IMPERIAL REORGANISATION

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 48, 24 February 1917, Page 5

IMPERIAL REORGANISATION

THE FIRST MILESTONE REACHED

THE SECOND TO BE KEPT IN !VIEW.

LONDON, 23rd February.

The Marquis of Graham, in his opening address from the chair at the Empire Produce Association's luncheon to Mr. Massey (Prime Minister of New Zealand), said that the report of Lord Balfour of Burleigh's Committee was the first milestone in the reorganisation ,oi the Empire. The second to be kept in view was the union of capital and labour. It was no use having preference unless capital and labour both benefited. They must dispel the idea that the tariff meant that an employer would get richer and the worker poorer.

Mr. Massey said: '' We are beginning to see that it is better to develop our own resources and provide our own requirements than to purchase from countries which might at some time use their advantage against us." Lord Balfour of Burleigh's report was a vindication of the late Mr. Chamberlain's policy. All were agreed that it would be a mistake to return to the pre-war policy. There was no doubt that Germany would enter into an economic contest after the war. Therefore he hoped that the Paris Conference decisions would not be lost .sight of. The Empire could produce everything requisite for its sustenance.

After Sir Edward Carson's statement in the House, Mr. Massey said, he felt satisfied that Germany would never wrest the control of the sea from us. There must be :a complete reorganisation of industrial and economic methods. Wo would have to see that the men who were entrusted with Imperial affairs understood, them, and know something more about the Empire than they could leai'D in the United Kingdom alone. New Zealand could greatly increase her output of dairy produce areas. He believed that the forthcoming Imperial

Conference would effectively deal with the preference question.