THE CONFERENCE

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 146, 21 June 1923, Page 8

THE CONFERENCE

iNEW.ZEALAND REPRE- : Mentation ,

DEFENCE IN PACIFIC

NAVAL VOTE TO BE INCREASED,

Important references to the Imperial Conference were' made by various speakers during the course of the Addressu\ Reply debate in the House of Representatives last night. The views of the Reformers and the Liberals were, divergent in some important respects, and in th"c evening the Leader of the Labour Party added his party's views of the proposal that Mr. Massey should attend aa New . Zealand's representative. Hie Leader of the Opposition said that the date of the closing of the present' session depended upon the nature of the legislation which the Government intcinde.d to, bring, down. If that legislation -cdealt ■ with the urgent '.domestic needs of the Dominion—and he mentioned specially housing and unemployment —#he Liberal Party would facilitate its passage through the House. The session might end next month if the Government only set out to satisfy the urgent legislative requirements of the Dominion. CONTENTS OF AGENDA PAPER. ■Mr. Wilford appealed to Hie Prime Minister to reveal the contents of the agenda of the Imperial Conferences. Mr. Massey Had the programme, which was cent out by the British Prime Minister in December last. Sir. Wilford wanted to.: know, what would be New 'Zealand's attitude on defence. Further than that, tlio delegates were expected to take to the Conference' "considered schemes of development"'—considered schemes of defence, trade, preference. What were Now Zealand's "considered schemes of development?" Surely the House and the country were entitled to know. How could they send a delegate to the Conferences without knowing the delegate's m-ind? What was the Prime Minister's considered judgment in the matter of d«,fence? Surely the Parliament of New Zealand should have' some idea of the extent to which the Dominion would be pledged. IMPORTANT MOVEMENT DEVELOPING. , The Minister of Education (the Hon. C. J. Parr) claimed that the Imperial Conference overshadowed all domestic questions. It would be the most important Conference yet held. He had not. seen the Order Paper, but it was easy to judge whjjt matters would come U£ for consideration. First, there was the ', status.,of New Zealand in the Im- I perial family. The Imperial Parliament idea had evidently been dropped as impracticable. Then there was the question of; appointing a residential Minister in London or a widening of the powers of the High Commissioner Tha share ■to be taken by -die Dominions in framing the Imperial foreign policy also had to be decided. Important movements were developing, some of .-which' might have, a sinister .influence over the. future of the Empire. It was necessary that New Zealand should be represented by a man -who. would speak strongly for the unity of-the Empire. Nav^l defence was of the utmost importance, and it .-was generally recognised that the future history of ' the world would be made in the Pacific. Britain would be there, and New Zealand was vitally interested in the Imperial Government's proposals. The Ministor referred to the establishment of the naval base at Singapore, which he described as a natural site for a great Imperial watch tower in the Pacific. He spoke in no aggressive spirit, but in the interests of the people of New Zealand R n<[CA ustralia. He. was at liberty to* say-that-the Finance Minister would aslc Parliament to nearly double the i^lwT 161 ,j P £ 'the amount voted £100,000 would be offered as New Zealand s share towards the development of the new naval base. New Zealand would continue to maintain its own unit but the Chatham would shortly be replaced by, a new oil-burning vessel. The Imperial Conference was going to do much to. keep .New Zealand a white man's country, .and the reasons he had given ivgre m themselves sufficient for the House to demand that Mr. Mnssey should attend as New Zealand's representative. Mr. Massey's fame extended- beyond-New Zealand, but there was no. need to emphasise his qualifications for the position of New Zealand's delegate. r ' A LIBERAL CRITIC. '' ' ' ' r: v , *••'£.' Sidey (Dunedin South) ■".'i^^Vuffh the. Prime Minister wished it to be believed that lie was in-' dispensable, the country had had an illustration pf.how the business went aW apparently all right while the Prime ■Minister was otherwise engaged Be ioxe the session of last year he had planned a trip to Samoa, and {he only reason for its cancellation was political considerations in view of the approaching General Election. That was seen by the fait that, the time that would have been spent in visiting the Islands was occupied in travelling round the country electioneering. After the expiry of the session there was a General Election, and between that and his exploits at Tauranga and Oamaru, the Prime Minister had been largely occupied in electioneering ever since the close of the last Parliament; and now his only desire was to got the, session over as quickly as possible, postpone_everything that could be postponed, and get away to the ImperiaJ Conference. Mr. Sidey did not question the right of the Prime Minister to attend the Conference. It was true he was beaten, at the polls last Decemberhe .was at the head of a Government with a minority in the House and the country, and was only holding office with the help" of members elected to' oppose him—but.still the fact remained that he was the responsible head of tho Government, and as such was the right person to represent the country at the Conferance. Mr. Sidey said he yielded to no one in- his loyalty and attachment to the Mother Country, but if it were intended to'destroy enthusiasm for the Imperial Conference the way to do so was to disorganise the business of this country every time such a conference was held. THE LABOUR VIEW. Mr. H. B. Holland (Buller), Leader of the Labour Party, said that if the Prims Minister was to attend the Imperial Conference, and get there in time for the first sititng on or about Ist October, it meant that the present must b<y .1 very short session, and that the House must rise somewhere before the middle of August. He could not see why the House should not be expected to sit in the absen.ee of the Prime Minister He supposed there would be no difficulty .in arranging: a r>air for the Prime Minister, for he was quite sure the Opposition would give him a pair. The oHiof difficulty seemed to be the desperate plight in which the Reform Party found itself at the present moment. Naval defence would be consid : ernd at th« Conference, and the speaker v.asjpne of those who wanted to know the whole of tlio /acts in connection with that matter. One of the dangers of the world v.-.is tlio Efrcrncy which took plafc ja, connection with these conferences, pne of the problems to be discussed

would be that of the status of tho Dominions'. To-day the Dominions had no voice m their external affairSj and not even in their internal affairs to the fullestextent. The.Prime Minister: "Oh, yes." •.'Mi\ Holland .-""lt's no cood the Prime Minister saying- 'Oh, yes, because tho Imperial authorities can veto legislation." Mr. ■ Massay: "But they do not do it" Mr. Holland said a chance which must be made was that the Dominions must have' the fullest right to decide their own destinies. The Prime Minister said he miist ao.'to the Conference as a re-presentative,-but what was the difference betwean a delegate and a representative? What Mr. Maesev wanted was to iro to the Conference as a dictator. No Prime Minister could object to making himself responsible to'the people whom he represented. - - "STIRRING UP THE PRIME MIN- . ISTER." . Mr.. Massey had said that if he went to the Conference, he would be the only Prime Minister that, had survived the war period and was still in power: The Prime Minister,- however, had mads a mistake—he was not in power." Mr. Massey: "I think he is." Mr. Holland: "I don't think so, Sir. The. Prime, Minister is in office, not in ipower." • The Prime Minister: " Where are you?" Mr. Holland: " Well, just at the present moment I am in a position to considerably stir up the Prime Minister." (Laughter.) Whoever went to the Conference should be instructed to press for a revision of the Peace Treaty, and should be definitely instructed from the people of New Zealand as to the attitude he was to take up on things, that mattered. There would be such things to bo discussed as the recognition of Russia The Prims Minister: "Not necessarily." Mr. Holland contended that the Conference delegates, or whatever they liked to call themselves, would not be doing their duty unless they'discussed Russia., which should be recognised if economic conditions were to be brought back to normal. The Prim© Minister should be instructed to say at the Conferenoo that, under no circumstances, would New Zealand consent to be dragged into a war in the Near East. The recent trouble in the Near East was due to a clash of oil interests." The Prime Minister: " You should not say that, because it is not true." In conclusion, Mr. Holland said that, unless the Prime Minister had the approval of the people with respect to the policy he was to adopt at the Conference, then he had no right to go.