QUEBEC CONFERENCE

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 September 1944, Page 5

QUEBEC CONFERENCE

THE FIRST MEETING

QUEBEC, September 11. President Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill arrived in Quebec in separate special trains and met on the station platform at historic Wolie s Cove. Both looked fit and cheerful as they chatted enthusiastically about the trend of events. After a short informal chat, they drove to the Citadel, where they will live and work during the conference. The Governor-General of Canada (Earl of Athlone) drove with them. The Prime Minister of Canada (Mr. Mackenzie King), with whom Mr. Churchill and the British staffs will also confer, welcomed them on behali of the Canadian Government.

CANADIAN CONTRIBUTION.

OTTAWA, Sept. 12.

The Canadian Press says the Air Minister (Mr. Power), the Defence Minister (Mr. Ralston), the Navy Minister (Mr. MacDonald) and three Chiefs of Staff will participate m the Quebec conferences, with reference to size and nature of Canada’s contribution to the Pacific war. It is reliably reported that Messrs MacDonald and Power are prepared to make “extremely substantial offers, possibly larger than will be accepted.” These are believed to include a sizeable weight of bomber-fighter squadrons, as well as practically all Canada’s fighting ships. However, it is understood the Army is not yet prepared to offer any more than a general commitment until its role in the European theatre is more clearly defined, since the Canadian Army may participate in some form of international police force or occupation army in enemy territory. One authoritative source said that the Army’s share in the Pacific operations might be restricted to a corps of three divisions or less. BRITAIN AND PACIFIC LONDON, Sept. 12. “The Times,” in a leading article, after referring to the probability of Mr. Churchill and Mr. Roosevelt being engaged in organising victory in the Pacific, adds: “Certain unfriendly American circles have been circulating rumours that Britain does not intend undertaking her full share in the defeat of Japan. Nothing could be farther from the truth. There has even been a tendency to under-estimate the handsome first instalment of -the Australians irf clearing New Guinea, and there is a tendency to forget that the British Commonwealth has quite as large as account with the Japanese as the United States. Singapore rankles as deeply as Pearl Harbour. Nor should American interests and responsibilities be allowed to obscure the fact that four members of the British Commonwealth are Pacific Powers and consequently have as deep and abiding an interest in Pacific security as the United States. Military and technical preparations for the transfer to the Japanese theatreare already far advanced in this country.” i SMALLER.POWERS’ RIGHTS. NEW YORK. September 12. “Delegates to the Dumbarton Oaks

Conference have changed their draft plans in order to guarantee the smaller Powers, which will be consulted whenever they are asked, to place any substantial amount of force--at the disposal of the proposed world security council,” says the Washington correspondent of the “New York Times.” “The original proposals did riot' include such a provision, but one of the delegates pointed out that the principle of ‘taxation without representation’ had caused considerable difficulty in international relations in the past, and was unlikely to win much support among smaller nations if embodied in the security charter. The delegations were told that unless the smaller Powers were guaranteed consultation a nation which was not even represented on the security council might be put in a position of being ordered to allocate certain ‘forces and facilities to the council without even having an opportunity to discuss the proposal, let alone vote against it.’ ”