SANCTUM OF EMPIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 97, 21 October 1926, Page 11

SANCTUM OF EMPIRE

SCENES AT CONFERENCE

ATMOSPHERE OF OPENING.

LONDON, 19th October.

Probably the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, after which the crowds waited to file past the tablet, accounted for the small sprinkling of people in Downing Street to watch the assemblage of the Conference delegates. But there, were move entrances than one, and those who crowded opposite the doorway at No. 10, saw only the lesser lights, the majority entering through the famous garden aglow with pink chrysanthemums. The full delegations, including the. secretaries, crowded into the historic Cabinet room. At a long rectangular table, covered with blue baize, Mr. Baldwin sat in the centre. On one side of his table was a solitary multiplo telephone, the only link with the world outside, and on the other the inevitable ash tray containing four • Baldwinian cherrywood pipes. HOW DELEGATES SIT. Sir Austen Chamberlain, Mr. Churchill, and Sir.Philip Cunliffe-Lister sat on Mr. Baldwin's left, and Mr. Amery on his right, and diagonally op-

posite Mr. Baldwin were Mr. Mackenzie King and Mr. Brues, and on their two flanks Mr. Coates and General Hertzog, the latter between two huge pillars, which almost obtrusively break the symmetry of the wonderful old sound-proof terra-cbtta carpeted sanctum of the Empire's history. It was a wholly formal two hour*' session, and the zealots who braved the biting wind were rewarded by seeing the delegations emerge separately, to undergo a barrage- of cameras as they entered luxurious limousines supplied by; the British Hospitality Department. For the rest of the day, delegates were free to fulfil private engagements till the Government's official dinner at No. 10, followed by a brilliant reception at the wondrous Lancaster House. "EVERYONE MEANT BUSINESS/'. The atmosphere of the actual opening pny odings are officially described as "amazingly good, leaving no doubt that everyone meant business and desired most keenly to get the maximum results from the Conference." As the customary motion offering greetings to the King and tlxe Queen was passed, . eve.*body stood up. Mr. Baldwin's welcome emphasised that the _Conference was not sought merely to promote closer relations between the Motherland and the Doinin* ions, but between the Dominions themselves. A practical note was sounded by the insistence that the greatest question facing the Conference was the trade and industry o£ the Empire and the development of resources to mutual benefit. It was pointed put that the very vacancies at the Conference table caused by the deaths of Lord Curzon and Mr. Massey, who Held a special place in the councils of the Empire for years, showed the importance of frequent Conferences, providing opportunities for personal interchange of views. REVIEW OF FOREIGN POLICY. There will be only a morning session of tho Conference to-morrow, when Sir Austen Chamberlain, will most fully and frankly, and in the strictest secrecy, review foreign affairs. No statement will be made to the Press in this connection. This marks a departure from the precedent of 1923, when a summary of Lord Curzon's review was issued, but only after so many deletions, in .order not to offend anyone, that the statement, as published, satisfied nobody. Sir Austen Chamberlain's review will not be discussed for a few days. , Advantage will probably be taken of Lord Lloyd's presence in London to invite him to furnish a review on the position in Egypt. Committees already have been appointed to deal with particular subjects for discussion. The discussion on. economic matters will open on Friday. Apart from foreign affairs and defence, a communique will be issued nightly, with explanations, to daily gatherings of representatives of the British and overseas Press.