BRITAIN AND DOMINIONS

Evening Star, Issue 18259, 26 April 1923, Page 10

BRITAIN AND DOMINIONS

THE HEW MOVEMENT. DESIRE FOR CO-ORDINATION. Press Association— By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, April 24. Tho Lord Mayor of London, presiding over a'meeting of tho Empire Development Union at Mansion House, said that all classes ought to combine, to make the forthcoming Imperial and Economic Conferences successful starting points a new great development of trade enterprise throughout the dominions. The latter were anxious to co-opcralo. During the last quarter of a century they had gone far ahead of the Motherland in promoting interimperial trade, relations. Viscount Long said that the union was not formed to oppose, but to help the Government in strengthening interimperial commercial tics. This did not mean abandoning Britain’s long-established trade policy ; but within limits that policy could oiler tho dominions extended opportunities fur trade development. Curiously enough, tho only resistance ho knew of to the extension of the. Imperial federation, in trade came from those, who argued' that it was tho Government's duty to secure the best possible standard of life for the wageearning classes. The application of the, Dvineiples of preferential duties in favor of the Mother Country, which began in Canada a quarter of a century ago, had been supported by the oilier dominions, and had steadfastlv continued and increased despite the profoundly regret table absence of a practical response from the Motherland. They rejoiced dominions’ preferences to Britain. The hand that the dominions was now holding out should bo firmly grasped in order that the Empire should'become one in name and fact. The migration and land feCfleinont schemes were useless unless tho migrants commanded the markets here, giving a fair return for their labor. This was attainable by Britain’s adoption of a care-fully-thought-out policy of Imperial preference, nut by the reversal, but by the extension of the present Imperial trade policy.—A. and N.Z. Cable.