
colonial
rule,
these
countries never
experience-
articulate
and freely-organized
oppositions?
The
likelihood
of
several
colonies
achieving
independence
and electing
to
remain
as
members
of
the
Commonwealth
in
the
foreseeable
future
should
*Assistant
Professor
of
History,
University
of
British
Columbia.
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