NEWS AND NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 June 1932, Page 7

NEWS AND NOTES.

STATUS OF WALES

" A few weeks ago the 1 Welsh Nationalist Party met in conference to discuss a draft Constitution for a Dominion of Waled, when, and if, self-government is secured. The Constitution under discussion, it is understood* demands the status of*a free, equal, self-govern-ing partner in the British G'olnmonuealth of Nations, This means the securing of its own parliament, with a ministry responsible to that parliament for the governance of the Welsh nation. The allegiance of to the Crown is asserted, and the Crown’s representation in the projected dominion as in the other dominions of the 'Empire Resonsibility for ita jhst portion of ’ national debt is admitted and as well as for payments of war pensions, but .the right to exclusion from any declaration of war unless sanction is granted by the Welsh Parliament, is claimed. reprcsentuton on the League of Nations and its own trade representatves in foreign countries aro also demanded.

A BRITISH ANOMALY

One of the curosities revealed by the working of the new protectist laws is that a British article loses its nationality if it is out of Britain for more than five years. A striking illim tration has been in evidence recently, when contractors who have been constructing a harbour at Mombasa for the last ten years, attempted to bring 'back to England a camera which had been taken out to record the progress of the work. A claim was made by the British Cu.stom-hour.-e officials for the payment of an abnormal impel ts duty of 50 per cent., on the ground that the camera had been out of the country for over five years. The eurioins tiling about the matter is that had the camera, been bought in Capo Town instead of London it could have been brought into England free of duty as a Dominion camera.

BRITAIN AND THE DOMINIONS

“The change in British po'iey has now made it, possible to come to mutual , agreements in the common interest, but j only as the. result of patient negotiaI tions pursued in a spirit of mutual j helpfulness. From the British point of view the first essential is to understand the attitude of the Dominions. Thre is not the faintest possibility that any Dominion will remove its duties on •British imports just because Great Britain now taxes foreign imports and is ready, subject to reciprocal! agreements, to go on admitting Dominion imports duty free. But there is certainly a. possibility that, in the changed eirennt,stamen, '.some of the Dominions, may consider it advisable to modify to some extentJho tariff policy which in! varying dee nos they llav,. all of them! followed hitherto.’’—"The Times” (London j.