EMPIRE RELATIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17033, 5 May 1923, Page 2

EMPIRE RELATIONS.

need of Family spirit. By Telegraph—Prees Association—Copyright Australian and N.Z. Cahla Association. LONDON, May 4. The “Daily Telegraph” says: “The questions which are to engage the Imperial Conference ought not to be dis* cussed in a huckstering spirit. We •want to cultivate a family spirit. The conference will supply a crucial test of our sincerity in what we have spoken in the past of the unity of the Empire and its dominions. By some means we must cultivate the newer markets of the world, which are fortunately British, since the old ones have, for the time being at least, failed us. The discrepancy between the dominions’ preference rebate and our reciprocity will loom large at the conference, when representatives of the dominions will want to know whether nothing can be done to adjust it. Empire trade and Empire settlement will constitute practically one problem, with which Empire defence is also linked.” Mr Archibald Hurd, in the same issue of the “ Daily Telegraph,” writes —“ The people of this country may not appreciate the importance of the Singapore base, but the peoples of the dominions do. We, in this island, are in danger of closing our minds to the larger aspects of the problem in which the dominions, Crown colonies, and ourselves arc equally concerned.” The “Morning Post” says: “The dominions are likely' to remain our best customers. They consume far more per head of British goods than foreign countries. Their exchange is particularly useful for generally speaking, it is in food and raw materials. Moreover, the dominions give I our manufacturers a substantial pre- ; ference over foreign goods. It has been proved by many examples that preference frequently decided contracts in our favour. For these reasons, the real interest of this country is to develop trade relations with the rest of the Empire.”