IMPERIAL CONFERENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21147, 3 October 1930, Page 9

IMPERIAL CONFERENCE.

THE INAUGURAL MEETING. AN - ABSENCE OF CEREMONIAL EIGHT COUNTRIES REPRESENTED. EXCEPTIONAL, PUBLIC INTEREST. .(United - Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph——Copyright.) LONDON, October 1. ;; , Shom p f glamour of a ceremonial opening, the Imperial Conference delegates assembled at 10 o’clock at the Locarno ■ room of tKe Foreign Office almost unnoticed as far as the public were concerned, and for six weeks the only link with the public will be the formal daily press communiques, and perhaps an ; occasional talk by Mr Thomas if the conference to-day agrees to . his proposal that he should be Press liaison officer.

MR MACDONALD) CHAIRMAN. .MESSAGE TO THE KING. ' . , . . LONDON, October 1. Each delegation arrived in , a State limousine provided by.the British Government, bearing the ■ silken .flag of its country,, talkies, and cameras buzzed. The delegations then went to the Locarno room, where the tables were arranged in a hollow squared r Mr -MacDonald had Mr SCullin on his right and Mr Forbes on his left, ; Mr MacDonald made the opening, speech, and was'followed by Mr Bennett, Mr Scullin, Mr Forbes, General Hertzog, and others. ■ The proceedings of the. conference opened, with' Mr, Bennett * proposing and Mr Scullin seconding;- that Mr MacDonald should be chairman.

Mr MacDonald moved . and General Hertzog—as - the only Prime Minister present in 1926—seconded-that , the conference’s first official act should be to present ■' its respectful duty to his Majesty, joining in thankfulness for his

Majesty’s restoration to: health and earnestly'';hoping -that' their Majesties .-'might he spared: for, : many years ,tp« in- . ' spire the feelings of .love add affection .: which united, all .-Britons under, the ■ Crown. - . ’ "■ ' His Majesty’s reply was read to the conference. "■ It ■ sincerely thanked the conference on behalf of himself and the Queen,.add went ■ on .to -say ' • I am especially touched, with the ■ kind allusion to ■ my;'restoration to health. - Realising'.thie all-important questions that will be considered, I shall /follow, with close - attention the progress of your deliberations. The conference paid tributes to the memories, of Lord Balfour, Mr Kevin Sir Joseph Wa.rd, Sir Neville '"Howse&and the-Earl of Birkenhead. It was agreed to establish- a general economic committee of experts, to whichthe more detailed technical and economic subjects will be referred. . The conference met for the first time In the afternoon to, arrange, the procedure, and agreed that special arrangements should. be made for the representation of- Southern Rhodesia 'on a .committee dealing with questions affecting Southern Rhodesia. THE CHAIRMAN’S SPEECH. WELCOME TO DELEGATES. LONDON, October 1. Mr MacDonald, who welcomed the delegates, said the conference had to consider three main aspects of problems of common concern— (1) political and .constitutional relations, on which the general, principles were. laid down and accepted by all in'l926; (2) questions concerning relations with foreign Powers, particularly in what way the Empire’s -combined influence could forward the work of disarmament, and the establishment ' of machinery for the peaceful settlement of disputes between nations; (3) the acute trade depression from . which the whole world, including the Empire, was. suffering, making them give special attention to the problem of their own economic relations,- and remembering the contracts of each with other nations. Each Government had to accommodate, itself, to the conditions ,in its country. . They ■would nevertheless bend their energies to devising practical economic means of helping each other to 1 make as great a contribution as they could to the solution of the problems with which they were faced. . That was their task, and if they succeeded it would be because they had confidence-in each other, inspired by the spirit of free discussion which characterised their union. MR FORBES’S SPEECH. A PLEA FOR CO-OPERATION. LONDON, October 1. Mr Forbes, in acknowledging Mr Mao- . Donald’s welcome, regretted that Sir Joseph Ward had not lived to attend the conference, which -was deprived of hia wisdom and lengthy experience. “We meet here in circumstances in one Sense encouraging, and in another sense depressing. The international situation has now greatly improved, and there is increasing strength in the movement towards peace and disarmament. This may well give cause for gratifica-

Referring to the economic policy, General Hertzog added that South Africa viewed with concern Britain’s prospec tive abolition of the existing tariff benefits. Britain’s position as a great commonwealth market for dominion products must necessarily, in the event of her deciding to change the existing policy, be detrimental to the dominions’ interests, and would influence their policy. It was therefore clear 1 that the dominions’ ,-entual course must mainly depend upon the manner and extent to which their interests would be affected by Britain’s policy. “I hope that in no case will the conference despair of arriving at a solution which will prevent the evil effects of a change of policy assuming the character of a disaster to those who, believing in the stability of intefcommonwealth economic relations, have been induced in good faith to make investments on the basis of that belief. I can conceive nothing more destructive of commonwealth co-operation .than such a failure, with the consequential loss of faith in the stability of our economic relations.” MR SCULLIN’S ASSURANCE. AUSTRALIA WILL DO ITS PART. LONDON, October 1. Mr Scullin said: “Our success will be judged by the progress thqt ivc achieve towards Empire economic co-operation. The better ordering of our production, both in the. agricultural industries and in our trade, has become, as in Britain, a matter of vital urgency in Australia. Unemployment is consequent, at least in part, on the world-wide depression. This has become a matter of tbe gravest concern. The lack of markets is prejudicing the welfare of millions of our people The Empire could supply all its agricultural products and all but a few of. its mineral products. We can guarantee one another markets for most commodities, capable of, absorbing a far greater volume of production. Britain’s »ifricultural imports exceed £750,000, of which 37 per cent, are of Empire origin. If the Governments of. the Empire decide upon a definite forward policy of economic co-operation the Australian Commonwealth will do its part.”

tion. On the other hand, we are- facing a period of serious economic depression. I earnestly trust that the deliberations of the conference will result in measures which will result in alleviating the position. , . A great, deal is expected from the conference with reference to economic subjects and failure oh our part to Upon a concrete and effective policy for the common benefit will cause great disappointment throughout. the . Empire. “ New Zealand is not concerned greatly in the recent developments on the constitutional relations between the members of the Empire. We have felt always within; recent years that we have had ample scope for our, national aspirations, and . ample freedom to'carry them out entirely. We value the close connection the United Kingdom and the sister dominions. We would /have been well content to allow the constitutional relationships to settle themselves in accordance with the necessity, of the position and the requirements of time, but we recognise. that! considerations that. are applicable to one dominion are not necessarily applicable to all. I hope that all the questions regarding status will be settled finally at this conference. In i commonwealth, of six equal partners, differing markedly in their'history, internal’ organisation’, industrial development, and economic conditions, there must be a tendency for a weakening of our association in the absence of s vne effective means: of I evolving a . common policy of action.” Mr , Forbes said that he and his coi leagues were of opinion that the outstanding problem at the moment was the achievement of a common understanding and a cohnaon policy. To this their’efforts! would be mainly directed, hoping that - the Governments represented would, find it possible to divert attention from status to co-operation.

QUESTION OF TARIFFS. ! THE SOOTH ’ AFRICAN VIEW. LONDON, October 1. General Hertzog said; “I am fully conscious that the very important functions -of the ■ conference will finally adjust the butstandihg constitutional questions arising from the 1926 decision, which must be formally sanctioned and considered in detail.” .

WIDE FIELD OF DISCUSSION.

ASPECTS OF THE AGENDA. REFERENCE TO ARMAMENTS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, October 1. The inaugural meeting of the Imperial Conference was held this morning in the reception room of the Foreign Office, when Mr Ramsay MacDonald presided over tho_ delegates of eight , countries, representing one-third of the population of the world. It is* the first occasion on which the British Labour Government has been in power during an Imperial Conference, and the personnel of the gathering has changed almost completely from that of the Imperial Conference held four years ago. For example, Mr R. B. Bennett (Leader of the Canadian Conservative Party) has displaced Mr Mackenzie King (the Liberal Prime Minister, who was present on the last occasion), Mr J. H. Scullin (Leader of the Australian Labour Party) has succeeded Mr Stanley Bruce, and Mr G. W. Forbes (New Zealand, Leader of the United Party) takes the place of Mr Coates. The exceptional public interest taken in_ the present conference is mainly attributable to the economic side of the business confronting it. Apart from "o preliminary examination in official quarters of the subjects to be discussed, many unofficial bodies have studied the economical possibilities of the Empire and have pat forward suggestions’ whereby closer co-operation might be made office tive and mutually advantageous. Among those proposals is one for the establishment of an Imperial economic secretariat. . reference to the possibility of establishing an Empire Appeal Court, which the conference is likely to consider, a recommendation to this effect emanated from the conference on the operation of legislation and merchant shipping legislation, which met in London last year. This body reported itself impressed by the advantages which might accrue from the establishment of such a tribunal for determining possible differences and disputes between the embers of the commonwealth. , The prevail- ; ing view was that any" such tribunal should take the form of an ad hoe body, to be selected from the standing panels flirted by the Several members of the British Commonwealth, and that jurisdiction should be limited to justiceable issues arising between Governments. Further consideration by the Imper'il Conference was recommended. To-day’s proceedings were conducted In private, but a report of the proceedings is being issued later, and will be summarised in the next British Official Press message. ’ . Expressions of loyalty , to the Throne marked the opening speeches of the delegates, who, with great cordiality, welcomed the opportunity of discussing matters of common concern to all members .of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Mr Ramsay MacDonald, after welcoming the delegates, referred to the fact that four of his fellow Prime Ministers were, like himself, attending their first meeting of the Imperial Conference, and he paid a tribute to the work done at the,,1926 conference by some of those whom they missed that day, including the late Lord Balfour (whose name would always be associated with the report of the Inter imperial Relations Committee of that conference), the late Mr O’Higgins (to whose keen and vigorous 'intellect the deliberations of the last conference owed, much), and the Earl of Birkenhead (whose death occurred yesterday ). It was now the conference’s task to consider, upon the basis of their experience, how to give practical effect to the declarations of the 1926 conference. In order to prepare for the work the existing legal structure of the commonwealth, had to-be examined to see what ; modifications and adaptations were required to bring it into accord with those declarations. This had been done with cate and thoroughness by a special conference on the operation of dominion legislation, whose recommendations (hey must consider, never forgetting that behind their, work was the thought of building for the future. - Whatever changes of form they might accept they should be guided by the ttuth that though the form was undoubtedly important, it was not the form, but the spirit behind the form that mattered. The other two aspects of the agenda indicated most important fields in which their free co-operation might be actively pursued. In the sphere of foreign affairs thfe great objective was to secure and maintain world peace. “Since 1926 I think we may point to three great steps which we have taken together to this ,end. First, the signature of the Paris Peace Pact has recorded the solemn assent of the chief countries of the world to the principle that war shall no longer be used as an instrument of national policy, and that the settlement of disputes shall bo sought only by pacific means. We have since co-operated in taking a long step towards the establishment of arbitration as the proper mean? of settling disputes by 1 signing the op tional clause. Further, in the pursuit of the limitation of armaments as a method of preventing iyar, we have this ■ year joined in signing the London Naval Treaty; but there is much still to be done in both fields in broadening the scope of arbitration arrangements ami by securing a fuller and more general limitation of armaments. Let us be quite frank on this matter. The strength of armaments in the world to-day and the general unwillingness of Governments to advance the 'cause of secure peace by a reduction of military material, unless checked, must soon lead, to conditions to which the most pacific of nations cannot be indifferent.. The outlook is disquieting, but should that calamity happen it will not be the faujt of our commonwealth, which, both by precept and example, has shown the sincerity of its devotion to peace. I am sure that in the discussions we shall be able to find a common ground for acting in harmony in pursuit of these aims. “The whole world is suffering from acute depression of trade, and we have to consider practical measures for helping one another, and thereby helping all, remembering the different world contacts and internal industrial circumstances to which we must accommodate ourselves. Nobody who surveys our opportunities and resources can fail to have confidence that we will succeed despite the pernicious propaganda of defeatism that has been so. prevalent recently. We require practical measures of far-reaching soundness, and not shortsighted attractions with unknown reactions. I hope our discussions will provide the; former.” OVERCOMING PROBLEMS. AIR MACDONALD OPTIMISTIC. LONDON, October 1. “ I should like to make this conference another turning point in our history,” said Mr MacDonald in a speech which was broadcast throughout the country. “ We have been suffering fr tin a bad bout of pessimism. The' weekly figures of unemployment have been serious enough, but they do not truly indicate unemployment as it was undentood a few years ago. It has had a bad effect in depressing us and hiding us ii a cloud io the rest of the world. This must be stopped. Our weakness lies in our psychology more than in our skill in materials, resources, and.opportunities. We need a renewal of will that the Em* , pire shall wax and not wane. The pres-

ent generation must do its part. Trade will not keep the iuterempire affections vital, but vital affection must keep our trade ample. Economic interests are often conflicting, and are not easy to harmonise. Many of the schemas discussed in the press would break down in six months. They would not enrich the Empire’s peoples permanently either in trade or in reputation. The conference opens amid a disquieting outlook, but the genius of the British people Is at its best when the difficulties are greatOn the_very magnitude of the problems we are facing I build a good hope of overcoming them.’^ MR FORBES’S IMPRESSIONS. LONDON, October 1. “ What I welcomed most at the opening session of my first Imperial Conference was the emphasis which practically all the speakers gave to the economic problems,” declared Mr Forbes. “ Although the actual proceedings were formal, all the Prime Ministers simply reading their speeches, the surroundings of the historic room lent a dignity “id impressiveness to the occasion. "'no could not but be impressed with the fact that the delegates, though nearly all strangers to one another and to the Imperial Conference, represent a large proportion of the world’s population." Mr iForbes added: “ We have met With high hopes and the determination in this time of world-wide economic depression that we shall reach definite and practical achievements for the benefit of the whole population of the Empire, We shall be most disappointed .if we do not register real economic progress.” DINNER AT THE GUILDHALL. A BRILLIANT GATHERING. LONDON, October 2. (Received Oct. 2, at 5.5 p.m.) There was a brilliant gathering at a dinner at the Guildhall by the Royal Empire Society, the British Empire League, the Overseas League, the British Empire Club, and the Victoria League to members of the conference and their womenfolk. Prince Arthur of Connaught presided, with Mrs Scullin ,on nis left and Miss Bennett on his right. Mr and Mrs Forbes and Sir Thomas Sidey .were at the top of the table, and a large number of Australians were present. Late in the evening an unusual ■ scene was created by a pale youth who walked up and took up his place behind Mr Thomas, shouting “I’m 21, and I passed through Charterhouse and Cambridge. Solomon prayed f6r wisdom, and I do the same. I am speaking on behalf of humanity, and I want your help." Cries of “ Order 1 Sit down! ” resulted in attendants leading out the youth, who as he left the building stated he did.not represent any movement and did not need personal help. “ l’ m thinking of my country, and want the youth to have a chance.” Prince Arthur of Connaught asked the Prime Ministers to carry home to their people—all parties, classes, and creeds—an expression of abiding and unalterable affection, goodwill,' and sympathy. Mr Bennett described the Guildhall as containing monuments and memorials of those who made the Empire possible. In the diversity of the people’s talents ana resources lay the real strength of the Empire. “That diversity we are trying to. use to create harmony. Before us lies the task of Empire consolidation, and we must think of the Empire as an economic unit. If we but keep faith with one another we can achieve. unity. The Empire is not bankrupt in statecraft, and our steadfast purpose is to do our part in maintaining the Empire’s, great place among the peoples of the world.” , Mr Scullin said it was a family gathering. “ When we think of the dinners and lunches we have had, with more to follow, we think Artemus Ward was right when he said he had drunk so many healths that he was afraid of losing ,his own. We came here to work, so please let us work. There are people Who wonder how the nations of the British pommonwealth have kept together. 'Onlookers might think there is. something dividing us when we are so busy defining our status, but the greater the freedom the greater the unify. The silken bonds of kinship are stronger than iron bands, and I believe any attempt to replace the silken threads by iron hands will not help unity.” Mr Scullin said he brought a message from those children of pioneers who were building up a nation but loved the hohio of their fathers, which they themselves had never seen. It was many years since the hearts of the people of the British Commonwealth had beat so closely together as to-day. “Let us resolve-to build up greater and more lasting prosperity for our people.” . . Mr Forbes said that liis mission was for the consolidation of the Empire in this time of difficulty, in which self-help was an important factor. The main pro .blern was finding within the Empire profitable markets for increasing production. Admittedly there were difficulties, but the family spirit would give and take to overcome them. General Hertzog said: “I have no fault to find with the motive that induced you to entertain us, or with the desire for advancing good fellowship and understanding between the parts of the Empire. That desire I fully share. Take away co-operation and nothing .would be left of - the British Commonwealth but an empty name.' Where good fellowship exists there is no need to seek co-opera-tion with a divining rod. Before 1926 no good South African Nationalist could have supported Imperial co-operation, but to-day I and other Nationalists stand forth as advocates of Imperial co-opera-tion.”— (Cheers).Mr Thomas summed up the conference’s task as giving practical effect to the eloquent phrases of the evening—“phrases and perorations do not solve problems.” PRAYER FOR CONFERENCE. . LONDON, October 2. (Received Oct. 2, at 8 p.m.) A specially written prayer for the conference is being said at Westminster Abbey. THE PREFERENCE, ISSUE. DAILY HERALD COMMENT. LONDON, October 2. (Received Oct. 2, at 11.30 p.m.) The Daily Herald, in an editorial on the Imperial Conference, says; “The Prime Ministers of Australia and South Africa spoke frankly-on the issue of Imperial preference, and we must he equally frank. Such preferential tariffs as Mr Scullin and General Hertzog suggest won!i. mean the establishment of a protectionist system in this country, including taxation of food and raw material. To such a change the people of this country are opposed, and dominion statesmen will blunder seriously if they take the trumpetings of Lords Rothermere ani? Beaverbrook for the authentic voice if Great Britain. British Labour regards any attempt to regulate trade by taxing it as antiquated, and it urges Mr Scullin and General Hertzog to consider whether it is not in the direction of bulk purchase by public authority that co-opera tion is achievable,” Other papers suspend comment.

QUESTION OF PUBLICITY.

AUSTRALIA’S ATTITUDE. LONDON, October 2. (Received Oct. 2,"at 5.5 p.m.) There is much discussion over the blunder of not having a public opening, when at’least two of the dominions were agitating for it. To overcome this a suggestion was made for the Press Committee to keep the journalists informed, but an assurance was given that adequate arrangements had been made, so the agitation subsided. This much has, however, been made clear, that if the Australians feel that their position needs elaborating publicly it will be done through Australian channels, and not through the regular Press Bureau, it was intended to delve to-morrow straight into the economic issue, but Mr Bennett pointed out that he had only recently assumed office, and had only arrived yesterday,, so was not prepared to take up an intimate discussion immediately. WOMAN’S PROPER PUCE. LONDON, October 2. (Received, Oct 2, at 8 p.m.) Lady Squires, the only member of Parliament from Newfoundland, is of the opinion that the delegates’ wives should “o. more than entertain and be entertained; they might helpfully meet and compare notes of conditions in the other dominions. “ Women must take a more important part in governing,” she said. Mrs Forbes, .on the other hand, thinks that woman’s proper place is in the homo and looking after the family.