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Hokitika Guardian, 12 July 1935, Page 4

There has just been revived in the English press an old proposal that the Dominions and Colonies should he represented in Parliament at Westminster —an idea that goes back to the days before the American revolution, remarks Mr H. V. Hudson, writing in the Listener. The advantages of such a plan are obvious, but# equally plain are the objections to it in a community of fully self-governing nations, in which the United Kingdom ranks constitutionally no higher than the rest. The Dominions do not want to do anything that suggests, belief in the authority of the British Parliament to control their affairs. It is sometimes felt, even in England, that members of Parliament who have to spend most of their time in London are often out of touch with their constituencies; what, then would lie thought of a member whose constituency was at the other side of the globe? We really do not need any such new or complicated political machinery at present. What is first required is more frequent and more intimate consultations between the heads of His Majesty’s different Governments, on the lines of those that are now taking place. It is satisfactory, to note that there is talk of another Imperial Conference in 1936 or 1937 ;- -but the last Imperial Conference, apart from the purely economic meeting at Ottawa, was held as far back as 1930, and surely six or seven years is far too long an interval between such gatherings. In these days of air communications, Mr Hodson contends, an annual imperial Conference is not too much to hope for—an annual Imperial Conference, at least of an informal kind.