EMPIRE POLICY

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11423, 20 January 1923, Page 6

EMPIRE POLICY

PREMIERS’ CONFERENCE “URGENTLY IMPORTANT, ON ALL GROUNDS.’’ GRAVE PROBLEMS. By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright. Ptibliahe- in "The Time." LONDON, January 18. In a leader on “Empire Foreign Policy,” “The Times” declares: “On all grounds it is of the most urgent importance that the Premiers’ Conference should meet in 1923, when a common policy may be decided upon. There is the unfeasible alternative of allowing the British Government to carry out that policy, acting, as it were, on commission After consultation. FREQUENT MEETINGS. “No doubt the system of keeping the Dominions informed by cable dispatches will be continued, and, if the Dominions require a closer and more constant liaison, by the presence in London of a member of the Government or the other method will he welcomed. But to maintain a united policy for the Empire it is necessary to have frequent meetings of the Premiers in conference. It is more necessary than ever in such a time as this of unsettlement and disorganisation, when crisis succeeds crisis, and grave decisions must he taken every week. VALUE OF CONFERENCE.

“Moreover, the political changes throughout the Empire, which are the most serious obstacles to an early conference, constitute one of the strongest arguments why it should be held, since the value of all other forms of communication between the Premiers is diminished by half, if they are personally unacquainted. “The graver and the more far-reach-ing the decisions which must be undertaken, the more imperative it is that they should express the united views of the British Commonwealth.” MR MASSEY’S VIEWS “NO POSSIBILITY OF ATTENDING.” The Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey) stated yesterday, that, speaking for himself personally, the matter not having been dealt with by Cabinet, he could see no possibility of his attending the Conference in London this year.