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The following gracious reply, signed by His Majesty, was received and was read to the Conference by the Chairman:—• " The Queen and I have received with sincere pleasure the message of good will and devotion sent to us by the representatives of the Governments of the British Commonwealth at the opening of the Ottawa Conference. Please convey to them our grateful thanks. I shall follow the course of your deliberations with the closest interest and with the confident hope that your labours will be crowned with success. GEORGE R. 1." lII,— OPENING STATEMENTS Opening statements were made by the Leaders of the delegations of Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Union of South Africa, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, India, and Southern Rhodesia, in that order. These speeches are included in the record, which is set forth as Annex I. Supplementary Statements amplifying the opening statements were presented by the Leaders of the delegations of Australia, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia and the United Kingdom. These statements are included in Annex 11. Opening statements on monetary and financial questions were presented on behalf of the delegations before a committee which was constituted to deal with such matters, and are included in Annex 111. IV,— PUBLICITY The arrangements for publicity followed those adopted at previous conferences. The Honourable R. J. Manion, M.C., M.P., Minister of Railways and Canals, Canada, was asked to undertake responsibility for the general supervision of the publicity arrangements and to act as minister in charge of press relations. He was assisted in this work by the following press officers: Mr. L. B. Pearson, First Secretary, Department of External Affairs, Canada; Dr. H. L. Keenleyside, First Secretary, Canadian Legation, Tokyo; Mr. A. W. Merriam, Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of Canada; Mr. A. Laloncle, Private Secretary to the Postmaster General of Canada, and Mr. J. C. Britton, Junior Trade Commissioner, Canada. He was also assisted by Mr. E. C. Buchanan, the President of the Press Gallery, Ottawa, who acted as press liaison officer. Press Conferences were held daily at 12.30 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. V.—ORGANISATION The opening meeting of the Conference was held in the House of Commons Chamber, in the Parliament Buildings. It was found convenient, however, to conduct the work of the Conference at meetings of the Heads of Delegations and other Delegates, held in the Railway Committee Room and in Room 216, in the Centre Block, Parliament Buildings. These meetings were attended by the heads of the delegations, together with other delegates. It was decided to divide the matters which were under consideration by the Conference into five principal divisions, and to refer the matters comprised in each division to a committee for examination and report. These divisions included matters relating to the Promotion of Trade within the Commonwealth, matters relating to Customs Administration, matters relating to Commercial Relations with Foreign Countries, matters relating to Monetary and Financial Questions and matters relating to Methods of Economic Co-operation. The conclusions of these Committees and the action taken thereon by the Conference are set forth in the subsequent parts of this report. Committees were appointed in all instances by the meetings of Heads of Delegations and sub-committees were constituted by all of the five principal committees. The total number of meetings was: Plenary Conference, 5; Heads of Delegations, 5; Committees and Sub-Committees, 49. In addition to the committees and sub-committees of the Conference, there were many special groups dealing with inter-delegation matters, particularly matters related to the negotiation of trade agreements.