EMPIRE PREMIERS

Grey River Argus, 18 May 1944, Page 5

EMPIRE PREMIERS

CONCLUDE MEETING Declaration Issued ' LONDON, May 16. The last meeting of the Dominion Frime Ministers was held to-day. The Ministers will be staying in Britain for some time yet. They will take part in general discussions and see more of Britain than has been possible during the busy days of the conference. They decided to consult their Governments concerning • Mr. Curtin’s plan for a peripanent Empire secretariat.

Mr. Curtin’s proposals, which gave rise to a long and earnest exchange of views, in which Mr. Mackenzie King emphatically restated his objections to the formation of a “national bloc,” will at least ensure that the post-war interchange of information and collaboration on foreign policy will be carried put in the Empire as effectively as during the war. It is generally accepted that the last has not been heard of Mr. Curtin’s suggestion for a standing Empire authority, and it is very likely tnat future meetings of Prime Ministers will be held in Dominion capitals. WELLINGTON, May 17. A cordial agreement on general plans for the part that the British Empire and the Allies should play against .Germany and Japan has been reached ;by the Frime Ministers’ conference in London, according to a declaration issued by the conference on Tuesday morning, which also affirms that, after the war, a world organisation to maintain peace and security should be set up. The text of the declaration was released for publication by the ActingPrime Minister, Hon. D. G. Sullivan. The declaration was drawn up at the conference, and was signed by Messrs Churchill, Mackenzie King, Curtin and Fraser and General Smuts. It is as follows: — . “We, the King’s Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, have now, for the firsj time since the outbreak of war, been able to meet together to discuss common problems and future plans. Representatives of India at the War Cabinet and the Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia have joined in our deliberations, and are united with us. At this memorable meeting in the fifth year of war, we give thanks for deliverance from the worst perils which menaced us in the course of this long, terrible struggle against tyranny. Though hard and bloody battles lie ahead, we now see before us, in evergrowing might of the forces of the United Nations and in the defeat already inflicted on the foe by land, by sea, and in the air, a sure pressage of our own future victory. To all _our armed forces who, in many lands, are preserving our liberty with their lives, and to the peoples of all our countries whose efforts, fortitude and convictions have sustained the struggle, we express our admiration and gratitude. We honour the famous deeds of the forces of the United States and of Soviet Russia, and pay our tribute to the fighting tenacity of the many stales and nations joined with us>

“We remember, indeed, the prolonged stubborn resistance of China, the first to be attacked by the authors of world aggression, and we rejoice in the unquenchable spirit of our comrades in every country still in the grip of the enemy. We shall noi turn from the conflict till they are restored to freedom. Not one who marched with us shall be abandoned. We have examined the part which 'the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations should bear against Germany and Japan in harmony with our allies. We are in cordial agreement with general plans which have been laid before us. As in the days when we stood all alone against Germany, we affirm our inflexible and unwearying resolve to continue in general war with the utmost of our strength until the defeat and downfall of our cruel, -barbarous foes have been accomplished. We shall hold back nothing to reach the goal and bring to the speediest end >the agonies of mankind. We have also examined together principles which determine 'our foreign policy and their application to current problems. Here, too, we are in complete agreement. We are unitedly resolved to continue shoulder to shoulder with our allies all needful exertion which will aid our fleets, armies, and air forces, during the war, and therefore, to make sure of an enduring peace. We trust and pray that victory, which ‘will certainly be won, will carry with it a sense of hope and freedom for all the world. It is our aim that, when the storm and passion of war have passed away, all countries now overrun by the enemy shall be free to decide for themselves their future form of democratic government. Mutual respect and honest conduct between nations is our chief desire. We are determined to work with all peace-lov-ing people in order that tyranny and aggression shall be removed, or, if need be, struck down wherever it raises its head. The people of the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations willingly make their sacrifice to the common cause. We seek no advantage for ourselves at the cost of others. We desire the welfare and social advancement of al] nations, and that they may help each other to “better and broader days. We affirm that, after the war, a world organisation to maintain peace and security should' be set up,, and endowed with the necessary powers and authority to prevent aggression and violence. In a world torn by strife we met here in unity. That unity finds its strength, not in any formal bond, but in the hidden spring from which human action flows. We rejoice in our inheritance, loyalties and ideals, and proclaim our sense of kinship to one another. Our system of free association has enabled us, each and all to claim a full share of the common burden. Although spread across the globe, we have stood together through the stress of two world wars, and have been welded the stronger thereby. We believdj when victory is won and peace prevails, this same free association, this inherent unity of purpose, will make us able to do further service to mankind.” VISIT TO CANADA. (Rec. 12.50.) OTTAWA, May 17. The Minister of Defence, Mr. Rals r ton, announced in the House of Commons, that Mr. Fraser and Mr. Curtin had accepted invitations to visit Canada on their way home from London. Is Mr Roosevelt Coming ? FOR CONFERENCE IN •AUSTRALIA. (Rec. 9.40.)- WASHINGTON ,May 16. President Roosevelt was asked at his press conference to-day. if he would attend the meeting in Australia which Mr. Curtin recently mentioned in London, and to which Mr. Curtin has invited Mr. Churchill. Mr. Roosevelt said that he had heard rumours of such a meeting, but had not received any direct word about it, either from Australia or

New Zealand. “I expect to see Messrs Curtin and Fraser, ’ their they are passing through on their way home from London, he sa d. FOURTH (TERM'. (Rec. 9.40) NEWYORK. May 17 O’he C I O’s political action committeV representing five m'U.on njernhers formally endorsed Mr. i-coose Jeli for a fourth term as President. )s‘being the onle man Qualified to ipad the nation . for the next tour iears? The Committee called on the President to respond to a cal! of duty and become a candidate, lhe committee indicated it also would SU R port Mr. Wallece if nominated again as Vice-President. >