IMPERIAL CONFERENCE.

Waikato Times, Volume 101, Issue 16946, 6 November 1926, Page 8

IMPERIAL CONFERENCE.

MEAGRE STATEMENTS. DWINDLING PUBLIC INTEREST. (Australian and'N.Z. Cable Assn.) LONDON. Nov. 4. Only the most meagre official statements on the major issues continue to be made by the spokesmen of the conference. The result is that the space and prominence which the London press devotes to the conference, with a few exceptions, is daily becoming The attendant loss of public interest in the proceedings has not escaped the notice of the visiting Prime Ministers. They expect the British Prime Minister, Mr Stanley Baldwin, to permit fuller disclosures to be made next week as the discussions are taken up at the plenary sessions. It is agreed in all Dominion circles that the discussions have been far more frank and intimate than was the case in 1023. In fact the constitution .of special committees at tlio meetings at which conversational discussions are carried out has completely changed the atmosphere of the conference. The Merest Nonoense. It is stated that so far as the InterImperial Relations Committee, is concerned there has been no real point of divergence on fundamental issues. This is especially the case in regard to the complicated matter of treaty relations A picturesque description from a well-informed quarter of the satisfactory clearing up of doubts is: "A chain-hobbled horse in a country lane sounds horrible until you get him silhouetted against the moon. All this talk of the frayed ends of Imperial tics is the merest.nonsense." Another achievement of the committee system is that for the. first lime Australia and Britain have got to real grips with the obstacles which have prevented implementing the £34,000,000 migration scheme. Representatives of the British Overseas Settlement Committee arc able to appreciate the fact that the Federal Government's task of reconciling the varying points of view of the States is not an easy one. Migration Matters. It is already foreshadowed that the discussions on the scheme will not lead lo any sweeping changes in migration policy, nor will an attempt be made to have the passage money (St migrants to Australia brought down to the Canadian level of £3 each. The view is expressed that it would be harmrul if there were an indiscriminate right to embark on a great adventure by going to Australia without some tlnancial responsibility in the form of passagemoney. As a matter of fact it appears to be definite that the shipowners cannot grant further concessions in fares, but the two Governments arc discussing a plan for joint contributions to reduce the fares for specialised migrants whose prompt absorption in Australia docs not present difficulties. The soundness of partly training farm workers in the United Kingdom is being considered. The Imperial Shipping Committee is likely to obtain a new charier and to' be asked to ,report afresh as to an acceleration of the speed of ships in the light of new methods of propulsion which have been evolved since 1.023. One comment is that its present constitution tends to a conservative view of acceleration.