EMPIRE DEFENCE

Evening Star, Issue 19521, 31 March 1927, Page 5

EMPIRE DEFENCE

STATUS OF THE DOMINIONS DISCUSSION IN CANADIAN HOUSE. Press Association —By 'Telegraph—Copyright OTTAWA, March 29. “ Imperial control has given place to equality of status and whole-hearted cooperation,” said the Prime Minister, Mr Mackenzie King, in Parliament, when giving an account of the Imperial Conference. He added in respect of defence; “ I may say that no commitments were made, nor were there any requests in that direction. Each dominion is left to determine what its defence will be, and the extent t.o_ which it will_ cooperate with Britain and the sister dominions.” Regarding the constitutional status, he said that there were greater differences between the views of the dominions than between Canada and the Mother Land. The dominions had started out in a position of colonial subordination, but a change had come about until that conception of things no longer obtained. During the debate on the Imperial Conference Mr Guthrie (Leader of the Conservative Party) moved an amendment—“ That it is not desirable that the House should be doomed tacitly to have acquiesced in the recommendations and declarations of the conference, and that they be not binding on the Parliament of Canada until_ they are approved by a formal resolution of the House of Commons. Until then the Government be not deemed authorised to carry into effect the recommendations contained in the report of the Imperial Conference Committee on Interimperial Relations.” This report, Mr Guthrie said, opened the door to possibilities which might end in disaster. He said that so veiled and diversified had been the statements of those who participated as to what had actually been done that the public was not at all clear as to what had been accomplished. He referred to the statements made by Mr Bruce in Australia, Mr Mackenzie King in Canada, and General Hertzog, of South Africa. Mr King said that the conference had made an effort not to discover points of difference, but points of agreement.