EMPIRE CONFERENCE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2352, 7 January 1915, Page 7

EMPIRE CONFERENCE

SHOULD IT BE HELD? GATHERING BEST LEFT TILL . PEACE RETURNS ' VIEWS OF HON. J. ALLEN fa ' : ,'■■■ (By IWeeraDh—Pros* Association.) Dunedln, January 6. This morning a reporter"'waited on the Hon. J.- All<;u and brought under bis notice the. suggestion of the London "Times" that an Imperial Con-; » . ference should be held this year, and > the, remarks of: the Bit. Hon, Mr.' Fisher, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, on that suggestion. Asked for ; his' opinion on the matter, Mr. Allen said:. "I . agree with . Mr. Fisher entirely as tontine necessity for His ,Majesty?s Ministers ,in Great Britain paying official visits.\to distant Dominions. lam oertain it would be : in the 'interests of Great Britain and in the interests of the Dominions and s of the Empire generally. The out- ■ lying portions . are. now becoming, so . large and so_ important that it is essen- \ tial His Majesty's' Ministers should feel 1 their spirit on the _ spot. ' >"I also agree with Mr.' Fisher that Imperial "Oonferences should be held more' frequently than' 'they have been' in the past. I cannot, however, agree with him, about holding an Imperial Conference this year, , unless the' Mother Country asks for it, and that ; without; any pressure from any of, the 1 outlying , portions, of .'the Empire. In this time of stress and strain, when ; , all the thought and. all the eriergy of ; His Majesty's Ministers are required for the colossal .task' they.'hare in hand, it would, in my opinion, be very wrong for . any of/the outlying por- ] Uons of ■ .the Bmpiro io fores , upon ' them an. Imperial Conference, to whjcfli ' it would be their bounden duty to frive 1 considerable time and attention. They J i must be left free and to • • . carry out the work •the Empire has < left them to do, arid they must do that. ' with full knowledge that, the const?- 1 tuent parts of the Empire are absolutely ( loyal to them, and will do everything } V they oanto assist tJiem .to bring the 1 ' war to a; suooessful issue.- I cannot > conceive that it would: be wise to take < away, their .thoughts 'arid energies at the present time, ; even < for so/, important ''J work ' as' i an Imperial Conference. If,the Mother 1 .Country asks for a conference, then there would be no doubt , about our an- < swer to the question. Our reprosenta- i tives would go, and give them every aid '• we could, hut I cannot believe that a i /conference held during this lifc-and-, i ' death struggle would give a full oppor- • tunity for the_ expression; of opinions !| , which might differ from tho6e held by j s members of the Imperial Government, i who really are the controlling au- , j thority. If on account of the war opin- | ions wer.e Repressed, the : conference would lose a good deal of it 6 value) arid j I cannot conceive the conference meet- | ing without there being difference of i opinion.lndeed, it is to air differences r or opinion and to hear all "sides of ques- '.: tions that conferences • are Held. It ' is also possible,' it seems to me, that j the controlling authority-ytbe : British J Government—may be.influenced by some J expressions'of opinion in matters which ■ they wish: to placate, and may , thus be 1 led into actions which, if left to their -.. own judgment, they would not take. J All the thought and all tie energy of 1 .British statesmen, of* the War Office, ' and".;;of the,iAdmiralty,. ,be ! . ioii, .the"-great >work' : they ' , have.'iri hand, arid no action should be •« taken' which may distracts them.' . ,• .v : "Nbr'at a. time like, this does it 6eem to me..-right: that ' the Prima Minister should be absent from:hi6 post of duty p in New Zealand:' Nobody, except those c who. havei been in close contact with',the j kind er-work that has : to bd'dorie; can r possibly realise how' many v and what' d ■, pregnant quettions are'oonktantiy orop- 5 ping up.Tvhich require the Prime Minis- s - ter's- decision, and Ido not think he B could be spared, nor would any other p Minister,' atsucn.a time'as this.!' Let me refer, forindUnos, to, the 1 question r of wheat arid food, supply. ,I venture „ to say.that that is of sufficient,im- j portance to demand the Prime Minis- | ter'o presence and constant thought, ( and I earnestly believe that this, coun- •; try owes a deep debt of ■ gratitude' to ' Mr/ 'Massey for the forethought and care He has exercised with : regard to. , our'wheat supplies. I oould also refer f to the grave necessity for all ■ Minis- j ters being here to deal • with j questions recruiting, :,the prepara- V tioii and dispatch of reinforcement's, dealing'with aliens, looking after trade, .? and- hosts of other- questions . which £ come up every week for Ministers to J take in hand. :' "It seems to ffle also that-we are f going;through a time,just now during J. the war which is daily teaohing every ' part of the Empire lessons that each part learn and that the confer- ® ence will be of .more value when some of these lessons have been absorbed. c Take, for-instance, the question of naval T ' policy. I myself am confirmed, arid more than confirmed, in .tho/opinion I- J have always held that the outlying por- *■ tions of the Empire must assist the Imperial Fleet by local Tinits in which * they themselves hive an interest, and . ghich at the same time are. Imperial. 1 ut the lessons of this war may teach T us to cojae to very different conclusions 8 as to the composition of/local units to " those we held before the war broke out. f The gathering together of all these will " )be splendid material for the next Im- ' •perial Conferenoe.to build its new work ' on, .and'l sincerely" hope that the edifice erected may be one that:will prove the solidarity of the Empire and the : wisdom of the various representatives who ' meet to consider the grave issues before .lis." I do "not believe our minds are in a proper condition under the nn- .. usual circumstances now prevailing to 1 enfe upon. the. consideration of ImperiaV questions of the future. The. most important thing required from ns . now, when our fate is in the hands of the, great statesmen in the Mother Cotin- * try who control for, the time being the J ~ destinies of. the Empire, is-faith in the > / controlling authority, trust in their judg- j ment,. and a firm belief that they wsl I r act in the best interests of every constituent part of the Empire. Nothing f must be done to distract them, or to I take their minds. away from the colossal task they have in hand.' If they want ,j our advice, let them say so without any 1 inflteij(?e; oitf our part." .