THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 3, 28 September 1921, Page 5

THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE

DOMINION REPRESENTATION IMPERATIVE IF MR. LLOYD GEORGE AND LORD CURZON ABSENT IMPORTANCE OF PACIFIC QUESTIONS The need for the representa- i tlon of the Dominions at Washington conference is accentuated by the -statement that Mr. Lloyd George and Lord Curzon .Are not likely to be present, and it Is: considered imperative that a consultative body, comprising members of overseas Cabinets, should attend and keep the Brit-, ish delegation in close touch with their views.

By Telegraph—Presa Aeeooiation—Copyright London, September\26. Tho uncertainty as to who will represent 1 Britain at the Washington, conference strengthens tho case for the representation of the Dominions. The opinion prevailed when the Imperial Conference was in session tliat Mr Lloyd George. and. LoM Curzon would be Britain’s delegates-,' giving to the overseas Premiers a greater sense of security in regard to handling the Pacific question from the fact that they were well primed, with tho-overseas point of view, and would be able to approach th<}„ conference with, first-hand knowledge. The statement that both Mr. Lloyd George’aJid Lord Curzon are unlikely to attend creates a feeling in British overseas circles that their interests in tho Pacific may not, receive the same attention from a delegation acting on second-hand information, and may be less adequately presented. In such circumstances it becomes more imperative that somethin); in the nature of a consultative body, comprising members of overseas Cabinets, with a full knowledge of their desires, should attend at Washington, and keep the British delegation in closest touch with their views. The fact that Portugal has been invited to attend the conference because of her interests in Macao is strongly contrasted with the exclusion of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand from direct representation, when their interests in the Pacific are of paramount importance to their existence. —Aus.-N.Z. Calbe Assn.