A Commonwealth relations duo: Martin Holmes discusses the role played by Heinrich von Haast and William Downie Stewart Jr in promoting imperial unity.

AuthorHolmes, Martin

William Downie Stewart Jr (1878-1949) was a Reform Party Cabinet minister and an historian of New Zealand politics. Heinrich Ferdinand von Haast (1864-1953) was a lawyer and long-time editor of the New Zealand Law Reports. Together, they were a close-knit duo who influenced New Zealand international affairs for decades. However, because there is as yet no definitive history of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, their activities are at risk of being forgotten. In this short article, I hope to highlight their significance.

From an early age, both men thought deeply about New Zealand's place in the world. Like many people in the British Empire before the First World War, they worried that the empire had become overstretched and vulnerable to attacks from budding world powers like Imperial Germany. New Zealand was in particular danger because it was geographically isolated and militarily and economically dependent on Britain. Stewart and von Haast independently concluded that, for New Zealand's sake, the empire needed to be strengthened.

In 1910, they became founding members of the New Zealand branch of the Round Table movement. (1) Established the year before, the Round Table aimed to bolster the empire by recruiting a broad front of prominent men (only males could be members at this time) in Britain and the 'white settler' societies. Round Table members would use their influence to lobby for closer imperial unity, especially regarding defence and foreign policy. Politicians were allowed to join, but partisan politics were viewed as a liability.

The members never agreed on the specifics of imperial unity. Nevertheless, the ideas of Lionel Curtis (1872-1955), a British scholar, became particularly influential. Curtis was an idealist who advocated imperial federation, the transformation of the hierarchical British Empire into a federal Commonwealth of Nations voluntarily bound together through shared mutual interest and love of common traditions. Stewart and von Haast were among his most fervent New Zealand disciples.

A self-consciously elitist organisation, the Round Table was never large. Although precise membership statistics are elusive, the New Zealand branch certainly measured its membership in the dozens rather than the hundreds. Nevertheless, its highly placed members used their influence to advance closer imperial relations and greater defence spending. For example, Sir James Allen (1855-1942), the dynamic minister of defence from 1912 to 1920, was an early member. Although a feud with the dominion secretary, who regarded Allen as too partisan, eventually led to his unwilling resignation, he remained a close affiliate for years afterwards. (2) Stewart and von Haast, for their part, emerged as leaders in the Dunedin and Wellington sections, respectively.

Mortal blow

The First World War (1914-18) dealt the Round Table a mortal blow throughout the empire. (3) Some of its members, such as Allen's promising son John Hugh, died in battle. Those who survived often assumed positions of authority that left them little time for the movement. Finally, and most importantly, the war...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT