EMPIRE POLICY

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1930, Page 7

EMPIRE POLICY

AGENDA FOR CONFERENCE “PERMANENT SECRETARIAT” DISCUSSION. RECOMMENDED DOMINIONS’ LEGISLATION OPENING ON WEDNESDAY British Wireless. Rugby, Sept- 24. The agenda of the Imperial Cd.uferenee, which begins next Wednesday, will not take final form until the arrl val of the Dominion Prime Ministers next week. Canada’s Prime Minister, Mr. ,R. B. Bennett, is crossing the Atlanta'-, the Australian and South African Primes Ministers are on their way from Geneva, the Irish Free State delegation will arrive on Monday and the High Commissioner for New Zealand is in London. * Mi. G. W. Forbes will arrive to-morrow and will stay at the Savoy, where the Australian, delegation is also housed. The questions before the conference will be divided into three categories: In perial relations, foreign policy and defence, economic questions. In the' genet al outline of the agenda which the Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, gave the House of Commons two months ago, he explained that under the heading of Imperial relations will be considered recommendations of the committee on Dominion legislation and ‘‘(■tiler matters of constitutional character cognate to and arising from those discussed in the report of the Imperial relations committee” of the Imperial Conference held four years ago. “Foreign policy and defence” • will cover peace and arbitration reduction and limitation of armaments and the question of defence. The economic discussions will include general questions of trade of the Empire, including capital investments and tiie establishment of branch industries, the effect of successive tariff changes and the extent and effect of Imperial tariff preferences and of other factors such as cartels, bulk purchase and price stabilisation, the development of Imperial trade by trade commissioner services, exhibitions and general publicity about overseas settlement and co-opera-tion of research organisations and transport and communications. PERMANENT MACHINERY. The Trade Union Congress and Feder.ted British Industries, in a memorandum to Mr. MacDonald, jointly urge that the most important task of the Imperial Conference is: (1) The creation of permanent machinery to permit the discussion and formulation of a constructive Commonwealth trade policy. (2) The establishment of a permanent commonwealth economic secretariat, acting at all Imperial Conferences on, economic questions. (3) A non-party advisory commonwealth trade conference, consisting of persons representing the Dominions and Britain, but acting personally. The conference should represent employers and employees and should study commonwealth trade, with the object of laying down a sound basis for a commonwealth economic policy. “What the British Empire wants is less politics and more trade,” says the Morning Post.. “The Imperial Conference needs a permanent secretariat to carry out a settled policy.” “The economic secretariat,” says the Times, “must not be responsible to any of the governments but jointly and .severally to all. It can enjoy the full confidence of the rest of the Empire only if it is not tied to the British Government. The ideal is an Imperial organisation “with a purse of its own t6° which each of. the governments of the Empire will contribute according to its means. Such an organisation would find plenty of work to do. Members of the British commonwealth must cooperate and organise if they are not to be left behind in the race for V prosperity.” The conference will probably last some weeks. Among other engagements outside the conference which the delegateswill attend is a dinner in their honour to be given by the League of Nations Union at which the Prince of Wales will speak. Lord Grey will preside and other speakers will include the Dominions Secretary, Mr. J. H. Thomas, Sir Austen Chamberlain and some of the visiting Prime Ministers.