PREPARATION FOR OTTAWA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21115, 24 February 1932, Page 8

PREPARATION FOR OTTAWA.

The Prime Minister'a general statement of the attitude to be taken by this Dominion at the Ottawa Conference rightly indicates that our representatives will not make any demands but rather be prepared to assist in whatever way may be found possible. This attitude, bosides according with New Zealand's traditional bearing at Imperial Conferences, is in keeping with what the Secretary for Dominion Affairs has told the House of Commons about the mind of the British Government: "let us all go to see what we can throw into a common pool for the benefit of all." Mr. Thomas and Mr. Forbes, however, look differently at the facts then to be faced, one emphasising what Britain has deliberately set out to do, far in excess of concessions granted by the Dominions, and the other asserting that New Zealand has already gone far in the direction of giving preference to Britain. In this matter, our representatives should go to Ottawa prepared to forget what has been done on this side. The action of the British Government has made that negligible. Even if it was a good beginning, it has been so dwarfed that to speak of it now sounds rather out of place. There should be more than readiness to confer about schemes for the benefit of the whole Empire: practical offers, made in response to the action of Britain, ought to be tabled at the earliest moment. What Mr. Thomas says about plain talk at Ottawa to the Dominions—"lt is no good talking about preference when your duties are so high that nobody can climb over them"—is worth heeding at once. It puts the position in a nutshell. For the success of the Ottawa Conference it is incumbent on every Dominion to take the reciprocal action prompted by the new British policy, and the guiding principle of all preparation on the part of this country should be the extension of preference to Britain commensurate witn what is now to be given by Britain. To share fully the policy of mutual aid is the call of the hour, and the working out of essential details with a view to that is an urgent duly.