The Dominion State at War Tristan Cordelia Egarr
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The Dominion State at War by Tristan Cordelia Egarr A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Victoria University of Wellington 2018 1 Abstract This thesis examines the New Zealand state during the First World War. It seeks to ask, firstly, to what extent did the economic size and legal reach of this state expand during, and because of, the war; secondly, how did was this growth affected by, and how did it impact upon, New Zealand’s relationship with Great Britain? My hypothesis is that, as the wartime New Zealand state expanded in size and power, its relationship with Britain grew tighter and stronger. Following an introduction, in which I take issue with the use of the term “nation” to describe New Zealand in the early twentieth century, the thesis is divided into four chapters. In the first, I look at the men who led the New Zealand Government during the war, in particular the Prime Minister, William Ferguson Massey, and the Cabinet Ministers James Allen, Alexander Herdman, and Joseph Ward; I also respond to the recent historical reassessments of Massey and his government. In the second chapter, I look at education policy during the war, asking how the war influenced administrator’s attempts to centralise control over schools. In the third chapter, I trace the growth of the wartime economy, and the even more substantial growth of the state’s role in the economy, paying particular attention to how trade with Britain grew, and impacted upon other economic policies, suggesting that export of pastoral produce to Britain drove both New Zealand’s economy, and much of the Dominion Government’s policies. In the fourth and final chapter, I look at law and order policies during the war, paying particular attention to the erosion of evidence law in war regulations, and the conscription of men to fight overseas. I will ultimately argue that the growth of, and tighter control over, the pastoral export trade to Britain, and the increasing legal powers of the state within New Zealand, together constituted an expansion of the Dominion government directed at pursuing the needs of the Empire, over and above the needs of New Zealanders. 2 3 Acknowledgements This thesis was intended as a holistic, birds-eye-view study of the New Zealand state in its entirety – from parliament down through the various ministries and state services to every item of spending on the government’s budget – during the First World War. It also intended to look at the relation of this state to its parent state, the United Kingdom, and ask how the state expanded during the war, and how this expansion was impacted by, and impacted upon, its relation with its parent. I framed this topic so broadly because I had become aware during previous studies of the gaps and blind conclusions generated by studies of one isolated aspect of the state. Yet in framing it so broadly, it would be fair to say that I committed an act academic hubris, as the sort of totality I was aiming for is not really achievable. What I have submitted, then, is a flawed and incomplete look at the totality of the New Zealand state during the First World War, but with some sections – particularly the section on the competing legal philosophies of Robert Stout and John Salmond, and their impact on wartime legal powers – of which I am proud, and which I believe justify this rather crazy project. In attempting to complete this unwieldy thesis, I benefited from the support and patience of five supervisors: Richard Hill from 2011 to 2015, James Belich in 2011, Brad Paterson from 2012 to 2015, and Kate Hunter and Cybele Locke in 2016. I could not have asked for better guidance, and the fact that this thesis is not more complete and polished rests solely on my shoulders. I would also like to thank the faculty and support staff of the History Department and Stout Centre, particularly Lydia Wevers, who have aided in getting me and my text to the point it has now reached, as well as those inside and out of the University who have helped along the way. I would also like to thank Peter Whiteford for presenting me with an opportunity to bring this project to its conclusion. 4 5 Table of Contents Page Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 3 Table of Contents 5 Introduction: The Dominion State at War 7 Chapter One: Political Leadership in First World War New Zealand 17 Chapter Two: Education for National Life 57 Chapter Three: Government Intervention in the Dominion Economy 79 Chapter Four: Policing and Punishment in Wartime 139 Conclusion 203 Bibliography 205 6 7 Introduction: The Dominion State at War The size and power of the New Zealand state increased significantly during the First World War. Government revenue, non-military expenditure, and the public debt all doubled between 1914 and 1920. Income tax replaced land tax and customs duties as the largest source of Government revenue. Conscription and war regulations dramatically expanded police powers. Many commentators on this period have argued that the war fed into a new sense of independence, of New Zealand nationalism. Others have said that war tightened New Zealand’s imperial relationship with Britain. It is the hypothesis of this thesis that the war did, primarily, strengthen Imperial bonds, and that this strengthening and the simultaneous growth of the Dominion state had a mutually constitutive relationship: New Zealand’s ties to Britain led the Dominion to join the war effort, which effort drove the growth of the state; and this growth of state involvement in the lives of New Zealanders facilitated a stronger relationship with Britain. The increase in the economic size and legal powers of the state was caused primarily by the needs and demands of the British Empire, rather than the needs and demands of New Zealand citizens. The effect of this increase in state infrastructure was primarily to strengthen Imperial ties, rather than to make New Zealand more independent or nationalistic. However, there are significant exceptions to both of these statements – instances of the state growing in response to local demands and needs, sometimes at the expense of the imperial centre; and aspects of state growth which did lead to a greater degree of New Zealand independence, if not nationalism. In presenting this argument, I have tried to maintain a focus on the state as a totality. Demands for an increase in funding to one area of the public sector either require decrease in funding to another sector, or an increase in the total revenue take. Similarly, increased Government involvement in one sector will have a significance for other sectors – for example, it is widely accepted that the effectiveness of education and welfare policy determine much of the requirements of justice policy. The two most important state 8 functions, at least in terms of this study – economic supervision and the creation and policing of legislation – are intimately intertwined. Each increase in economic control required new legislation which could be challenged in court, and increased judicial and policing power required increased taxation or changes to the distribution of revenue. By considering each aspect of the state as part of a larger whole, I have attempted to avoid the flaws often present in accounts of one part of the state’s role in the community examined in isolation. Nevertheless, constraints of space and time obviously mean that some aspects of government will receive greater attention here than others. My first chapter will examine the role of Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament in driving public policy: I begin with them as their role is to drive the government as a totality. I will argue that the Reform Government, in power for the first year of the war, embraced the expansion of state powers to fight the war, in spite of their predominantly non-interventionalist rhetoric. I will also argue that the Liberal-Reform “National” coalition in power from August 1915 pushed intervention even further, and was willing to go further than Reform alone in promoting state intervention for the welfare of individual citizens as well as the security of the Empire as a whole. Nevertheless, my analysis of parliamentary debates will demonstrate that the Government promoted duty to the state over and above the duty of the state. In my second chapter I will look at education policy to ask how this important aspect of state intervention in the lives of the people facilitated cultural change. While the war held back the growth of state education by directing funds elsewhere, it brought new legislation demanding displays of loyalty to the Empire, and ensured a greater emphasis on New Zealand’s Britishness in school textbooks. My third chapter will examine state intervention in the economy, as the basis upon which other functions of the state are founded. The first part of this chapter looks at Government finance – revenue from taxation and other sources; expenditure; and public loans. Revenue, taxation and the public debt all doubled over the course of the war, a massive expansion of the state justified by the defence of Empire. While this increase primarily illustrates my hypothesis, the Government’s need for loans to finance the war effort forced it to seek 9 more funding from local sources (instead of the London money market), facilitating a greater degree of financial independence. This part of the economics chapter also examines the Imperial commandeer of New Zealand’s pastoral exports, and the related attempts at fixing the prices of commodities for the domestic market.