DOMINIONS ROYAL COMMISSION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3030, 17 March 1917, Page 10

DOMINIONS ROYAL COMMISSION

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPERIAL DEVELOPMENT THE FINAL REPORT (Rec. March 16, 5.15 p.m.) London, March 15. The Dominions Royal Commission's final report has been presontcd. It recommends tlie appointment of an Imperial Development Board, under the control of tho Imperial Conference, to advise continuously upon raw materials, food supplies, compile statistics of the Empire, a,nd devise means for the direction of the Empire's capital towards developmental works. Tho numerous other recommendations include: Increased British control over tho selection of emigrants, greater efforts on behalf of the Dominions to secure tho immigration of young women with a view to the better distribution of sex, especially in . country districts, avoiding concentration in cities, the emigration of State children to tho Dominions; Uniform depths of harbours—33ft. on tho Suez route to Australia, 34 ft. on tho Canadian route to Australia, 38ft. on the Capo.route; New high-speed mail services, with vessels of great length and draught, and also tho development of a route to Australasia via Halifax, Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, and Tahiti; Control of freight rates op. subsidised lines by Government boards;

Extension of tho Dominions' inspection of unloading aiid marketing produce in Britain; Government control of cables; Government acquisition of the Atlantic cable; a one-third reduction of tho cable charges to Australasia, and a considerable reduction of the Press rates, in view of the vital importance of the dissemination of Imperial, news in full, widely arid cheaply;

Decimal coinage, metric system, uniform patents and trade marks, and company legislation.—Tho "Times."