THE BONDS OF EMPIRE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19197, 13 June 1924, Page 7

THE BONDS OF EMPIRE

BETTER LIAISON MACHINERY. SIR JAMES ALLEN’S SUGGESTION. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, Juno 11. (Received June 12, at 5.5 p.m.) Speaking at a luncheon at the New Zealand section at Wembley, Sir James Allen said that the position in regard to the preference resolutions had caused general disappointment in the dominions, and colonies, while there was also grave unrest in New Zealand and Australia as a result of the abandonment of the Singapore naval base scheme. Ho urged the desirability of removing the defect in the constitution of the Imperial Conference by semiring that the Prime Ministers and other delegates should represent their Parliaments and the whole of their people. There seemed to bo no reason why, after a discussion in Parliament or between the party leaders the representatives at the Imperial Conference should not be placed in a position equally as strong as the representatives in the War Cabinet. Sir James Allen also advocated the provision of better liaison machinery by appointing the High Commissioner to receive and give information to the Prime Minister or Foreign Office and ensure the rapid transmission of information and advice to his Government. He agreed with Mr MacDonald that the. time had arrived to create machinery for the conduct of a united Imperial policy, particularly in regard to foreign affairs. The reason why the Imperial Conference did not achieve all that was expected was that the Prime Ministers represented short-lived governments. —Reuter. “A PLAIN-SPOKEN SPEECH.” THE GOVERNMENT CENSURED. LONDON, June 11. (Received Juno 12, at 5.5 p.m.) The Morning Post, commenting on Sir James Allen’s '“remarkably plain-spoken speech,” says: ‘‘Between them, Air Snowden and Mr MacDonald have sickened the dominions of conferring together, for where is the sense of coining from the world's ends to investigate and settle' questions of policy if The whole work is to be upset because there is a change of Govefnment?”—A. and N.Z. Cable.