EMPIRE EXHIBITION

Southland Times, Issue 19478, 30 March 1922, Page 7

EMPIRE EXHIBITION

IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE. DOMINIONS’ ROYAL COMMISSION. LONDON, February 1. Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame, Parliamentary Secretary of the Overseas Trade Department, contributes an article to the “Observer” on the aims and objects of the British Empire Exhibition. The Executive Council of the Exhibition, though not of an official character, he says, is receiving the whole-hearted and practical support of the Government, in view of the objects it is designed to achieve. -The late war should have- taught a valuable lesson as to the danger of becoming dependent on foreign countries for the supply of materials essential to our welfare or security. In the words of the Dominions’ Royal Commission, “it is vital that the Empire, so far as possible, be placed in a position which would enable it to resist any pressure which, a foreign Power or group of Powers could exercise in time of peacq or during the war in virtue of a control of raw materials and commodities essential for the safety and well-being of the Empire.” The Commission point out that “before any adequate measures can be taken towards this end, a preliminary survey is needed of the relation between Empire production and Empire requirements throughout the whole range of articles needed for the sustenance and well-being of the people, for the maintenance of industry, and for the production of munitions of war. So far as we know, such a survey has never yet been undertaken.” ALL SOURCES OF POWER. The British Empire Exhibition will, it is hoped, prepare the ground for the survey advocated by the Dominions’ Royal Commission, by the organisation of representative exhibits of some of the more important branches of Empire produce capable of fuller development. With the advice and assistance of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau, it is proposed to bring together a complete collection of all minerals found within the Empire, together wiith full information, shown in as graphic a form as possible, with regard to the production, prospects of development and special conditions obtaining in each country. Another important feature of the Exhibition will be a power section, illustrating the industrial utilisation of all sources of power, e.g., coal, water, wind, mineral oils, and alcohol. Great value should be derived from the enterprise in educating our people and the people of other parts of the Empire who will visit it, in the numerous potential sources of wealth awaiting development in our great Dominions, and in the numerous Crown colonies and other overseas possessions. British money has been lavished in the past in the development of almost every part of the world—in Russian forests, Rumanian oil-fields, South American railways and cattle ranches, Siberian wheatfields, Mississippi cotton and linseed plantations. Our pioneers, technical experts, and investors must be made to realise that equally promising fields for their energies and money are still to be found in Labrador foreste, Canadian wheat-fields, East African cotton, West African oil and linseed, Australian cattle ranches, Rhodesian maize, South African fruit. The Dominions’ Royal Commission emphasised the intimate connection of scientific research with their proposals for the development of the natural resources of the Empire. STUDY OF THE MARKETS. Great strides have been made in recent years in the conquest of tropical diseases—our own countrymen have played no small part in the campaign—and an important section of the Exhibition will illustrate the results which have been attained in this direction, and indicate the paths for further endeavour. This work is not only a service of incalculable worth to humanity at large, but an economic necessity in the commercial progress of the Empire. A further field for research is to be found in the study of the conditions and peculiarities of individual markets with a view to meeting the special requirements of the particular country or district. In all these directions the British Empire Exhibition should furnish a powerful stimulus to the movement for closer Imperial co-operation and solidarity. The late war provided a convincing demonstration, if such were needed, of the spirit of unity pervading the whole Empire, and, in the words of the Prince of Wales, “there can be no more fitting way of commemorating the triumph of our cause than by uniting again to develop for construct? ive work the vast potential resources and the manufacturing powa* of the Empire.” —Press