INTEREST AROUSED IN BRITAIN

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 190, 10 May 1944, Page 5

INTEREST AROUSED IN BRITAIN

Secretariat Scheme MEANS TO CLOSER RELATIONSHIP (By Telegraph. —Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Special Correspondent.) LONDON, May 8. The- Prime Ministers’ conference, after the first week’s meetings, has followed! the expected cour.se. There have been no sensational developments. The -talks have followed the informal agenda, and the general outcome has been -to arouse great interest among the people of Britain in the Empire and their deeper appreciation of its 'war effort. Abroad, it may safely be stated, it has had the effect of emphasizing the unity of the Empire and of its standing as a world Power vis-a-vis the United States and Russia. One of the chief topics of interest here is what the conference’s views will be on Mr. Curtin’s proposal for some kind of secretariat to ensure closer relationship, and while this has been debated in the newspapers and in private conversation the one place where it has not been discussed so far has been in the conference itself. This is not because there is any reluctance to do so, but rather because it is the kind of question that can be debated, if necessary, after full deliberations on other subjects in which there will be given an indication of the various viewpoints of the Empire. So far the only public announcements on the subjects have been answers to questions by Messrs. Curtin and Fraser at their Press conferences. Mr. Mackenzie King and Field-Marshal Smuts are expected to give Press conferences, and it is known that they support Mr. Fraser’s viewpoint. It can be taken for granted that whatever the majority of the Dominion Prime Ministers desire on this question Britain will agree to, and on the present face of things it seems from Mr. Curtin’s comment. “If I cannot have four brothers then I’ll try to have three,” that he may eventually have pone. . . ..

Mr. Curtin’s Views. For the purpose of records, it may here be useful to give Mr. Curtin’s and Mr. Fraser’s comments fully. Mr. Curtin said: “As I see it, the British Government and the Foreign Office are now, in the very nature of things, the Government and the office that from the standpoint of the Commonwealth know most about Europe and are most intimately associated with the problems of Europe, but those problems are so complicated and have such implications that it is.in Europe that situations develop which lead to wars in which the Empire is engaged. Though Australia has the. right to say whether she should come into a war or not, if the King of Britain and Australia is at war, then the enemy may decide the matter for us. As a practical matter, when any part of the Empire is at war the Commonwealth as a whole is involved. It is quite clear that the problems of the world call for sharing of responsibility by all who are affected by the decisions. The world is a very large place, and we believe there are some aspects of problems, in certain regions in which the Australian Government may be better informed and perhaps better qualified to give advice as to what should be done. As we don’t know where the. bad patches may be, we feel that the British Commonwealth of as it is, is the most effective structure for world and regional security that- the world has known.” , „ Mr. Curtin also thought that as Governments came and went an organized secretariat would provide continuity, in the study of world problems, which might otherwise be lost “if any other Dominion opposes my scheme as a whole, ’ he said, “I will still try to get what I can. If I cannot have four brothers I shall still try to have three. I want the consultations of the Prime Ministers to be more frequent, and I want those consultations to have their intervals studded with frequent interchanges of information so that when a problem arises it does not come like a bolt from the blue. He added that what was wanted was better machinery of consultation. The collaboration and consultation had been much better during the war than before. He had no complaint whatever regarding consultations between his country and its Allies since the war began. Mr. Fraser’s Comment. Mr. Fraser said: “If a secretariat will do the job and brine the component parts of the Commonwealth more close together —they are very close now —then I am all for it. Show me that it is beneficial, and then I will support it.” s He had nothing but praise for the way in which the consultation had been arranged and maintained during the war —in strategy, in foreign affairs, and in commercial and supply problems. He recognized that instantaneous decisions had to be taken in London as they had in Wellington. “But on 99.9 per cent, of all matters of Commonwealth concern .there has been full information sent to us through the Prime Minister, the Foreign Office, and the Dominions Office; more important there has been ample time for . full consultation within our own Cabinet and with the other interested Dominions before reply was needed.” . For the future he looked forward to more frequent meetings between the Commonwealth Prime Ministers or between their Ministers of External Affairs. That Was the ideal all de’sired to reach, but Mr. Fraser , added a word of warning: the mechanical side was often less easy to arrange. Elections might be imminent in one or other of the Dominions, or illness might intervene. Asked whether he thought some of the Dominions might arrange a form of secretariat even if'another hesitated to join, Mr. Fraser said that the Prime Ministers) as good democrats, would abide by a majority decision. “But the best Cabinets and the best gatherings of partners do not‘ work by simple majorities, he said. “They discuss all questions thoroughly and come to a'n agreed solution. , and that is what I expect this conference to do.” , . t It is apparent from these remarks that both Mr. Curtin and Mr. Fraser are satisfied with the methods of wartime consultation and therefore it is likely that if they are continued after the war and more frequent meetings of the Prime Ministers are held —which all state they desire —then a secretariat may not be reone of two obj'ectives which Mr. Curtin has set himself during the current meetings of the Empire Prime Ministers appears to have been achieved with the acceptance of Britain and the other Dominions of Australia s case, for such disposition of the United Nations forces in the Pacific theatre as will reconcile the.increasing demands on Australian manpower for food production with the maintenance of a lively war effort against Japan, says a P.A. message. The Associated Press learns that Mr. Curtin has been extremely heartened by the reception accorded to his views on Far Eastern war policy, which will now be the subject of a series of conferences between General Blarney and the British military authorities.