VISIT MOOTED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 83, 8 April 1940, Page 7

VISIT MOOTED.

DOMINION SECRETARY. Mr. Eden And Consultations On The War. AUSTRALIA AND N.Z. LONDON*, April 3. The success of the mission to Egypt, performed by ihe Dominions Secretary, Mr. Eden, has led Dominion circles here to wonder whether it might be immediately followed up by a visit to Australia and New Zealand. Such a visit, which would require the British Government's approval, would, in effect, he returning the visit paid by Dominion Ministers to London last year. If Mr. Eden' did go, he would have to fly and his visit would be brief because! of the impracticability of Cabinet Ministers absenting themselves long from London in war time. The project would be more than a goodwill tour. It would fit in with the system of more frequent personal contacts between Ministers, which has been so greatly developed in recent years. Above all, it would enable a member of the British War Cabinet to have firsthand contact with Dominion capitals. Mr. Eden ""meets the bill" in three ways. He is Dominion Secretary, he attends all War Cabinets, and he is, personally, highly popular with all the Dominions. No Minister would be better placed to interpret Britain's policy to the Dominions. Many vital problems require urgent first-hand discussions and none more so than the policy arising from the Supreme War Cabinet meetings. Value Of Personal Touch. All such matters are the subject of most comprehensive and almost hour-to-hour exchange of communications between the British and the Dominion Governments; but many are almost impossible of handling satisfactorily by cabled dispatches. This is especially the case with the development of war effort, in conjunction with vital foreign policy decisions. For example, only by direct contact can the real significance of the FrancoBritish alliance, in all its phases, be explained and discussed. Similarly, nothing requires first-hand conversations more than Pacific and Far Eastern questions of Anglo-American relations between Britain and America. Britain's policy on these is largely— often, perhaps, entirely—governed by the Dominions' viewpoint. It is now necessary to take more, and bigger decisions in a week than, perhaps, hitherto in a year. Consequently, it is felt that nothing would better contribute to a strong co-ordinated Empire policy than a visit by Mr. Eden. It is realised here that Mr. Eden long ago established his popularity with the Dominions in his role of Foreign Secretary. He enjoyed a personal triumph on his recent visit to the Anzacs, and nobody doubts that his new mission would be equally successful.