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Title: The Story of the Over-Seas League
Date of first publication: 1924
Author: John Evelyn Wrench (1882-1966)
Date first posted: February 27, 2026
Date last updated: February 27, 2026
Faded Page eBook #20260251
This eBook was produced by: Al Haines & the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at https://www.pgdpcanada.net
By
John Evelyn Wrench
Headquarters:
VERNON HOUSE, PARK PLACE, ST. JAMES'S
LONDON, S.W.1
On several occasions the readers of Overseas have asked for an account of the inception of the Over-Seas League movement and for some details of the original idea to which it owes its direct inspiration. This article is an attempt to satisfy their demands.
The inspiration of the Over-Seas League is partially due to Cecil Rhodes. When I was at school, Rhodes and everything about him possessed a fascination for me. In the holidays I used to hear about Rhodesia, as my father was interested in the country and always subscribed to the weekly periodical South Africa, which I spread out on our billiard-room table at home. My great ambition at that time was to read everything I could about Rhodes. When I went to Eton in 1896, I got greater opportunities of gratifying my ambition in this respect, and I read nearly every book on South and Central Africa which the excellent school library contained. A red-letter day was the occasion of a visit to Eton of Colonel Frank Rhodes, Cecil Rhodes' brother, who gave us a lecture on the Omdurman campaign.
I was in Germany during the greater part of 1900, and I shall never forget the anxious days in the beginning of the year, waiting for news of the relief of Kimberley, where Rhodes was shut up. In the little town of Weilburg, on the Lahn, we depended for our war news on special editions of the Frankfurter Zeitung, entitled Beiblätter, which my host used to receive. I was the only Englishman in the little town, and although my German friends, out of consideration for me, tried to hide their real feelings, there was no question where their sympathies lay. Even the little granddaughter of my host used to talk about "die bösen Englander und die armen Boeren," "the naughty Englishmen and the poor Boers." A telegram from my father told of the relief of Kimberley, and two days after I received my English papers with full details.
I settled in London at the end of 1900, and during the next six years I met various people who had known Rhodes, but it was not till I met Lord Grey at Ottawa in the summer of 1906 that I found someone who was always ready to talk of Rhodes. I shall never forget Lord Grey's kindness on this occasion. During a visit of several days we talked about the future of the British Empire most of the time.
Lord Grey was one of the Rhodes Trustees, and there was nothing he did not know about Rhodes, and he was just as ready to talk about the great man as I was to listen. On the last day of my stay at Rideau Hall we spent several hours discussing Empire problems and the possibility of forming a great non-party society for promoting the unity of the Empire. It was then that Lord Grey showed me the document written by Cecil Rhodes as a young man of twenty-three, out on the veldt under the stars of the South African sky, in which he gave his ideas of forming a great secret society for promoting British interests. It was the reading of this document which directly gave me the idea of starting the Over-Seas League.
For some years I had had a desire to start some kind of Imperial movement, but my ideas had never taken practical form. The first occasion on which I remember definitely thinking of trying to start an Empire League was when, as a young man of twenty, I was proceeding to Morocco in December, 1902, on the P. & O. Oriental. Between London and Gibraltar, after the rough weather of the Bay was passed, I had several long talks with Lord Carson (then Sir Edward Carson), who was going for a short rest after his arduous work in London. We discussed foreign policy, the establishment of a Ministry of Commerce, and the overhauling of our Consular system, and other problems. That evening I spent several hours trying to think out the details of a practical scheme in my cabin.
But to return to Canada and 1906. I left Ottawa on August 15th by the Imperial Limited for Winnipeg—a two days' journey—and my first afternoon in the train was spent in putting down in black and white the aims and objects of an Imperial society such as I longed to found.
Here is the memorandum I wrote down in the train, copied word for word from the original on Government House, Ottawa, writing-paper, still in my possession. After twenty years and all the lessons we have learnt during and since the Great War, many of these ideas may seem crude. The object of this booklet is to tell the true story of the founding of the Over-Seas League, however.
THE ORIGINAL IDEA OF THE
OVER-SEAS LEAGUE
On Board Imperial Limited Westward
Bound, Ottawa-Winnipeg.
August 15th, 1906.
This morning Lord Grey gave me the most interesting document to look at which has ever been my good fortune to read. It was the statement which Cecil Rhodes wrote in the year 1875, when but twenty-two years old, on the South African veldt, giving his ideas on Imperialism and the best methods to advance the British Empire in every way.
Rhodes thought the best means to attain this end would be the establishment of an enormous Secret Society, with branches eventually to extend to every end of the earth. This remarkable document closes with the statement that should he—Rhodes—die at a premature age, he wished all his worldly goods to be applied by a friend and the Secretary of State for the Colonies to bringing into practice this idea. The opening sentences of the reflection of the Great Empire Builder at the age of twenty-two are so pregnant with interest and so inspiring to the young Briton, that I give them word for word as I copied them in Lord Grey's study at Government House this morning:—
"It often strikes a man to enquire what is the chief good in life, to one the thought comes that it is a happy marriage, to another great wealth, and, as each seizes on his idea, for that he more or less works for the rest of his existence. To myself, thinking over the same question, the wish came to me to render myself useful to my country."
Surely, at no time in the history of the British Empire has an equal opportunity presented itself to the practical Imperialist. Here in Canada one sees the young Canadian nation, just beginning to realise the possibilities which this great land has before it. Canada is going through a period in which its character is being formed, and she is unconsciously moulding her future. It is now, therefore, that a unique opportunity is offered of helping the citizens of Canada to attain a splendid national manhood, to awake in every one of them the sense of belonging to a united nation. But the citizenship of a Canadian must not stop here, above and beyond parochial considerations his spirit must soar—he must remember that, gigantic though Canada is, she is but one of the self-governing States of the British Empire. Let him by all means be a good Canadian first, and by so doing he will be performing his duty as a citizen of a world Empire. There are many ways in which this National and Imperial spirit can be fostered outside any commercial ties. I feel I have too little experience to be able to make up my mind as yet as to the permanent benefits to be derived from Protection.
In the first place, why cannot we Twentieth Century British citizens put into practice the germs of the idea as it appeared to Cecil Rhodes on the South African veldt thirty-one years ago? There are at the present time too many organisations and leagues—take, for instance, the Victoria League, the Daughters of the Empire, the Empire League, the Empire Day Movement, the Navy League, the British-Made Goods League, and so on ad infinitum. What is wanted is one great Central Organisation, which would work in connection with all these subsidiary leagues, and be to them just what King Edward's Hospital Fund is to the hospitals of London. We all admit that in business, to-day is the day of the combine. This argument holds good in Imperial affairs as well.
The Germans, with that wonderful power of plodding, have built up a Navy League of 978,000 members, and be it remembered, to a league which is only a copy of our own.
If we set ourselves to get a membership of 1,000,000, I believe we could do it, provided, of course, we received Royal approval, and the various societies sank their petty interests. An organisation such as I suggest—whose object would be to further the British Empire, British Institutions and British liberty, in every manner in the power of its members—would, I believe, become a tremendous power to be reckoned with. With the countless object lessons we have before us of the results attained by concentration of purpose, so widely apart as the Salvation Army, Freemasonry, the Jesuits, Wesleyism, and—to draw a modern parallel, insufficient though it is—the German Navy League, how can we doubt that organised effort wisely and enthusiastically directed would obtain similar results? I suggest taking a figure such as a million, as it would give an object for which to work, and an incentive to further effort. Provided one could obtain donations from one or two rich men to keep us going for a couple of years, I would not suggest asking our members for subscriptions or contributions at first, I would wait till we had got our "Empire League" firmly established and till it was recognised that it was becoming a power.
Some of the matters for which we would work would be:—
1. Better transit facilities between the parts of the Empire. Faster boats to Canada.
2. Reduction of postal rates on British literature.
3. Extension of the Imperial 1d. postage.
4. A better service and a cheaper one of cable news from the British Isles to Greater Britain, and vice versâ.
5. Organised effort to make the celebration of Empire Day universal.
6. By every means in our power advance the cause of Colonial Nationalism—on the lines of Jebb's work.
7. To obtain State aid to emigration to parts of the world under the British flag.
8. Teaching each part of the Empire better to understand the others by means of lectures, pamphlets, organised excursions and visits.
9. To help in the dissemination of British literature and magazines in all parts of the Empire and more especially in Canada, which at present relies too much for its reading matter on the United States.
10. To make the self-governing States of the Empire realise that they should play their part in Imperial Defence, by taking up the defence of their shores, and by eventually owning their own fleets.
11. By endeavouring to make the visits of Australians, Canadians, etc., to the Old Country pleasant.
12. By installing the principle of Home-made goods first, British-made goods second.
13. By discussing all Imperial subjects in an annual or bi-yearly Congress, including the best means of Imperial Federation.
14. By urging the desirability of appointing a certain number of Canadians, Australians, South Africans, to the Imperial Consular and Indian Civil Service.
15. By generally teaching the young to respect the flag and making them realise the privilege of British citizenship.
A poor and unknown man has built the Salvation Army to its present position in some thirty years. With influence, the power of the Press behind us and money, verily we can attain even greater results.
I returned to London early in October, 1906, and resumed my duties as editor of the Overseas Daily Mail, a journal which Lord Northcliffe had started in 1904 to keep Britons overseas in touch with the Old Country. I locked up my ideas as to the starting of an Imperial movement in my office drawer and awaited a favourable opportunity.
Early in 1908 I was spending the Easter holidays with Lord Northcliffe at Seville, Spain. One morning we went for a long walk near some ruins outside the town where our party—which included, among others, Owen Seaman, Editor of Punch; J. L. Garvin, Editor of The Observer; and Charles Wibley—was having a picnic. During our ramble we discussed various matters, one of them being the need for the establishment of a great non-party society to unite British subjects over-seas. I told Lord Northcliffe that I would show him some day my ideas on the subject.
A few months later I visited Canada on a business mission for Lord Northcliffe. I crossed over in the Lusitania. How little did we imagine in those days what would be her fate seven years later! Within three weeks of landing I contracted a severe attack of typhoid fever and spent the next eleven weeks at Grace Hospital, Toronto. I shall never forget Lord Northcliffe's kindness to me. He cabled almost daily to find out how I was, and kept my mother and father informed as to my progress. He paid all my doctor's bills and other expenses, and sent my sister out to look after me.
When I was convalescent he paid for a six weeks' trip round the West Indies for my sister and myself. During my wanderings I had again many opportunities for thinking out problems of Imperial Co-operation, and I realised how great was the need for some fresh link to unite the man-in-the-street over-seas with his fellow-citizen in the Motherland and in the various sections of the Empire. On my return from the West Indies I wrote an article for the Jamaica Gleaner, urging the Federation of all the British West Indian Islands—an idea which has been put forward by various writers.
The following year was an important one from the Imperial standpoint—for it was in 1909 that the Imperial Press Conference took place. Those who read the contents of the leading newspapers throughout Greater Britain realised what a great educational effect the gathering of the Empire editors in London had. The whole idea was Sir Harry Brittain's, and the gathering was a unique success, and did as much to make the different sections of the Empire known to each other as any other event which had taken place in the previous twenty years, excepting, of course, the South African War.
In the summer of 1909 I paid a visit to Canada, Newfoundland and the United States with Lord Northcliffe. The great pulp mills of the Anglo-Newfoundland Company at Grand Falls was formally opened by Lord Northcliffe early in October.
Next year, 1910, witnessed the birth of the Over-Seas Club. One of the first things to be done was to choose a suitable title for our new Society. For many months I used to carry about with me a list of suggested names on a slip of paper and jot down further ideas as they occurred to me. Among some of the original names selected were:—
The United Empire League,
The Patriots,
The Kinsmen,
League of Empire,
Legion of Empire,
The Pioneers,
Sons of Britain,
Citizens of Empire,
The Empire League,
The Children of the Empire,
The Imperial League.
I used to ask all my friends to give me suggestions, and to select the name which they thought would be most suitable. For a long time most of the votes were in favour of "The Kinsmen." But somehow I felt that there must be a better title if we could only find it—before everything else I wanted it to be a simple one, which would explain our objects—also I was anxious to avoid the word "League," as I felt everyone would say, "What! another League!"
I was in search of a name that would sound quite informal, and would carry with it the idea of social intercourse, as our Society aimed at more than ordinary propaganda work.
One morning I suddenly thought why not just call our new movement the "Over-Seas Club"? A few days later I was having a business interview with Mr. Kennedy Jones, subsequently M.P. for Hornsey, who was then one of the Directors of the Associated Newspapers. I told Mr. Jones of my scheme and asked his opinion on the knotty subject of titles, and he at once said he thought that "The Over-Seas Club" was the best one on the list.
The title once settled, my next care was to design a suitable badge, which would be cheap, effective, and readily recognisable. At that time there was a Society called the "Islanders," which has since been absorbed by the Navy League—its official emblem was the letter "I" in a circle. So I thought that we could not do better than use the letters "O.S." as our emblem. We got several combinations of letters designed, and finally selected our present badge, as made for us by Mr. J. R. Roberts, of Messrs. Roberts and Doré, who are still our badge manufacturers.
The actual drafting of our aims and objects was quite a lengthy business, and before their final adoption they were written and re-written many times. My friend, Norman Angell, was very helpful, and although his ambitions are more directly centred on the creation of a Great International Society, he, nevertheless, warmly sympathised with our aims and objects in so far as they made for co-operation between the units of the British Empire in no spirit of antagonism to any nation. He it was who helped me draw up our creed in its present form. Our motto, "We sailed wherever ship could sail," etc., I found in an anthology of patriotic verse, and it seemed to be just what we required.
I then wrote a memorandum describing in detail the aims and objects of the Over-Seas Club, and in its final form showed it to Lord Northcliffe. I was then Sales Manager of The Amalgamated Press, Ltd., and my room was at 29, Bouverie Street, just opposite Punch office, and in the building now occupied by the Daily Mirror. There was a large leather sofa in my room, and I well recollect Lord Northcliffe coming in, smoking a cigar (before the war he always used to smoke German cigars) and lying down to read the memorandum which I handed to him. He was much interested in it, and I asked him for permission to print it in the Over-Seas edition of the Daily Mail, of which I was nominally Editor, although the actual work was performed by the Editor-in-Charge, Mr. M. A. F. Cotton, subsequently killed in France.
Originally I decided, while charging for the badge of membership, not to institute any entrance fee or make any actual charge for membership. Naturally I soon found that it was not possible to run a patriotic society without funds, I now realise that it was a great mistake not to have instituted an annual subscription from the outset. My reason was that I was afraid of doing anything which might give the impression that the Over-Seas Club was in any way a money-making scheme or started with the idea of bringing grist to the Carmelite House mill! If a charge was made for membership at the outset I feared that people would misunderstand my motives. As it was, for the first three years, and prior to my Empire Tour in 1912-1913, there were many people who seemed to imagine that the Over-Seas Club was just a great newspaper advertising scheme, and on many occasions I was asked what I was paid for my work. My questioners were surprised when they learnt that I was paying my own expenses—no small matter for a seventeen months' tour round the world.
As the King's Coronation was to take place in June, 1911, and British subjects were coming to London from all parts of the world to attend the celebrations, we decided to make an appeal for 50,000 associates by Coronation Day. Lord Northcliffe very kindly let me write a weekly letter in the Over-Seas Daily Mail, talking about the Over-Seas Club, and reporting our progress. By means of this letter we were enabled to keep in touch with all those interested in the movement overseas. The formation of the Over-Seas Club certainly met a long-felt want and the response to our appeals for members was wonderful. Over 2,000 readers of the original article in the issue of the Over-Seas Daily Mail for August 27th, 1910, wrote offering their services and expressed their readiness to help on the cause. To each of these friends a special letter was sent, and from then on we worked on the snowball system, and by Coronation Day we had reached our goal of 50,000 associates—that is to say, people who wrote in from far parts of the world to say they sympathised with the idea.
The first public meeting of the Over-Seas Club was held at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, London, E.C., on Tuesday June 27th, 1911, the week following the Coronation. Some 300 members were present from all parts of the world, including a considerable number of men in the various Colonial contingents, such as the Diamond Fields Force, Kimberley; Imperial Light Horse, Transvaal; Barbados Volunteers, and others. The greatest enthusiasm was displayed by all those present and the future organisation of the movement was discussed. The chair was taken by myself, and among those present were Lord Northcliffe, Mr. L. S. Amery, M.P., Hon. A. L. Sifton, Premier of Alberta; Hon. J. M. Gibson, Lieut-Governor of Ontario; Mr. C. A. Magrath, M.P. (Canadian Parliament); Right Hon. Frederick Wrench; Sir Harry Brittain; Mr. Edward Terry; Mr. F. A. Mackenzie, and others. On that occasion, among other things, I said:—
"I hope that ten years hence, when the Over-Seas Club has become a really powerful influence in the councils of the Empire, we shall be able to point to the realisation of some of the aims which we are about to discuss to-day. The present occasion would seem to be unique. For the first time you have assembled in London a gathering of citizens from every section of His Majesty's Dominions—no mere conference of statesmen, but a meeting of the people themselves...
"Has it ever occurred to you how largely the future of the world's progress lies in the hands of the Anglo-Saxon race? Only by the interchange of dream and idea between the sundered units of one vast Empire can the finest and widest conception be built up. The Over-Seas Club must serve as the medium for that communication."
Among the matters discussed was the question of finance. It was unanimously decided to institute an annual subscription of 2s. 6d., and if possible to arrange for the opening of suitable London Club Rooms the following year.
During the next few months the membership steadily increased, and branches continued to spring up in all parts of the world, having but a slender link with headquarters. I speedily realised that if the whole movement were not to collapse it would be necessary to visit the various branches, and to discuss the future organisation of the Society with our members on the spot. In fact, it became necessary practically to restart the organisation of the entire movement from the beginning and establish it on a proper financial basis. The Over-Seas League in its present form may be said to date from my return to England on November 25th, 1913. But I am anticipating events.
After several months' preparation I finally set out on my Empire Tour in May, 1912, accompanied by my sister. During the next eighteen months I travelled some 64,000 miles, and visited 100 Over-Seas Club centres in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia. In the course of the tour public meetings were held in practically all the important cities in the self-governing Dominions. Everywhere the ideals of the Over-Seas Club were cordially approved of, and I was able to dispel many misconceptions. The idea that the Over-Seas Club was a commercial money-making concern was very widely held.
As a result of my experiences overseas and of the many conferences held with members in all parts of the world, I returned to London determined to carry out the reorganisation as speedily as possible. The most important matters to be dealt with were:—
(a) The institution of a properly constituted Central Committee, in whom would be vested the entire management of Over-Seas Club affairs.
(b) The provision of suitable club rooms in London. Hitherto the headquarters staff of the Over-Seas Club had been accommodated in an office lent by the Associated Newspapers, but there had been no facilities for visiting members.
(c) To start enrolling subscribing members to Headquarters at a minimum annual fee of 2s. 6d., and to discontinue the enrolment of individuals who had hitherto become associates by merely purchasing the club badge.
(d) To put the finance of the movement on a proper basis.
I was very fortunate in obtaining the services of Mr. Richard Jebb as the first Chairman of the Central Committee. Mr. Jebb had long been interested in our work, and, of course, his great knowledge of the Empire was of enormous assistance. His book, "Colonial Nationalism," published in 1905, was an epoch-making event, and I remember discussing it with statesmen with such divergent views as Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Lord Grey and hearing nothing but praise of it. By degrees I got my list of Vice-Presidents completed, and then finally got the first Committee together. Our first meeting took place in the Council Room of the Royal Colonial Institute on January 8th, 1914. The following is the actual minute from the proceedings in which I handed over my powers to the new body:—
"The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said that the meeting was an informal one, and had been called for the purpose of discussing some preliminary points and electing a committee of Control. Hitherto the work of organising the Over-Seas Club has devolved on Mr. Wrench, who had become recognised by the branches as Honorary Organiser and Founder since the Club's inception. Since the Committee derived its only authority from Mr. Wrench, who had invited them individually to act, it was now for him to decide whether the Committee was merely advisory to him as Honorary Organiser, or whether he wished to place himself under the direction of the Committee.
"Mr. Wrench said he desired that he himself and the affairs of the Club be under the control of the Committee."
Then came the need for providing, as early as possible, suitable club rooms in London for the use of visiting members. My friend Alexander Smith Cochran, of New York, gave me £3,000 to provide the furniture—a very graceful tribute from an American believer in the British Empire. Lord Northcliffe added one more to his many benefactions to the Over-Seas Club by promising £1,200 for the first year; £1,000 for the second year; and £600 a year for five years. This enabled us to face the problem of rent without worry. Other generous donations were given by the Rhodes Trustees, Lord Grey, Lord Rothermere, Lady Wantage, Lady Drummond, Lord Stevenson, Mr. Kennedy Jones, M.P., Lord Islington, Sir G. A. Sutton, and others.
Premises (four rooms) were secured on the second floor of General Buildings, Aldwych, which consisted of Reading and Writing Rooms and Office accommodation for the Headquarters Staff, and were formally opened by the Lord Mayor of London on Empire Day, 1914. Among those who were present on that occasion were: Lord Northcliffe, Lord Selborne; Lord Buxton, then Governor-General of South Africa; Lord Emmott, then Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies; Lord Meath; Sir George Reid, then High Commissioner for Australia; Sir Thomas McKenzie, High Commissioner for New Zealand; and the Agents-General of practically every State or Province in Australia and Canada, and many others interested in Imperial affairs.
A start was now made in enrolling subscribing members to Headquarters at the minimum fee of 2s. 6d. per annum as agreed at the conference held three years previously. Steady progress was made, and by the outbreak of the war we possessed 850 subscribing members to Headquarters, as distinct from local branch members and associates. Members are aware of the subsequent headway made by the Society. As a basis of comparison it is interesting to recall the fact that our income on August 1st, 1914, apart from gifts was about £250 per annum. In 1925 the income of the Over-Seas League was over £44,000.
My final care was the question of finance. I wanted to place the Over-Seas Club in a thoroughly solvent position so that our efforts might not be circumscribed by lack of funds like so many bodies. There were, of course, many anxious moments, but we sailed past the rocks, and our balance sheet will show you on what sure foundations our financial position rests.
Membership increased rapidly and active centres were started in many new districts. Vast sums of money were contributed by members during the war to local patriotic funds, and just on £1,000,000 was forwarded to the London Headquarters of the Society for war purposes, including the gift to the British Government of 350 seaplanes and aeroplanes. In the autumn of 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the war, Lady des Vœux became the chairman of our Soldiers' and Sailors' Fund, and undertook the administration of the large sums of money entrusted to us. Two years later she became Hon. Director of Correspondence, and on our incorporation by Royal Charter, in 1922, she was appointed by the Central Council Hon. Controller. For over eleven years, therefore, she has served the League in an honorary capacity. The war activities of the overseas brotherhood were far too numerous to be recorded here, but they included the upkeep, at a cost of £30,000 a year, of a hospital for flying officers outside London, the forwarding of vast quantities of tobacco, hampers, and other comforts to the men in the Imperial Forces, and the upkeep of over a hundred beds in various Red Cross hospitals.
For a very long time I had realised that the Over-Seas Club must possess its own journal, and that till it did so, it could not hope to occupy the position in the councils of the Empire which seemed to await it. My vision of Overseas was a journal dedicated to the highest ideals, absolutely independent and bound to no other organisation in any way, which would ultimately win for itself an unique place in the literature of the Empire. For some time I was not sure what title to take. I liked the simple name "Overseas," but I was also anxious to have the Over-Seas Club identified with the title, and for a long while the name selected was "The Over-Seas Club Magazine." I am glad to say that we soon realised that there was only one possible title, and that was Overseas. You will recollect the modest little magazine of thirty-two pages which made its first appearance in December, 1915. Since then Overseas has never looked back.
Now that we possess our own organ, it is difficult to realise how the Over-Seas Club existed before its inception. For it is not too much to say that our whole movement now depends on our magazine; it is the channel of communication between Headquarters and overseas; between branch and branch; between member and member. With its growing power behind us, there is no limit to the sphere of usefulness which the Over-Seas League can fill. One of the most gratifying features of the publication of Overseas has been the manner in which every member has shown that he or she regards it as a privilege to be allowed to take part in building up our magazine into a great Imperial publication dedicated to the Empire's service.
The Over-Seas Club and the Patriotic League of Britons Overseas became one great joint society on March 31st, 1918. It is interesting to record how the latter body came into being, and to learn of its subsequent connection with the Over-Seas Club. When the formation of the Patriotic League was announced in October, 1914, with the object of collecting sufficient funds from Britons living in foreign countries to present a warship to the British Government, I at once got into touch with the joint Hon. Secretaries, Mr. F. W. Hayne (the Founder), and Mr. W. Maxwell-Lyte, and placed the resources of the Over-Seas Club at the disposal of the new organisation.
In June, 1915, the two joint secretaries found that they were unable to devote sufficient time to the interests of the League, and Lord Selborne, the Chairman, invited me to become joint Hon. Secretary, and to undertake the duties of administering the League's affairs, subject to the control of the Central Committee. From that time till March, 1917, when I obtained a commission in His Majesty's Forces, I was solely responsible for the Headquarters administration of the Patriotic League of Britons Overseas, which was then, as I have said, entirely separate from the Over-Seas Club. Since the inception of the Patriotic League, I had steadily worked for the amalgamation of the two bodies having such similar aims, and found in Mr. Hayne a cordial co-operator.
Having learnt how the Over-Seas Club came into existence, the following pages will seek to explain exactly what the Over-Seas League is.
Briefly, the Over-Seas movement is a non-party, non-sectarian, democratic society of men and women (British citizens) in all parts of the British Commonwealth of Nations and in foreign lands, who believe in the free institutions, the just laws and the good government which have been responsible for the progress of the British Empire—and who pledge themselves to work for the common weal by every means in their power. Service, the service of others and good citizenship are the two corner-stones on which the world-wide membership of the Over-Seas League rests. As the writer once described the movement to Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the Over-Seas League is "a kind of grown-up Boy Scouts."
In recent years, and especially since the termination of the Great War, there has been a growing suspicion in many quarters of "Imperialism" and everything which savours of "jingoism"—"spread-eagleism" it is termed in the United States, the kind of "Deutschland uber alles" nationalism which was Germany's undoing. The Over-Seas League does not stand for blatant Imperialism or flag-wagging; rather it seeks to emphasise the tremendous responsibilities incurred by citizenship of the British Commonwealth.
The objects of the Over-Seas League are the following:—
1. To draw together in the bond of comradeship British citizens the world over.
2. To render individual service to the British Commonwealth of Nations.
3. To maintain the power of the British Commonwealth of Nations and to hold to its best traditions.
4. To help one another.
And its creed is:—
"Believing the British Empire to stand for justice, freedom, order and good government, we pledge ourselves, as citizens of the British Commonwealth of Nations, to maintain the heritage handed down to us by our fathers."
We seek to interpret the "power of the British Commonwealth" by its power for good in the world, and by "maintaining the heritage handed down to us by our fathers" we seek to imply those great traditions of freedom handed down to us ever since King John affixed his seal to the Magna Charta on the meadowland of Runnymede seven centuries ago. Where the Over-Seas League has, perhaps, struck a new note in Imperial and Patriotic movements is in the continuous emphasis it has laid on the British Commonwealth's rôle as the server of mankind, with no thoughts of self-aggrandisement, rather than in the "Britannia, rule the waves," "We don't want to fight, but, by jingo, if we do" type of patriotism so prevalent in the closing years of the last century.
The Over-Seas League therefore stands to-day above all things for the "new Imperialism" which keeps its eye for ever fixed on the sacredness of the task which has been entrusted to the present generation of citizens of the sister-nations of the Britannic Alliance, to use Richard Jebb's apt designation of the British Empire. A task which implies, not merely the holding high of the torch of progress throughout the British Dominions around the seven seas, but also the sponsorship of the small nations and backward peoples throughout the globe: a sponsorship without any tinge of national self-seeking, but which implies an overwhelming desire to give a helping hand along the path of freedom and independence to those less fortunately placed than ourselves.
The cynic may smile and shake his head and question whether a movement with such a mission was likely to achieve much success in this wicked old world of ours, the iniquities of which all our present-day prophets—down to H. G. Wells, in his "Salvaging of Civilisation"—are for ever dinning into our ears. The striking success achieved by the Over-Seas League since its inception in 1910 refutes the critics.
To-day the Society is the strongest of all the "Imperial" movements, with a subscribing membership of 32,000, a chain of 600 or so honorary corresponding secretaries around the globe, a magazine (Over-seas) with a subscription circulation of 33,000 copies a month, tens of thousands of "associates" in all parts of the British Commonwealth and its own freehold headquarters in the heart of Clubland at Vernon House, Park Place, St. James's, one of London's historic homes which the Society bought in 1921 from Lady Hillingdon for £45,000 as its War Memorial to the men from overseas who gave their lives in the Great War.
Since the world headquarters of the Over-Seas League were moved to Vernon House at the end of 1921 the progress of the Society has been continuous. In 1924, in response to many requests, Over-Seas House (No. 3, Park Place, next door to Brooks's Club) was acquired and opened as residential quarters. Here members from abroad, at the moderate rate of 10s. 6d. per night, can obtain bed, bath and breakfast. So great has been the popularity of this development that Over-Seas House has been full up since it was opened in February, 1924.
In 1924 such demands were made in the accommodation of Vernon House by members from overseas that the Central Council realised an extension would be necessary. After negotiations lasting several months, the Over-Seas League acquired the premises of the old-established Primrose Club, situated at Nos. 4 and 5, Park Place, which is reserved exclusively for the use of the male members of the Over-Seas League.
Here are some of the ways the Over-Seas League tries to carry out its ideals of service and good citizenship. Through an information bureau, information of every kind is furnished concerning the Empire and local conditions. For instance, a fruit-farmer in Nova Scotia may care to exchange experience with a fellow fruit-grower in Tasmania or New Zealand; through his membership in the Over-Seas League he is enabled to do so. Or again, a lonely homesteader in his shack in Saskatchewan may desire to enliven his long winter evenings by entering into correspondence with his fellows elsewhere. Many thousands of lasting friendships have been formed through the Over-Seas League during the past fifteen years.
Perhaps you are interested in social reform, in town planning, in infant welfare; if so, through the Over-Seas League you are at once put into touch with those social workers interested in the same attempts at social advancement as you are. Forthwith, the collective experience of the British Commonwealth is at your disposal. The vista of usefulness opened out by this linking up of the idealists in Canada with those of the Old Country, or Australia or elsewhere, needs no elaboration. The overseas movement has always made special efforts to enrol school teachers in its ranks, and as a result many hundreds of those to whom the task of educating the Empire's youth is entrusted have been linked up with their colleagues across the seas.
In no direction has more useful work been performed by the O.S. movement than in the matter of providing accurate information concerning local conditions and prospects of employment by those on the spot. Too often, alas, emigrants are attracted to the new scenes of work by altogether too rosy accounts disseminated by steamship agents and other interested parties. Much needless suffering is saved by the utilisation of the accurate information obtainable through representatives of the Over-Seas League on the spot, concerning all parts of the British Commonwealth from the Falkland Islands to Fredericton, from the Okanagan Valley to the Orange Free State. To promote trade between the different parts of the British Commonwealth is the object for which the Overseas Trade Bureau, in connection with the Over-Seas League, was started. Its sole aim is to provide accurate information to both importer and exporter.
It was the late W. T. Stead who, some twenty-five years ago, wrote a remarkable article in the Review of Reviews, then at the height of its influence, calling the metropolis "inhospitable London" and urging the need of some great central organisation to extend the hand of welcome to the visitor from across the seas and to make him feel at home in the capital of the Empire. This is exactly what the Over-Seas League endeavours to do by means of its committees and social gatherings. Every day in the year wanderers from across the seas visit the London headquarters of the organisation in search of some kind of information or assistance.
But it is not in London alone that the overseas brotherhood attempts to live up to its object of "helping one another." In every city of the world where an Over-Seas League's representative or centre exists the stranger is assured of a welcome, and never again need he feel lonely on showing his badge, which is now so familiar an emblem.
The vision of the Over-Seas League which we hold before ourselves is that of a centre in every town in the world where British subjects are to be found, a kind of freemasonry open to both sexes with nothing secret about it: centres which will not only serve as a rallying point for furnishing information to the newcomer, but centres from which residents in the Dominions will be enabled to keep in touch with their fellow citizens in the other British lands.
The British Empire as envisaged by the Imperialists of the 'nineties, when Joseph Chamberlain was making his appeal to the British masses to "think Imperially," consisting of a motherland surrounded by devoted daughter-states and dependencies, has gone never to return. There are few practical statesmen to-day who believe in the possibilities of Imperial Federation as preached even as recently as the outbreak of the Great War. Its place has been taken by something surely far more splendid—a real British Commonwealth of free nations, with complete local autonomy, but co-operating together for the common good of mankind. There is nothing incompatible in entire devotion to the British Commonwealth and the fullest adhesion to a real League or association of all nations. Indeed it is no exaggeration to say that, without the willing co-operation of the British Commonwealth, no lasting League of Nations or Concert of Powers is possible. Just because the promoters of the Over-Seas League movement stand strongly for the greatest possible friendship and the closest and most intimate co-operation between the United States and the British Commonwealth in the interests of civilisation and world-peace, there is no reason why they should not especially desire that the bonds uniting the far-flung sections of the British Commonwealth should be rendered indissoluble.
There would appear to be four directions in which the good citizenship of the individual Canadian (or Australian or Englishman, as the case may be) will be required:—
(1) His allegiance to Canada or whatever section of the British Commonwealth he may reside in.
(2) His allegiance to the British Commonwealth as a whole, the greatest political instrument of freedom since the world began.
(3) His allegiance to the institutions and ideals to be found throughout the English-speaking world. That is to say, the British Commonwealth and the United States. The fact that he may happen to be a French-Canadian or a Dutch-South African need not affect his belief in the destiny of the English-speaking races to lead the world in all that implies human progress.
(4) His allegiance to the League of all Nations, or by whatever name the League of Nations may ultimately be known.
It is to the carrying out of the first and second of these allegiances that the Over-Seas League particularly addresses itself, by inculcating ideals of good citizenship and by making the Canadian feel in touch with his brother and sister in the Old Country, in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and elsewhere.
The following creed was written to express the kind of things which we like to feel our overseas brotherhood stands for:—
I believe in our glorious Empire of Free Peoples.
In the sacredness of our mission.
In the unselfishness of our aims.
In the ultimate triumph of our cause.
I believe in our great past.
And in a greater future.
In the emptiness of riches.
And the dignity of labour.
I believe in right thinking and pure living,
And in the inspirational power of woman.
I believe in national re-birth.
In a new Empire and a new world.
I believe in the need of humbleness,
In the vision of the mountain-tops.
I believe in God's guidance in the days ahead.
I believe.
JOHN EVELYN WRENCH.
Vernon House, London, S.W.1.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
BY THE WHITEFRIARS PRESS, LTD.,
LONDON AND TONBRIDGE.
[The end of The Story of the Over-Seas League by John Evelyn Wrench]