EMPIRE PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 158, 6 July 1926, Page 8

EMPIRE PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION.

SIR FRANCIS DILLON" BELL'S ADDRESS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, June 1. A special committee of the Empire Parliamentary Association, which is devoting its attention to Imperial defence questions, held a meeting at Westminster Hall, when Sir Francis Dillon Bell, delivered an address upon "The External Interests of New Zealand," with special reference to interests in the Islands of the Pacific, Cook Islands, and the mandate of Western Samoa. Mr. Amery, Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, was in the chair, and introduced Sir Francis Bell, whose address dealt with the interest of New Zealand in the Pacific, the part taken by New Zealand in naval defence, and the administration of the islands under the Dominion's control.

Besides British members of Parliament, the attendance included a number of members of Dominion Parliaments. Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., until recently Leader of the Opposition in the New Zealand Parliament, paid a tribute to the work of the New Zealand Government in the administration of the Pacific Islands, and also to Sir Francis Bell as Minister of External Affairs. Lord Jellieoe proposed the vote of thanks to Sir Francis Bell for his address.