MR MASSEY SPEAKS

Southland Times, Issue 19099, 17 November 1923, Page 5

MR MASSEY SPEAKS

THE CONFERENCE AND ITS WORK. PREFERENCE ADVOCATED. (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) LONDON, November 15, The Australian Press Association representative had an interview with Hon. W. F. Massey on his impressions of the Imperial Conference and its work. Mr Massey said he thought that for the first time, the attention of the whole country had been directed towards Imperial Preference. Although he was sorry to see the decks being cleared for a party figLt over the question of Empire Preference and so-called Free Trade, he hoped that the electors would remember, if it came to a straightout issue, that the whole Empire was interested in the result and that the Empire interests should come before party interests. The New Zealand Premier said he could not help expressing regret over the great b delay in establishing an Empire wireless system. While Britain’s most urgent difficulty at present was the depression hanging like a cloud over the country, there was plenty of capital available, but its owners were shy of anything but first class investments, while the European situation considerably reduced Britain's markets. Mr Massey regretted the failure to secure the appointment of a committee to review the question of reparations. The difficulty overt his question showed the necessity for Britishers making the most of their opportunities in developing the Empire and its markets. Mr Massey said he believed the first instalment of preference encouraged the hope that gradually the Empire would become self-supporting. He would like to see the experiment tried of the Imperial Conference meeting in one of the more important capitals overseas. He believed that would have a good effect by enabling the people to realise the vital nature of the interests which bound the various units of the Empire together.