EMPIRE AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 208, 2 September 1926, Page 11

EMPIRE AFFAIRS.

NEW ZEALAND'S PART. THE BURDEN OF DEFENCE. TRADE AND THE FLAG. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. In the House of Representatives this afternoon the Prime Minister moved that | the statement made by him in the Houee on August 17 last regarding the agenda paper of the Imperial Conference do lie on the table and be printed, and proceeded to state his views upon matters to be discussed at the Imperial Conference. It would be understood, he said, that where subjects were dealt with which materially affect New Zealand's interests the decisions arrived at would be submitted to this Parliament for its consideration and, if necessary, ratification. He thought it proper, however, to assure honourable members and the country generally that it would be his earnest aim to continue unaltered, in degree or character, New Zealand's traditional attitude towards the Mother Country. It was, he thought, sufficient to announce this intention and to lay down a general I principle by which he would be guided ! at the conference—that, while New Zealand values exceedingly her freedom and her present right to be consulted on Imperial affairs and is glad to avail herself of this right, as far as practicable, she recognises that in matters of foreign policy it is not always possible to give effect to the separate views of all the Dominions, and that New Zealand, where necessary, leaves the ultimate decision to the Imperial Government. The Singapore Base. "On the subject of defence," said the Prime Minister, "I shall confine myself to a few remarks only. I am satisfied | that this country is not yet bearing its full share of the burden of naval defence, and I intend to be guided in the decision i of this question and in the direction in which any possible increase should be' expended by the advice of the Imperial, authorities, and subject, of course, to the concurrence of this Parliament. I, wish, however, definitely to put upon | record my entire agreement with the recent remarks of the Prime Minister of , Australia on the subject of the Singa-! pore Base, which I regard as an indisputable necessity for the adequate defence of British possessions. I reuog-' nise, however, the difficulty of urging upon the Imperial authorities the expenditure of a very large sum of. money on a base many thousands of j miles removed from the British tax-1 payers, who must, in the nature of things, pay the greater part of the cost, and New Zealand must in the near future consider whether as an earnest of her bona fides in the matter she is prepared to contribute, either directly or indirectly, a proportion of the cost. I cannot too strongly reaffirm what has already been asserted on many occasions previously, that the provision of this! base is a matter of defence purely and' simply, and should not in any way be' construed as a threat or a menace to any other power." Immigration. On the subject of immigration the Prime Minister said: "I wish to announce my intention to explore every possibility of safely increasing New Zealand's effort without disorganising the economic life of the country. It will be remembered, that owing, to the inability to fill completely the country's quota of immigrants in the past it was recently decided to raise the annual number of assisted migrants, temporarily at least. I do not think it is feasible safely to increase our quota in the meantime, but if suitable financial assistance can be obtained under the British Empire Settlement Act it may be found possible to take some steps in the direction of a settlement scheme, either on the land generally, or in connection with forestry. This will depend largely on the arrangements that it may be possible to make with the British Government, but in any case, honourable members may rely upon it that the greatest care will be observed in working out any proposals that may be considered. Inter-Imperial Trade. "It is, of course, unnecessary to stress the desirability of increasing in every way possible the volume of interImperial trade, and any course safely I promising such an increase will receive my hearty support," continued Mr. Coates. "The large extent of our trade with the Empire, and especially with the United Kingdom, is well known. New Zealand is already a very good customer of Great Britain and the Empire. In fact, I believe that New Zealand is proportionately Great Britain's beet customer at the present time. In the year ending December, 1925, a total of 72.9 per cent of New Zealand's imports came from the Empire, including 48.7 per cent from the United Kingdom itself. In the same year 86.1 per cent of the Dominion's exports went to the Empire, including 79.8 per cent to the United Kingdom. Although this record is a good one, it must be noted i that in the year mentioned New Zealand imported goods to the value of over £14,000,000 from foreign eountriee, and, although many of these were, of course, commodit'es that are not produced at present within the Empire, any project to reduce this amount without injury to the Dominion will receive my support. The problem of trade is primarily one of economics, but there Is also room for sentiment and a long view of the ultimate possibility of establishing the economic independence of the Empire. Responsibility of Manufacturers. "To a great extent any improvement in inter-Imperial trade depends on the efforts of the manufacturers themselves, and 1 am convinced that if British manufacturers will produce goods suitable for Dominion requirements at a reasonable price there is still a wide field for further progress in interImperial trade. The Imperial Economic Committee and the Empire Marketing Board are doing good work, especially in facilitating the disposal of Empire foodstuffs in Great Britain, and every encouragement should be given to the continuation of this work. The annual grant of £1,000,000 made by the British Government should materially assist in the disposal of Empire products. The subsidiary questions of 'valuation for Customs duty purposes,' 'area of taxation in the case of non-resident traders.' and the 'general economic conference of the League of Nations' do not call for special comment, but the subject of standardisation is one of primary importance. The advantages of standardisation to the seller, the buyer and the public generally cannot be overestimated* and I hope that the

new Department of Scientific Research will be able to facilitate the more general use of British standards to the benefit both of ourselves and of the peopla of the United Kingdom. Transport and Wireless. "A reduction in the time required fo r ; the transport of our produce to the United Kingdom would be of the greatest value, and I hope that some improvement in this direction will be found possible in the near future. The subject of 'wireless communications' is exceedingly important, and I hope it will be possible at tlie conference to attain some final decision on this vexed question. Quite apart from the I aspect of defence it is most desirable that a cheap and dependable system of wireless communication should be estab- > lished at the earliest possible date." The Prime Minister said he would support at the conference any plan that promised to increase the proportion of British films. Question of Nationality. Thu question of nationality had been considered by t previous Imperial Conferences, and : n any case it was one upon . which we would be well advised to consider carefully the views of the i Imperial Government. Since the last j Imperial Conference the British House of Commons had passed a resolution laying down the principle that a 1 British woman should not be deemed ito lose her nationality by the mere act jof marriage with an alien, but that it"i should be open to her to make a declara-1 tion of alienage. A similar resolution had been adopted ir. Australia, while it was understood thu- Canada was also disposed to favour this principle. The matter would, no doubt, be carefully consider**! at the forthcoming conference, and he thought that any decision in this country at the present time would, in the circumstances, be premature. The League of Nations. ''Before concluding," said the Premier, "I feel it necessary to refer I briefly to two subjects of the first importance. In the first place, the attitude of this country to the League of , Nations might have been reiterated. As lan instrument for promoting under - | standing among the nations, the League has already played a worthy part' and its potentialities in the future are most promising. This country stands ready jto take every step and to "afford every ' encouragement that may forward the interests of the League and the attaini menf of the ultimate goal in so far as these interests do not impair the interests of the British Empire, i "Honourable members will notice that I have made no reference to the Locarno Treaty. This, of course, does t not imply any failure on my part or ion the part of the Government to I recognise the grave importance of this j treaty, but as I have already explained, ; the delay in the admission of Germany i to the League of Nations has to some extent altered the position and it has now been decided to take no action during , the present session in the direction of accepting the obligations of this treaty. No doubt the subject will receive consideration at the conference, 'but as no direct obligation can be in- ' curred by New Zealand until the mati ter has been considered by I can see nothing to be gained cuesin? the question at present, wiegf the whole position is uncertain.- ThefS need ho. no doubt about the ultimate. attitude of the Government, nor do 1 think there is any doubt as to tfi"e opinion of the people of this country, and at the conference it is my intention to express as stronerlv as possible the view that New Zealand will in the future take up the position she has been proud to occupy in the past by the eide of Great Britain." Concluding, the Prime Minister eaid this statement embodied hie views, and he could also say they were endorsed by his colleagues in the Cabinet.