A.—4.

28

Is* Day.} Opening Address and Replies. [23 May, 1911. Sir EDWARD MORRlS—eon*. I thank you, on behalf of Newfoundland, for allowing me the privilege of making these few remarks. Address to the King. The PRESIDENT : I think, Gentlemen, after what has been said, we should all agree that we ought now, before we proceed with the business of the Conference, to express in formal terms the sentiment to which some of us have already given utterance —our homage and loyalty to the King; and I will ask Sir Wilfrid Laurier if he will be good enough to move a resolution in that sense. Sir WILFRID LAURIER : Mr. Asquith, I would suggest something like this, if agreeable, and it could be put in shape by Mr. Just: " The Imperial Conference, at their first meeting, as their first act, desire to present their humble duty to your Majesty, and to assure you of the devoted loyalty of all the portions of your Majesty's Empire here represented." Mr. FISHER : I have pleasure in seconding that. The PRESIDENT : Ido not think it could be better put than that: " The Imperial Conference, at their first meeting, as their first act, desire to present their humble duty to your Majesty, and to assure you of the devoted loyalty of all the portions of your Majesty's Empire here represented." I assume that is carried unanimously. We will make a record of it. Publicity of Proceedings. " That the Conference be open to the Press except when subjects are confidential." Now, Gentlemen, the first item of business which has to be considered, which necessarily precedes everything else, is the proposed resolution of the Government of New Zealand, that the Conference be open to the Press except when the subjects are confidential. Sir Joseph Ward, will you let us have your views about that 1 Sir JOSEPH WARD : Mr. President, in moving the resolution that the Conference be open to the Press except when the subjects are confidential, I may say that a great deal of the valuable discussion that took place at previous Conferences did not realise its effect because the full report of the proceedings was not published. I make the reservation, of course, that there was a good deal of work done at those Conferences which could not in any case have been published, and I have no doubt that will apply to the present Conference as well. There must be many confidential matters that come up for consideration that ought not to be published. My own idea was that a similar course of procedure might be adopted to what is followed by Parliamentary Committees when taking evidence, either in this country or in some of the oversea countries—that is to say, that when a matter of an important nature crops up the room should be cleared. That is the usual course in parliamentary practice, and I think it might with advantage be applied to such a Conference as this. I should be exceedingly sorry, so far as I am concerned, to suggest that anything should be done that might militate against the free and full discussion of any important matter the value of which to the respective members would be lessened unless they were able to talk with complete freedom; but I look at the matter from the standpoint of what took place at the last Conference. I know that for quite a time the people in New Zealand heard next to nothing of what was going on at that Conference. The Australian representative was in a better position, from the fact that the authorities who controlled the Press cable-service to Australia were in Australia, and not unnaturally published what was regarded as being of the greatest importance to the Australian readers. From the New Zealand standpoint it may not have been considered that their representative's views were of such great importance to them, but the Australian part was published very fully, while matters of material importance to the people of New Zealand were almost forgotten, and made so subsidiary to the interests of the Press of the Australian Continent as to make the reports from a,New Zealand point of view of little value. That was unfair to the people in New Zealand, because they have a right to know what their representa-