IMPERIAL CONFERENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19976, 18 December 1926, Page 13

IMPERIAL CONFERENCE

A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING MR AMERY’S SUMMARY. (Fleet AseociaUon—By Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, December 16. (Received Dec. 17, at 5.5 p.m.) “The Imperial Conference has been most successful, although at one moment success did not seem likely,” said Mr Amcry addressing the Constitutional Club. He recalled that Mr Baldwin, at a recent farewell dinner, confessed that he had approached the conference with some misgiving, and had even suggested to Mr Amcry the possibility of a postponement.

Mr Amcry continued : “I shared some of the Prime Minister's misgivings. I felt that the conference might be disappointing owing to the apparently wide divergence of views between the different Empire Governments regarding constitutional issues, and also because Britain was not ready to promote economic cooperation, which is the greatest Imperial problem, with large-scale preferences. How’cver, we separated in a very different spirit. The conference was perhaps most successful from the viewpoint of the intimate personal understanding which grew up between the members, enabling the heads of the different Empire Governments to become friends and make allowances’ for personal idiosyncrasies, and take such factors into account when they see speeches and rend telegrams between the conferences. The growth of mutual knowledge was more marked at the recent conference than at former conferences, despite the fact that members approached the problems from different angles. Moreover, personal goodwill, a desire to co-operate and reach conclusions, the avoidance of anything approaching a division into two camps, as well as the absence of an appeal to the outside public, made the conference the best of the many with which I have been connected.” —A. and N.Z. Cable.