IMPERIAL CONFERENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 59, 10 March 1926, Page 9

IMPERIAL CONFERENCE

AUSTRALIAN PLANS

MR. BRUCE TO GO,

(From Our. Own Correspondent.)

SYDNEY,; sth March,

Now that the Imperial Conference in London has been fixed for early October, the eyes of all the Dominions will centre on the personalities to attend it. The intervening months will be spent in choosing delegates and drawing up business. In Australia and New Zealand these choices must be made sooner than in the other parts of the Empire, since our delegates must leave not later than early August. Already in Federal political circles in Melbourne speculation is rife concerning the personnel of the, Australian delegation.' Mr. Bruce announced ,lais intention of personally attending, as was expected, in a speech on Saturday last, but there is greater uncertainty concerning his co-delegates. ;

PROBABLE HELPMATES.

It is fairly certain that Mr. Bruce ■will take another Minister with him. Speculation has narrowed the probables down to four —the Minister of Defence (Sir Neville Howse), the Attorney-Gen-eral (Mr. Latham), the Minister of Customs (Mr. Pratten), and the<Assistant Minister (Mr. Marr). Both Sir Neville Howse "and Mr. Latham have represented Australia aboard previously, the former at the League of Nations and the latter as adviser to Mr. Hughes at the Peace Conference. If, as,anticipated, the question,of Domin-ion-status, arising out of the Locarno Treaties and foreign policy in general, is to be one of the chief "talking points" of the Conference, it is more than probable that the Prime Minister will ask Mr. Latham to accompany him. Mr. Latham's sound knowledge of constitutional law would help him in iniportant deliberations. Recently in London the spotlight of public discussion has been turned on the constitutional positions of the various component parts of the British Commonwealth' of Nations, and it is felt that if a decision is to be reached at the Conference on such a delicate point Australia should be represented by an undoubted authority. Economic questions will also be dis-, cussed, and this is where Mr. Pratten's claims for selection are strong. Suggestions Jiavo been made that he should bo given an opportunity of conferring with British trading interests on the subject of Empire trade and the working of Imperial preference, but as a party of Australian parliamentarians will be visiting England in 1927 at the invitation of the Empire Parliamentary Association, it is more probable that Mr. Pratten's visit will be postponed till then. In the case of Mr. Marr, it is believed that Mr. Bruce will either take him as an additional member of the delegation or depute him to lead a proposed party of Federal members of Parliament through Central Australia and to the mandated territory of New Guinea. In the latter case, the choice of the London delegate would be narrowed down to Sir Neville Howse and Mr. Latham, with the latter as the more probable choice.

It was interesting lo note that in a speech this weeic Mr. Bruce, while insisting that tho relations between Australia and Britain must remain as they have been in the past, stated, among other things, that: "We want to1 know what is happening in Imperial affairs und to have the right to influence Imperial decisions by having consideration given to the point of view of a young and free country like Australia. . . . I have met many British statesmen, and have a great regard for many of them, but I absolutely refuse to leave Australian interests in the hands of any British statesman or body of ■tatcsmen."