IMPERIAL PRESS CONFERENCE

Hokitika Guardian, 23 July 1930, Page 2

IMPERIAL PRESS CONFERENCE

PRIME MINISTER’S "WELCOME. NEWSPAPERS’ EMPIE E OBLIGATIONS. LONDON, June 5. At tlie opening session oi the Jin penal Press Conference at Grosvenor House, on June 3rd, a cordial welcome was extended by the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government. Mr MacDonald spoke of the newspapers of the Empire as constituting one of the most effective links binding its people in community together, Major J. J. Aston M.P., was in the chair. The great problem of the Empire today, said the Prime Minister, was how to unite individnolitv with cnonerntion, how to combine national freedom with Commonwealth oblations. The , contribution which the Prtish Em’d'-o lnd so far made to the solution of that problem was very groat. In this connexion the responsibility of the Press, with its great power, was considerable, mini he appealed to murim lists and politicians to insist oil

the circulation of good, sound coinage in nninion. ideas and ideals, “The Empire goes through phase after phase,” said Mr MacDonald. ‘‘lt has its periods of great glory and r,+l,nrs "f loss- Tt has its periods of ties, hut I think what von and T lui’-e to remember is that the mind j shoving alacrity to appreciate, and oven to ant'oinntp. the chaimes which are accomplished is the mind that is going to, load the Umpire into a permanent substance and a long-during life. “As long as we think of the past and the past only, as long as we merely are persons of the present, thinking only of the present without any 'conception df the voluntary idea which is turning events and determining the future, then we will not do our work well, whether we are newspaper men or politicians. It is the live mind, the mind that not only sees but foresees, that is the mind we want for the Empire at the present time. And all onr work depends upon what is our conception of Empire, what is our sense | of Empire. Empire is a lovely 'word, > Tn the construction of our towns we ( have cpuf/iin central ideas. In accord-, ance with the type of building that we select as the central embodiment. of spirit of our towns so our towns grow. CENTRAL IDEA OF EMPIRE, “ We must have everything that is useful; the question is not elimination, , but selection for the central building. so that we may have a central idea. | There must be the trading spirit in j the Empire, that must be the idea of production, of exchange, of consumption ; there must be the idea of intereconomic helpfulness and usefulness, but that is not the central idea, that i,s not the inspiring idea. Nor must the Empire in these days find an environment in one of those great massive | buildings, embodying brutalities and | the powers of modern art, constructed of reinforced concrete, standing large.) challenging, and powerful to the eye of everybody who strays into its neighbourhood. That is good of itself, but that cannot be the central idea of our British Empire, nor can it be some pretty, unstained creation oF feminine purity in white marble. “We are human. We have made great achievements, and we have made great mistakes. If we want to embody our Empire in an idea which is human, in a structure which embodies frailties as well as achievement, let us think of one of those commanding Gothic structures where the rough and the primitive are detailed, where passion and goodness mingle together, where we see the frailty of the human hand and act, but in the whole the illumination aspiration of the human mind. That worthily embodies the work we have done. It is an inheritance we share together, a building we have to guard and, .extend, To the eye that looks for permanent essentials, it is a great inspiration to our devoted serviec. A MIGHTY BUSINESS ORGANISATION. “What power does the Press bring to that service? In my time the Press as an organisation has been completely revolutionised. I remember the old days when" the Press was a personal possession held by individuals competing with each other, each organ showing the stamp of a strong and a special individuality, not a cog in a great centrally controlled machine, but each a being specially of itself. In the march df progress, however, sad it must be to lose many of those good qualities, we have to bow our heads and say that the new conditions must be made the best of. “To-dav the Press is a mighty business organisation, with enormous capi- | tal behind it. and tremendous fighting j and crushing power. The more its power, the greater the mechanical and materialistic forces it can command, the heavier lies upon its back the re-j sponsibility of using that power for Imperial interests and the good of the: Commonwealth to which we aTI belong.! ('Cheers.') There is no form of property that has more obligations placed up- j

on it to serve than the Press of ttie Empire. We can easily engage in a reckless exploitation of public emotion, and ignorance. .The Gresham Law in economics teaches us that if you put a base coinage side by side with a good coinage the base will elbow out the good. There is a Gresham Law in politics. Let the politician and the Pi •essman , the statesman and the editor enter into a holy conspiracy to defeat the Gresham Law by insisting m the circulation of good, sound coinTge- in opinion, ideas and idea I>s. (Cheers.) INDIVIDUALITY WITH CO-GPEIt ATI ON. “The great problem of the Empire to-day is the old problem of how to mite individuality with co-operation. We must get those two values into coordination, tlie value of individuality, of nationhood, into combination with -ommodity, commonwealth, and unity. If civilisation is to be maintained, and the world’s good pursued, those two conceptions must move together and combine. In our Empire the striving to be nations must not allow us to overlook the equally important striving to maintain ourselves as a community. (Cheers.) “The greatest contribution that has been made to active social thinking and acting has been the contribution that the British Empire has made up to now in the practical Solution of that theoretical difficulty.

“That problem will underlie perhaps the greater part of the 1 Conference work—tile problem of how to combine national freedom with Commonwealth obligations, how to merge the Imperial spirit of rule into the Commonwealth spirit of counsel, how;to clo things as a Commonwealth and Empire, and yet to hold out the hand of family helpfulness to the rest of the world. That is our problem. If we can succeed in helping our generation to solve that problem—we rdiall not solve it completely in our generation, if we can conspire together to make a further contribution to the solution of that problem—we can make that contribution if men off goodwill and insight are responsible—we shall have done something more to make the name and the' fame of our Commonwealth good in the eyes of the world.” STATE OF ENGLAND. Lord Riddell, in a vote of thanks to the Prime Minister, said that England was better to-day than it had ever been. .. - “We have better factories, better housing, better food, better recreation) better clothes (though not so much of them).- —Laughter)—better transport, generally better wages, far fewer lower infant mortality, and, generally speaking, the good things of life are better and more evenly distribi iyj, uted. If Mr MacDonald had brought his speech into Fleet street he could

have placed it easily, because there is real good stuff in it,” The Hon, Esmond Hannsworth suggested it should be the function of •the Conference to .prepare the different parts of the Empire for what the (Imperial Conference was going to discuss in September. , •. EQUAL STATUS AND NATIONHOOD. Mr Wedgwood, Benn Secretary ot j State for India, referred to the eamj paign of civil disobedience decided upon. I “It is clearly the duty, of any Government in charge of the destines of a country, and especially a country I containing so many varied interests, I classes, and creeds as India, to main- | tain public order,” he sad. ‘'Whatever form of government we envisj age’ as a result of the Conference and j the deliberations of Parliament, it I would be a crime to pass on to it ! a heritage, not only of chaos and disI order, but, what would be far worse, 1 of disrespect for the law. j There was in India a deep and arj dent desire for equality of status, and that was the problem with which j the Government and any GovernI ment would be faced. It was ejerI tainly the most difficult that had conj fronted the Commonwealth. Among j its perplexities two or three points I stood out clearly. The first was that force could not possibly provide a remedy. “The second point is that, just- as the difficulties which meet us and are inherent in the problem are largely Indian, so a solution of those difficulties is ardently to be desired in the Imperial interest. It is no part of British policy to carry on the Government of India on the principle of ‘divide and vi<le.’ It (lias been the earnest desir« of this Government. no les3 than of others, to | promote between the races a spirit of sympathy and understanding. If the present troubles quicken the conscience of both parties some good may perhaps come of them. The British people are not unresponsive to great ideals. (Cheers.) The Indian peoples hav.e an ancient history and selfless and noble instincts. (Hear, hear.) Is it to much to hope that the bitternesses of the present disagreement j may give place to a rebirth of mutual jUnderstandjing and (respect?” Sir' -Stanley Reed, chairman of the Indian Delegation, thanking .Mr Wedgwood Bonn, said that the surge | for equal status and nationhood was i the greatest force in India to-day. I Mr T. C. List (New Zealand) said that the Prime Minister’s speech would dispel any idea that the La born Party was iconoclastic. Labour was as strong and loyal and patriotic as l any other party. j Mr T. W. Mackenzie (South Africa) ! said that there were many kinds of j rope, which might' be used to bind ! the Empire together, but they mqst