IMPERIAL AFFAIRS

Southland Times, Issue 19435, 26 December 1924, Page 5

IMPERIAL AFFAIRS

THE PROPOSED CONFERENCE AN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION THE PROPOSED MILLION GRANT. (By Telegraph— Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.J LONDON, December 23. (Received December 25, 7.5 pm.). The Colonial Office explains that while the Government is eagerly desirous of the Imperial Conference, it does not desire unduly to influence the overseas dominions, who remain perfectly free to exercise preference of consultation by cablegram instead of by coming to London. The Colonial Office view is that this is one of those cases where personal consultation is supremely important. Furthermore, it marks a long stride in progress towards intimate inter-imperial relations concerning the Empire’s foreign policy, being the first time in British history that a conference has been proposed by Britain upon a specific subject. If it is held to establish a precedent, succeeding Governments cannot ignore such a conference. The reason March is suggested as the date for the conference is that the Council , of the League of Nations meets in the middle of March to receive international decisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of the Geneva ProtocoL The Colonial Office emphatically repudiates all the anticipatory projects in the allocation of the £1,000,000 grant by the British Government towards the encouragement of Empire trade. The Government is not committed to any scheme, theoretically or practically. The allocation will be solely dependent on investigations and report of the Imperial Economic Committee, not a single member of which has yet been appointed, nor have any names been considered. The responsibility for all the appointments, apart from the British nominees, devolves upon the dominions. Meantime all statements concerning subsidies, subvention and preferential licenses relating to meat, fruit, dairy produce and other products are declared to be merely wildest guess-work. The present idea is to devote the £1,000,000 principally to the improvement of marketing conditions.