THE IMPERIAL WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 255, 16 July 1918, Page 6

THE IMPERIAL WAR

_ « _ OFFICIAL SUMMARY OF LAST WHJK'S BUSINESS IMPORTANT DECISIONS IIiiCOKUJbJi) The following summary of tlio proceedings of the imperial War Conierenw : during the week eniled July la has been i received by His Excellency tho Governoi- * General hoiu tlie Secretary of Stow t'ov ; < the .Colonies:— .The. Imperial War Conference, on .reassembling for -its seventh meeting 6u I July,B,:on. return of the Dominion mem- 1 bars, from France, first passed an address ' ■vi congratulation to tlio King and Queen < ■ on :Tlieir Majesties' -silver, wedding, o.\- ' pressing its fervent wish and prayer that I Their Majesties might long be ejjareri ( tolivo and reign over au Empire uuited ! in loyalty to its King and Queen. Later i in the day His Majesty replied to the "■ address, saying that it aliorded great pleasure- to the Queen and himself that the : Primo Ministers of the- Dominions ' . and'other overseas representatives were ' present at the thanksgiving service at ' St;' 1 Paul's, and expressing their prayer ' that under Divine Providence the bless- ! ings. : of peace might 6oon be restored, ! bringing again that reunion of home life which -is the basis of the of j th'e .whole Empire. . ' : This meeting was mainly occupied with j certain economic and financial questions * after the war, and certain reso- . lutions of a confidential naturo were ! passed. . * A further resolution agreed as to tho 1 ' desirabilitv of the establishment of an. ', Imperial Bureau of Mycology for tho . purposo of investigating fungoid diseases, j and that contributions to such bureau | should be made by,the Governments of ( the Empire., . ■ j The Double Income Tax. / 1 The eighth meetjng was held, on July r 10. At this meeting tho -first business i waa a statement by tho Chancellor of 1 the Exchequer regarding tho question of c the double inco\no tax. The Chancellor 1 explained tho concessions made to the ( overseas Dominions -• under tho Finance i Act, 1916, and subsequent.Acts. It was 1 generally agreed that further action was i impracticable during the war, but the i opinion eipressed last year was rciter- . atod, namely, that the whole question called for roview immediately alter the conclusion of tho war, and that an amendment of the law should be made to remedy the present unsatisfactory position. Statistics and News Service. The next snbject-'discussed was Imper- . ial statistics. The. conference passed a resolution approving the proposal of the - Dominions Royal Commission to hold a f conference of statisticians after the war, ' the War Conference to consider the cs- c tablishment of an., Imperial Statistical f Bureau under the supervision of an In- I ter-Imperial Committee. A further reso- J lution passed at tins meeting dealt with ; an Imperial News Service. The re3olu--1 tion states that the conference is im- ! pressed with the importance of securing J adequate news sorvic.e available to all f , ■parts of the British Empire and the sup- j ply, of such service through British ; Bou/ces. Tho conference requested His ' ■Majesty's Government to formulate a : sojifefie and submit it for the considera- : trpnfbf the Governments represented at : In discussing this que3titijij'tne desirability of British news ser- j Canada and Newfoundland was ( p'aTOgnjarly emphasised. f i |n4'v-l ndustrial Jndependence. | egs {Epi ninth . meeting, held on July j lljitjieJiuist resolution passed dealt with ,j the- action taken and contemplated by ] His Majesty's ■ Government with a view ( to freeing the industry of the United ' Kingdbßi~from ■ its dependence on Ger- ( man dye stuffs,-and recommended the t other Governments of the Empire to 1 coneiderjimmediately what steps can be i ta,fc£in | |CO.i. co-operate with the efforts of '1 Government to promote tho ] of the dyo in- ! < %JF?''ii!/V British Empire and so < at'6 f }d,feij ) eniy domination over essential < industrW."' -.■... i Ocean Freight Rates. j • Tho noxt considered the , quesclohOo! Inter-Imperial coininunica- ( tions, and accepted in principle the es- j ts»iJß,ijDjenlfrof an Imperial Investigation ' Board to deal with thequestion of ocean j freight fftfes. ' The conference appointed ( a-comdit'tfio to frame a detailed scheme \ f:"enfl(i",Doard, and also to consider i JjjWichiiery for promoting the devel- ( afi'nt pij.lmperial communications to i with-special refer- i ence fo the probable eize of vessels i and the consequent demands upon har- ) , bour accommodation for purposes i perial requirements, and to a resolution ( . .hin&ttfift by the Prime Minister , of N.ew I Zealand. ' , ' . \ I The Jast resolution passed at this meet- I iag -'stated that the conference consid- i ered it desirable for the purpose of en- j couraginif Imperial trade that the present i facilities for Inter-Imperial .parcels 1 defers , should be improved and co-or- < and recommended the prepara- 1 tifjn. o 'qf a detailed scheme to promote tiSMsfreet/- 1