THE MAIN ISSUES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21145, 1 October 1930, Page 7

THE MAIN ISSUES.

MR THOMAS INTERVIEWED. PURSUIT OS’. COMMON IDEALS. • RUGBY, September 29. The main issues’before the Imperial Cqnference, which will be opened on Wed- ' nesday ih/ the reception room 'of the Foreign Office, were discussed to-day in an interview by. the 'Dominions Secretary (Mr J. H.- Thomas), who is one ■ of 1 the United Kingdom delegates.' ■ : At the outset he emphasised that it •was a family gathering. VVhile it was true that each member had separate in-. terests, all were working together in the ■ common, interest, .and in pursuit of common ideals. The delegates therefore came ■ into the’ conference to exchange views, to consult- together, and to try td work out together, to mutual advantage, sola-, tiohs of the various problems confronting them. ■ - •'• ■ - “In the field of interimperial rela tions, r he said, ** the bread principle of the constitutional; status has already been settled. The Imperial Conference’of 1926, set out a definition of ; the position, and the mutual, relation of the'grbup of self-; governing communities composed qf Great Britain and the dominions, ip terms wnich ; are- well- known. / The report of that; conference also made plain how vital whs the principle Of co-operation if the , British Empire was to achieve its positive ideal, and It further placed on record that there were j certain put of the • 'present legal posluhn which*’appeared ip , repuire further Artailed' consideration. /ft, recommended that aspecial body be set. ‘ up toconsiderthese questions. Accordingly ■ last autumn, a special, conference op tht operation of dominion. legislation merriiaiit shipping legislation ’ was ■held. Briefly, the .object of the recommendations of that special conference, was to remove ’ certain restrictions which exist, or appear to exist, legally on the powers of dominion Parliaments on the ground that such restrictions are, now, constitu- ■ tionally out of date. The precise terms of the recommendations will form one of . the - main issues for consideration at the forthcoming.conference. It is felt in some . quarters that the existence of these legal forms afford an obstacle to; free constitutional development, and .that in order to secure free pud' full co-operation between the-equal partners in the British - Commonwealth it-is desirable, first, of all, ta make it quite dear that the oversea dominions are, in form as well as in fact, an „ ll ® subordinate to this country/ “The next broad division of the agenda covers questions connected with foreign policy and defence. Under this heading the conference will no doubt consider what • further advance can be made-in the international field towards securing the general peace of the world. This is, the supreme object to which the efforts of the present - Government have; been devoted since it took office, both' by means ’of developing the use of arbitration, instead of warns instanced by the adherence to the optional clause—and by special attention to - instanced in the negotiation of the London Naval Treaty of this year. Naturally, as this great. • question is of vital importance in the ■ interests of the British Commonwealth • of Nations, it is desirable that the separate members, should move forward—as they have so far moved. ■ forward—hand in hand, and, moreover, the influence “which such a - joint action'on their, part can exert greatly exceeds the influence which can be exerted by any one of them, acting alone. The conference* therefore, will find; one of its chief 1 tasks in dis /. cussing the next steps to be taken in the • cause of security and disarmament. To turn now to the Economic Con* ■ ference, it is not a conference to which we go with a predetermined policy' to be pursued at all coats with the idea that success or failure is to-be measured by the success or otherwise in pursuit of that policy. ,Our object is, in an atmosphere of goodwill, to consider together what obstacles can best be fe-. moved, so far as Governments can remove them, bur whilst a Government can do a great deal, there are many Important things that Governments cannot do. Governments can help to create conditions in which real progress can be made. They can also , help to remove obstacles. They can inspire a spirit of confidence and lend guidance to the efforts of individuals, but we must not forget that it is on the efforts of industry itself that the economic prosperity of the Commonwealth largely depends, and. one of onr chief tasks will be to find means to encourage those efforts and to ensure that they shall prove fruitful.’ The conference meets at a time when the economic world outlook is dark —barker indeed than it has been for generations— yet it is just because of the fact that our economic difficulties are so grave that the work of the conference is so eagerly anticipated, and so much is expected from it. For my part, I shall start as an optimist.” Several interimperial questions which it is thought likely may be examined at the conference were informally discussed by Mr Thomas.. He said the project for setting up an Empire Court, to which individual units of the Empire might have access for the settlement of differences that were internal and domestic to the British Empire, would probably be discussed.