OTTAWA MEETING

Hokitika Guardian, 17 August 1932, Page 5

OTTAWA MEETING

MORAL OUTLOOK STRESSED BY MR BALDWIN. • \ (United Press Asspciation—By Electric , Tfliegrapfi—Copyright.) ■' V • ' J■ ■ OTTAWA, August 15. “The . beginnings of CaiiacuA clevel- ■ 'Opmeut were her Mission and the trading camps. It in' still : true to-day /that we must divide our attention between the spiritual and the material

' life,” said the Right. H6ir 'Stanley ’Baldwin, in the speech whicli he delivered at the .Canadian Club, in the presence of ■seven hundred, including tlh« heads of the. Conference delegations. He continued : “We must not think that,' because we are assembled here to deal with business, that the Empire exists solely 1 for the purpose of enabling people to enlarge their in- . cornea,” v ■"

;. Mir Baldwin ■ 'declared : “The Conference will not set hack; it will set forward ottrrreebgbttioh. of each other’s needs.” All 1 of the delegates realised how difficult'it was in the. course of the Ottawa discussions to maintain high ideals and live up to the speeches made ; before t)he Conference, He continued 1 . 'VI hope and 'believe w© will carry way ; from Ottawa an elevation of mind !to fiustain us, and a consecration of our 'followahip which will help us to tread th© difficult path during the jComing.! years.- •" '6n« of the world’s difficulties U that statesmen have little time to think. They' are occupied by an infinitude of details, • tending to lose their sense of perspective, proportion and direction. - . Succumbing to this, means'losing the sOul ! I call your attention to the .present position in order that*' we may nerve ourselves • for a renewed effort to attempt' the impossible, namely to build up our Empire to perpetuity, line British Empire is the materia! and-..intellectual, embodiment of a civilisation, which,; a few years ago was .tottering, and which, we came together to help to save for mankind. ~ i ,y. , ■_ ,“We stand to-day as the heirs of the 'Roman Empire, whoee disappearance is evidence . that progress is not .permanent, continuous or v inevitable. The political, genius in thfe' Roman Empire did not prevent its downfall. A slmiVlar challenge to otir genius, -‘industry i arid loyalty, is being made to-day 1 The • world stands on ■ a precipice'of bank- : ipptcy, while in possession of the secret •of plenty. The’more’ efficiently tlhe Emfg|re can conduct its. business, the better for the outside world. A pokey .of - imperial isolation his undesirable from any standpoint. The thing is to hring- minds neither * mean nor .sordid to bear our imperial responsibilities. In; the last' analysis, the 'Empire was not built up on trade agreements, nor can it be maintained solely by tariffs • and preferences*. It can only ho maintained permanently by a dear conviction of. its ultimate goai, namely, the spirit of unity of the whole British people*, Physical ' .shrinkage ' .in ..the world’s prosperity has not brought the unity of 1 'nations. There . exists a .fntenlatianalism . vt'jich does onlv harm. The individual .genius of each irac* is needed by the From the (Ottawa Conference,' there may come, not only ' imperial' benefits, bM a great advance in our-thought, alsb an appeal .to make,, the British Commonwealth what it fchouid be metaphorically,, and appeal to u s to throw off our. coats, and roughen our Hands.’’ •'• . /' ■ . Continuing, Mr-Baldwin said that he (hoped thaj; the Conference would approve of the idea >; of beeping radio . broadcasting . away from private control. He paid a tribute to the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr Bennett’s strength of ' personality 'and statesmanship, and he urged the Canadians to support him whatever might be the -Conference results. - ’ V .v* ' There was some comment on air Bennett’s absence from the gathering on important* business. . Mr Parle'y, replacing him, said that ■ th« .results';hf the- Conference wou'.d . not be out" of relation to the absorption capacity .' of the markets.

ADDRESS BY MR CHAMBERLAIN. NOT MEANT FOR PUBLICATION. OTTAWA, August 15. JMr Chamberlain's .speech at the-first meeting of thh curency committee, followed lines of the report subsequently issued, except that 'he said among the points for serious consideration was | •whether supplies ' of : staple goods to markets should not be regulated with a view .of lifting prices. He suggested a universal yardstick. The Dominions might consider sending only an amount of products which the market could absorb. The Committee considered this a dangerous doctrine, and therefore omitted it from the report. Commenting on Mr; Chamberlain’s currency speech, Mr Bruce and Mr Coates .said that they objected strong-, jy.. in committee against this doctrine, restricting 4 ; Dominions’ ' production, consequently this part of ' Mr Chamberlain’s statement was deleted from the commit! oe’s report, and .therefore is definitely no part of tlhe Conference’s monetary policy. It was an unauthorised publication of suppressed speech that .embarrassed not onlv the British delegation, but all of the df legations. , The Australian and New Zeai.and delegates were'relieved when the suggestion of Mr Chamberlain to restrict their publication was eliminated from sba report.

To-day they feared that Britain was still pressing this idea, but the official spokesman told the newspapermen that Mr ri'mmberlain had not authorised the publication. . It is stated that a high Canadian authority supplied the speech of . Mr Chamberlain to a section of the Canadian press as. part of a studied propaganda to cause friction between Britain and Canada in the interests of the Canadian manufacturers. Both Mr Chamberlain and Mr Bennett were gravely annoyed.