AIM OF CANADA.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20563, 3 June 1932, Page 11

AIM OF CANADA.

MUTUAL GAINS AT OTTAWA. PARTNERSHIP IN TRADE. PRIME MINISTER'S OPTIMISM. (UNITED PBES3 ASSOCIATION—HI SLBCXJHO TEUSQEAPH—COPYRIGHT.) (Received June 2nd, 8.15 p.m.) LONDON (Ontario), June 1. "Canada will go to the Imperial Economic Conference in July with tho clean-cut thought that there must bo mutual gains and advantages to all the component parts of ttie 'greatest Commonwealth of free peoples in tho history of tho world —the British Empire.' " the Prime Minister, Mr U. B. Bennett, declared on Wednesday night when addressing a conference of the Western Ontario Conservative Association. Doaling with various aspects of the forthcoming conference, Mr Bennett said: In July we will gather together as partners to see how far it ts possible to keep our trade within our partnership. We comprise tho greatest commonwealth of lree people the world has ever known, and wb must trade to the advantage not of one, but of all. Ihet© must be mutual gains and advantages. There must be mutual arrangements for tho benefit of all rarts of the Empire. Agreements must bo reached at the conforonce that shall bo to tho perpetual advantage of all parts of the Empire.

Ending on a. note of optimism re* gard to the conference, the Prime Minister said: I am sure that with our pcoplo, and with our great tradition, wo will be able to make arrangements which will yield benefit not only to the Dominions but to all parts of tho British Empire. Mr Bennett emphasised the sound iinanirial position of Canada at the piesent time, pointing out that tho people of the Domiuion were better off than those of any other nation in tho world. TRADE POSSIBILITIES. SURVEY BY " THE TIMES." LONDON, May 25. An admirable collation of tho material required for tho purposes of the Empire Economic Conference at Ottawa is made by this week's issue of "The Times" Trade and Engineering Supplement. It makes a broad survey of important branches of industry in a compact and coherent form. "The Times," in an editorial article, expresses the hope that industrial leaders in all parts of the will bo stimulated to examine in detail all the possibilities of inter-Imperial trade agreements. Tho Prime Ministers of the Empire supply a series of sanguine messages. Tho Prime Minister of Now Zealand, tho lU. Hon. G. W. Forbes, declared that New Zealanders aro assured of the benefits of tho Conference. An editorial article omphasises the value of securing complementary productiqn in different parts of tho Empire. The special number is embellished with a coloured cover, embodying the aims of the Dominions with vignettes reproducing Dominion scenes. Autlioritativo articles cover airways research, finance, communications, shipping films, seeds, and implements. Australia and New Zealand receive adequate treatment, and the marketing possibilities of tho Dominions aro fully discussed, with many illustrations.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN DELEGATION. THREE MINISTERS SELECTED. [From a Correspondent .] CAPE TOWN, April 27. Tho 'South African delegation to Ottawa will be led by tho Minister for Finance (Mr N. C. Havenga). He is the one man of conspicuous ability W the Cabinet, though at present his stock i 3 low with the public because ho is held to be chiefly responsible for tho determination of tho Government to remain on the gold standard at any cost. Mr Havenga, in addition to being a most agreeable man personally, standß neaa and shoulders abovo his colleagues m ability. At heart he is probably as firm a Nationalist as any of them; but: he is the one and only man in tho Cabinet who is capable of _ taking, £ air consistently, the broad view of a South African statesman. His colleagues will be the Minister for Lands (Mr riet Grobler) and the Minister for Mines and Industries (Mr A. P. J. Fourie). Mr Grobler, tho leader of the Nationalists in the TransVaal, was a protege of Oom Paul Kruger, to whom he is closely related, and as a youth he was destined for tho diplomatic service of the old . Transvaal Eepublic. He has sufficient leanings towards extreme Nationalism tp be acceptable to the Transvaal Kcpublicans; but he is regarded as one of the most solid men in the Cabinet. He is not likely to be very helpful in the deliberations at Ottawa, but it is equally improbable that he will be a clog on the machine. Mr Fourie is a good after-dinner speaker, and Mr Havenga will probably be well pleased if he will confine himself to hovering like a ponderous butterfly over the surface of the proceedings. It must be confessed that Ottawa does not bulk as large in the thoughts of South Africans as in those of the citizens of the sister Dominions. The one definite reference that the Prime Minister (General Hertzog) did make to it seemed bo designed principally to persuade everybody to leave the subject alone. There have been some resolutions from producing interests asking tho Government to seek special favours for their products, but such resolutions hardly represent an interest in the larger issues to be decided at Ottawa. The South African Party has not pressed the question. Its leaders know that better things can be expected of Mr Havenga if he goes to Ottawa unfettered than could be expected of him if he went with tho echoes ringing in his ears of acrimonious debates, such as .vould assuredly oceur if the question •vere pressed in the House of Assembly, ".nd the extrepie anti-Imperialirts of his own Party were allowed to express their feelings freely.