A.—7.

APPENDIX lII.—CONCLUDING STATEMENTS. Statement by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Bight Hon, N. Chamberlain: Gentlemen, my first duty—and it is a very pleasant one —is on behalf of the United Kingdom delegation to express our very warm appreciation of the generous words which have been spoken this morning by various speakers who have addressed us in allusion to the hospitality and the welcome which they have received, they and their compatriots, from the Government and the people of this country. I am not using any conventional phrase when I say that visitors from the Empire overseas are always welcome in this country, first, and foremost for their own sakes, but also because we are truly delighted to have an opportunity of returning in some small measure that abundant and warm-hearted hospitality which we of the Old Country always enjoy whenever we visit any part of His Majesty's realms oversea. I would like to associate myself also with what has been said about the Conference and the efficiency of the work of our Secretariat. In this country we have long regarded Sir Maurice Hankey not as an official, but as an institution indispensable to the stability of the State. We are very glad that you should have an opportunity of gauging for yourselves the qualities which have given him such a unique position. To him and to Sir Harry Batterbee, the Deputy Secretary, and Sir Rupert Howorth, the Administrative Secretary of the Conference, and to their able and hard-working colleagues we are all greatly 'indebted for the smoothness and celerity with which our proceedings have been concLuctGcl. When we look back to the day on which we first met in this room we shall all think that we began our labours under singularly happy auspices. When in future we look back again on the Conference of 1937 we shall all associate it with that magnificent ceremony of the Coronation and the memory of a youthful King newly faced with the responsibilities of his great task solemnly dedicating himself to the service of all his peoples, and that note of unanimity in co-operation under the King has been maintained throughout the whole of this momentous month during which we have sat together. In estimating the results of our labours there is no need to look for spectacular decisions or for startling changes in policy. Our Imperial Conferences differ, as it seems to me, from most international Conferences in one important respect. Ihey aic not summoned to solve any particular problem or to achieve any specific result. They rather take the form of a series of family gatherings held at more or less regular intervals, at which the members of the family assemble together in order to exchange information, to examine the events of the past and the prospects of the future, and if in the course oi their deliberations they can, by the personal contact of their minds, attain to a clearer understanding of one another's difficulties and problems and, in the end, establish & geneial harmony of aims and of policy, then the objects of the Conference have been achieved and its members can separate with a renewed sense of comradeship and a fresh confidence m their united ability to forward the objects they have at heart. _ , , Now, listening to the speeches which have been delivered this morning, and bearing in mind the real object of such a Conference, no one, I think, can feel any doubt that this Conference has been an unqualified success. We have not been afraid to speak to one another with complete frankness or to assert our individual opinions where they differed from others, but the summary of proceedings, which sets forth our conclusions, demonstrates without a shadow of doubt that on all the big issues on which the welfare of mankind ultimately depends we think alike, and when you Colisi dei tlie n T ir f-. 'i countries whose representatives are gathered round this table, how they are inhabited by many different races, speaking many different languages, with different climates, religions conditions of neighbourhood, and separated by vast distances of sea and land, surely this solidarity of opinion is profoundly impressive and cannot fail to exercise its influence fax beyond the boundaries even of the British Empire. In recalling our discussions about foreign relations and events speakers this morning have commented with an unanimity which is very gratifying upon the value and the completeness of the information wine 1 has been laid before them by His Majesty's Government U^ed h f^7,^^ truth gentlemen, we have had no secrets from you. We have felt that the tuiicst exposuie of the facts was the completest justification for the actions which His Majesty s Governme - £ he United kingdom have from time to time deemed it necessary to take. The key-note of our policy is the same as that which has been stressed over and over again as the first obiective of every member of the Conference-namely, the maintenance of peace and the i -en noriC)DO havp so lons* delay6(l the restoration of the confidence ol the ,rô„S" »« .lS "«rf to pursue our effort, to that end, SSL tS e„»ura« "dTy our eontaet with our fellow-delegates and by the , tll i iwp their full support and approval in anything that we can do to help that we nSsfT- all. In your outlook upon the world you have been forward that, m ,■ tl deterioration in the international situation and the immense gravely concerned to no ice the determrauon begining of this decade. This vast - *», i >»—

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