TOUR OF DOMINIONS

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 101, 27 January 1928, Page 9

TOUR OF DOMINIONS

LORD LOVAT’S PLANS / CRITICISED BY LONDON PAPER “LET US GET ON WITH THE ACTUAL JOB” The London “Daily Express” criitcises Lord Lovat’s proposed tour of the Dominions, and ex< presses doubts whether it will result in national or Imperial advantage. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Copyright. London, January 25. The “Daiy Express” editorially disagrees .with" the proposed tour of Lord Lovat, Under-Secretary for Dominion Affairs, and doubts whether it would result in national or Imperial advantage, especially in view of the fact that Mr. Amery is just completing a similar tour. “The suggestion that Lord Lovat should go gallivanting to the Dominions for months at the public expense strains the requirements of his office too much,” the paper says. • “The Dominions know their business. If Lord Lovat doesn’t, he can easily and inexpensively ascertain it from the Dominions offices in London. Let us get on with the actual job, instead of running expensive trips to talk about it. In other words, let us send out emigrants, not Lovat.” , OFFICIAL EXPLANATION i PRINCIPAL PURPOSES OF TOUR <• London, January 25. Referring to the criticism of Lord Lovat, the Dominions Office explains that the tour is not duplicating Mr. Amery’s, but is complementary.. Its principal purposes relate to migration and forestry. The first arises out of Lord Lovat’s chairmanship of the Overseas Settlement Committee, by which he is responsible for an expenditure of £3,000,000 annually, necessitating the closest cd-operation with the Dominions and an intimate knowledge of their conditions and requirements. Mr. Amery studied the broad lines of policy; Lord Lovat proposes giving attention to details. The committee’s experience has demonstrated that this is not obtainable second-hand, except unsatisfactorily.,

In the second place, Lord Lovat is acknowledged to be the chief authority on forestry in Britain, and he hopes that the tour will enlarge his knowledge of Empire forestry, partly following on the last Empire Forestry Conference in Canada, and preparing for the forthcoming conference in Australia. [A previous message said that Lord Lovat would sail for Canada in July, proceeding thence to New Zealand and Australia, and possibly South Africa, returning to England in December. Lord Lovat, in an interview, said that his principal purpose, as chairman of the Oversea Settlement Committee, was to investigate and report on both individual and family settlement in Canada and Australia; also, as chairman of the Forestry Commission, to investigate the forestry lesources of the Dominions. His departure from England was arranged for the mid-year to enable exhaustive consultations with Nir. Amery, who is expected back in Marsh.]