THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 245, 22 February 1911, Page 5

THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE

NEW ZEALAND'S PROPOSALS. "A CONSCIOUS PRIDE OF NATIONHOOD." By Cable—Press Association—CopyrightLondon, February 20. The Daily Telegraph adds that it is unlikely Sir Wilfrid Laurier will countenance New Zealand's proposed Council of State for the Empire. The Dominions ought to standardise emigration requirements, so as to come into relation with the British machinery, including the labor exchanges. The Manchester Guardian says that New Zealand's proposals for the Imperial Conference, especially concerning an Imperial Council and the status of High Commissioners, show a conscious pride in nationhood, which is an eloquent testimony to the success of the liberal colonial policy of self-govern-ment.

The paper asks whether Sir Joseph Ward's Imperial Council proposal does not slur over the great difficulty of equitable distribution of the Empire's burdens. The burden of defending India rests on the United Kingdom alone.

The writer adds: "To the extent to which the colonics aspire'to partnership in the direction of Imperial affairs they should logically assume a correspondingly degree of military and naval financial responsibility." MR. FISHER'S OPINION. Melbourne, February 21. Mr. Fisher, in reference to the cabled comments on the omission of preferential trade from the business sheet of the Imperial Conference, said that no doubt the Dominions were influenced by the fact that the matter was fully discussed at the last conference, when the same Government was in power in the United Kingdom.