A MILESTONE

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 91, 14 October 1932, Page 4

A MILESTONE

EOAD TO RECOVERY

ASSURED

l& Vv Coates. prefadefl, his statement irith'soirie-general observations regarding;the Conference.::; . ■

"The;; : Qttawa'.CQnference of 1932," he said, 'f 'marks' a milestone in the his-tory-of > our Empire. No previous Colonial or Imperial Conference was charged with, .issues---with-- menacing dangers if it should- fail, with richer promise should-- it .happily succeed—more vital to the -welfare' of our '. people. The 'worJd'Wide* depression had passed beyond'the stage at which .it was within the,power"of any nation by its singlehanclfd.efforts to arrest the drift. Cooperation on, a wide'scale was necessary^not merely to effect recovery but to prevent; further, collapse. The countries rof the Commonwealth of British Nations looked to Ottawa to set them by cq-ppferative effort on the high, road toward^, recovery. ,:.. ,

"Norj.were. the nations within our Empire alone in looking to Ottawa and recognising its. significance. Other nations;-equally in/the grip of the depression, were alive to the bearing of the .-Conference on their own welfare, Anything that' would hasten recovery.' in theone-fourth of the world which ia included within, the Empire would be the most elective way of assisting also the-other three-fourths. Events pripr to the' Conference, Great Britain's; steadfast ■ calm in the face of adversity, and the success of her great conversion loan, had strengthened the abljity of the British Empire to play its traditional part in leading the ■world toward recovery. We were not seeking the selfish advancement of our own country or our Empire, regardless of the welfare of the rest of the world. Judged by even the narrow standards of the material' gain to the nation pursuing it, such an attitude of isolation is unwise. It brings its own undoing. Bather was it our ideal and our immediate purpose to contribute our part toward general recovery, in which our ,people would reap their share. MR. BALDWIN'S IDEAL. "I cannot express this sentiment better than by recalling the words of Mr. Baldwin, uttered in his opening address to the Conference. Stressing the neea for 'clearing the channels of trade among ourselves' and for promoting commerce within the Empire, Mr. Baldwin noted that 'there are two ways in which increased preference can be giTen—either by lowering barriers among ourselves or by raising them against others. . . . We should endeavour (he said) to follow the first rather than the second course, for however great our resources, we cannot isolate ourselves from the world. Ko nation or group of nations, however wealthy and populous, can maintain prosperity in a world where depression and impoverishment reign,' "The delegations from each and overy Dominion at Ottawa subscribed to this ideal. Before referring in detail to our agreement, I desire to emphasise that loyalty to the agreement requires that we should proceed by way of removing barriers of trade, barriers and hindrances which are so largely responsible * for common impoverishment in a world abounding with the means of plenty."