EMPIRE POLICY
* Surprise Said to Be in Store “DAILY HERALD” REPORT Work at Home and Imperial Development TALKS WITH DOMINIONS By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright. (Received January 0, 6.30 p.m.) London, January 5. The “Daily . Herald’s” lobbyist says: Ministers are busy drafting fundamental points of a surprise Empire policy which the Government hopes io.spring on electors in tne summer in an attempt to win tne general election, which will probably be in the autumn.
The general, idea of the scheme s that directly the King’s jubilee celebrations are over. Ministers will consult Dominion and Colonial statesmen then in London with a view to agreement on a programme of “work a. home and development in the Dominions and Colonies.” In essence the scheme is to leno large sums of money cheaply for all manner of public works provided that as much as possible is spent with British manufacturers, especially of engineering products. When agreement jo reached they will probably precipitate' a “Union Jack” election with the object of stampeding the country in favour of continuing with the National Government. A campaign will be launched for more work, resulting .'.n Empire expansion loans for the extension of Imperial trade, the conversion of Dominion and Colonial loans to lower interest rates, Empire migration and a revision of the Ottawa agreements.
The Government’s organisers believe that the staging of a great Imperial issue on these lines is the only way *o save the situation. Between now and the jubilee there will .be continual consultations with the Dominions regarding revision of the Ottawa agreements, which will be submitted to an informal Ottawa conference when Dominion and Colonial statesmen reach London as a first step to a new Imperial electoral programme. Sir Maurice Hankey, Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence, who recently visited New Zealand and other parts of the Empire, is bringing back a dispatch case full of proposals for Empire development and defence, including the unification of Australian railway gauges, for which considerable sums will have to be guaranteed by Britain. The Government’s advisers believe that the country can be influenced by a broad Imperial appeal accompanied by a scheme to settle British families in the Dominions. BACK IN BRITAIN Sir M. Hankey Interviewed (Received January 6. 11.12 p.m.) London, January 6. Sir Maurice Hankey arrived at Glasgow after his Empire tour. He told a reporter that he would neither deny nor confirm the report that he was advocating compulsory military training and 10 years’ reorganisation of Australian defences. Another reporter says that Sir Maurice told him: I want to deny it completely.
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Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 87, 7 January 1935, Page 7
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429EMPIRE POLICY Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 87, 7 January 1935, Page 7
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