EMPIRE TASKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 June 1921, Page 5

EMPIRE TASKS.

PREMIERS’ CONFERENCE. PROBLEMS LEFT BY WAR. ’WORLD’S DESIRE FOR PEACE. DISARMAMENT AND TREATIES. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received June 21, 7.45 p.m. London, June 20. The conference of Premiers and representatives of the Empire opened at 10 Downing Street at noon to-day. Opening the conference, Mr. Lloyd George said: “I bid you all a hearty welcome to Great Britain and Downing Street. Since our last meeting some notable gaps have occurred in the British Empire delegation. Sir Robert Borden (formerly Premier of Canada) has laid down the cares of office, while by General Botha’s death the Empire has sustained a heavy loss. Mr. W. M. Hughes and Mr. W. F. Massey are old friends, and we three enjoy the unenviable distinction of being the only Prime Ministers who took part in the war. I also extend cordial greetings to the Marahao of Cutch and Mr. Sastri. the representatives of the Indian Empire. ‘‘The conference falls at a time of great stress in England and trouble in many parts of the world. It is inevitable that the nations which put forth colossal efforts and sustained unparalleled losses in life, limb and treasure during the war should feel the consequences of over-strain and exhaustion, due to the condition in which the nations of the world have been left by the war. Never did statesmanship demand more patience and wisdom. The distress amongst the population was much greater after the Napoleonic wars than at present; for, despite unemployment and labor unrest, there is no actual privation amongst the population. The war has produced a condition from which it will take years to recover.

DEALING WITH GERMANY.

“In spite of a good deal that is discouraging, I am confident the world is slowly working through its troubles gradually. The world is passing through the usual experiences of first denying the existence of palpable realities and then settling down to act upon them. A distinctly encouraging feature in the international situation is the fact that there is increasing impatience with those who seek to keep the world in a state of turmoil and tension, and there is a deepening conviction that the world must have peace if it is ever to recover its health. “Some of the most troublesome and most menacing problems of peace have either been settled or are in a fair way to settlement. Two questions gave anxiety; one was the disarmament of Germany, and the other reparations. The disarmament of Germny may be stated to be settled. The problem of the German fleet has disappeared, and so has the Austrian-German Army disappeared as a great and powerful force. It numbered millions; aiid now it numbers little more than 100,000. It had 10,000 guns and now it has a few hundred; it had an enormous number of machine guns and trench mortar. 1 ?, and those have gone; it had millions of rifles, and the Germans have surrendered 30,000,000 rounds of big ammunition. It is not so much Prussia that is giving us trouble as Bavaria, but that difficulty will, J think, be overcome in a very short time, and the problem of disarmament —which is vital, because so long as Germany had a big army there was no guarantee of peace —will disappear. REPARATIONS. “No one knows better than Mr. W. M. Hughes the practical difficulties surrounding the problem of reparations. The question is how you are to transfer a payment from one country and make it in another. As Mr. Hughes knows, that problem has baffled all the financial experts in Paris, and only after two years have we hit upon an expedient which seems to have given satisfaction to all moderate and practical men in European countries. That seems the view of riie Dominions, and they have a direct concern in it. Germany has accepted a very practical plan of liquidating her liabilities, and France and Italy have accepted it, and public opinion in England has also accepted it. The two remaining difficulties are: Firstly, ‘the fixation of the boundaries of Poland, partly of Lithuania and now Silesia; and, secondly, making peace with Turkey The first essential to peace and reconstruction is that we stand by our treaties. I Some grow weary of these great responsibilities, and speak as though it was possible to renounce them without injustice to other peoples or detriment to ourselves. I venture to say such arguments are as short-sighted as they are false.

“The nations and peoples of the world realised their inter-dependence in a measure greater than ever before the war. The League of Nations stands as a witness of the realisation of this truth. No progress can be made towards the rehabilitation of Europe or the permanent peace of the world except upon the basis .of the acceptance and enforcement of treaties. There may be relaxations here and there, following upon the discovery of new conditions, with the consent of all parties, but the treaties must stand, and no signatory should have the right to override any part of a treaty to which all are parties. The Empire is bound by honor and interest alike to the treaties which it signed, and unless the treaty faith is maintained an era of disorganisation, increasing misery and smouldering war will continue, and civilisation may very easily be destroyed by the prolongation of that state of things. PACIFIC PEACE DESIRED.' “Lord Curzon, on his return from Paris, will give a survey of foreign affairs, and 1 will not anticipate his statement; but I should like to refer to the relations of the [Empire with the United States and Japan. There is no quarter of the world where we desire more greatly to maintain peace, fair play for all nations, and to avoid competition in armaments than in the Pacific and the Far East. Our alliance with Japan has been a valuable factor in the past. We have found Jasan '.a faithful allr. who

rendered us valuable assistance in an hour of serious and critical need. The Empire will not easily forget that Japanese men-of-war escorted transports bringing Australian and New Zealand forces to Europe at a time when German cruisers were still in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. We desire to preserve that well-tried friendship, and to apply it to the solution of all questions in the Far East, where Japan has special interests and where we ourselves, like the United States, desire equal opportunities and an open door. “Not the least question is the future of China, which looks to us, as to the United States, for sympathetic treatment and fair play. No greater calamity could overtake the world than further accentuation of the world’s divisions upon the line of race. The Empire has done signal service to humanity by bridging these divisions in the past, and the loyalty of the King’s Asiatic peoples is proof. To depart from that policy and to fail in that duty would not only greatly increase the dangers of international war, but it would divide the British Empire against itself. Our foreign policy can never range itself in any sense upon differences of race and civilisation between the East and the West. It would be fatal to the Empire. LIMITING ARMAMENTS. “We look confidently to the Government and people of the United States for sympathy and understanding in this respect. The friendly co-operation of the United States is for us a cardinal principle, dictated by instinct quite as much as by reason of common sense and a desire to work with the great Republic in all parts of the world. Like the United States, we want stability and peace on a basis of liberty and justice. We desire to avoid the growth of armaments, whether in the Pacific or elsewhere, and we rejoice that American opinion should be showing earnestness in that direction at the present time. We are ready*to discuss with American statesmen any proposal for the limitation of armaments, and we will undertake that such overtures will’not find a lack of willingness on our part to meet them. Meantime, we cannot forget that the life of the United Kingdom, as also that of Australia and New Zealand, and, indeed, the whole Empire, has been built up on sea-power, and that sea-power is necessarily the basis of the whole Empire’s existence/ Therefore we look to measures which security requires us to aim at; we cannot possibly be content with less. “The British Government has been under suspicion in some quarters of harboring designs against this conference. We are said to be dissatisfied with the present state of the Empire and to wish to alter its organisation in some revolutionary way. We are not at all dissatisfied. Another change which has taken place since the war is the decision of the Canadian Government to have a Minister in Washington. We co-op-erated willingly and shall welcome our Canadian colleague in Washington as soon as the appointment is made. We wgleome any suggestion you have for the association tof yourselves more closely with the conduct of foreign relations. There was a time when Downing Street controlled the Empire; today it is in charge of Downing Street. We want to know, your standpoint, and we want to tell yon ours. In recognition of their services and achievements in the war the Dominions have been accepted fully into the comity of nations by the whole world. They have achieved full national status and now stand beside the United Kingdom as equal partners in the dignities and responsibilities of the British Commonwealth. DOMINIONS’ HELP TO VICTORY. “India’s achievements were also very great. Its theatre in Europe was remote, yet India stood by her allegiance heart and soul from the first call to arms, and some of her soldiers are still serving far from their homes and families in the common cause. India’s 10/alty in the great crisis is eloquent of the Empire’s success in bridging the East and the West. India also proved her tight to a new status in our council and I welcome her representatives to this great Corneil of the Empire. The war has revealed to the world that the Empire is not an abstraction but a living force. This opportune revelation of the reality of the Empire has altered the history of the world. “Those who know how narrow the margin was between victory and? defeat can proclaim without hesitation that without those two million men from outside the United Kingdom Prussianism would probably have triumphed in the west before the American troops ararrived; Lord Curzon, who is now discussing with M. Briand (Premier of France) the execution of the victorious treaty would be discussing how best to carry out the humiliating terms dictated by the triumphant war lords of Germany and a reign of unbridled force would have been supreme and unregulated. The unity of the British Empire saved France and Britain and civilisation from that catastrophe. Victory has its cares as well as defeat, but they are ephemeral and are soon surmounted. Defeat would have reversed the engines of progress and democracy would have been driven back centuries.

BLENDING EAST AND WEST.

“The British Empire is the saving fact in a detracted world; it is the most hopeful experiment in human organisation that the world has yet seen. The Empire is based not on force, but on goodwill and common understanding, and liberty is its binding principle. In this room we stand for the Jong political development of the British Isles with all its splendours and pains—the crucible from which the framework of the whole great structure has emerged. In all the marvellous achievements of our peoples which this gathering reflects I am most deeply impressed by the blending of the and the West. Our duty here is to present the ideals of this great association of peoples in willing loyalty to one Sovereign, to take counsel together regarding the progress and welfare of all, and to keep our strength, both moral and material, a united power for justice, liberty and peace.” At the conclusion of the address, Mr. A. Meighan (Premier of Canada) congratulated Mr. Lloyd George, and other Dominion representatives endorsed Mr. Meighan’s remarks, expressing the greatest appreciation of the address. At Tuesday’s sitting each Premier will speak, giving his detailed views on all questions most concerning his Dominion. The actual discussion of matters on the agenda paper will not be taken up until all the Premiers have spoken. Mr. Deane, Secretary of the Premiers’ Department, attends all the conference sittings and occupies a position immediately opposite Mr. Lloyd George. — Aus/N.Z. Cable

OPENING SITTING.

ARRIVAL OF THE PREMIERS. BUSINESS COMMENCES TO-DAY. London, June 20. Great interest was taken in the opening of the Premiers’ Conference. Downing Street was .barricaded. against the Sinn Fein menace, but the barriers failed to block photographers and reporters. The delegates were not anxious to be snapped. General Smuts was the only one to offer facilities. The Marahao of Cutch was the first to arrive wearing a turban. Accompanied by the Maharaja Ranjitsinhji, he dashed into No. 10 without showing his face. Ranjitsinhji smiled amiably. Both were received by Mr. Lloyd George, who looked well after his holiday. Mr. Massey’s entourage was the most impressive of all, a uniformed chauffeur and soldier-like commissionaire attending him. Mr. Hughes was punctual for once, arriving on the stroke of noon. He wore a frock coat and top hat, otherwise he had a.most modest display. He looked very serious, but sunburned after a week-end on thfe river. The last to come was Mr. Meighan (Canada), the youngest Prime Minister. Immediately following was a huge laundry wagon, which drew up at No. 10, greatly amusing the crowd, who suggested that it had brought the dirty linen to be washed. Mr. Churchill, with bent shoulders and wearing a soft hat, walked through the barrier as the conference commenced. Lord Haldane, also stooping greatly, exchanged a few words at the entrance. As Mr. Lloyd George made the formal introductions a dove perched on the windows, auguring well. The Ministers present included Mr. Austen Chamberlain (Leader of the House of Commons), the Hon. E. S. Montagu (Secretary for India), and Mr. A. J. Balfour. The conference adjourned after 80 minutes and resumes at 11 o’clock on Tuesday. It is considered likely that the Anglo-Japanese Treaty will be the first business.