Imperial Conference

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 9, 16 September 1927, Page 6

Imperial Conference

The second portion of the lecture upon the Imperial Conference was given by the Editor-Announcer on Friday evening last, the subject of defence being mainly dealt with.

On the subject of toregn affairs and defere, the conference had the advantage of hearing a full exposition of existing conditions by the Secretary of State for Foretyn Affairs and by the authorities of the Navy, the Army, and ] the Air Force Foreign affairs’ and defence are allied subjects--the provision to be made for defence depends on the international position at the time, while on the other hand the policy of the I'mpire in foreign affairs is similarly iffected by its existine means of defenre [t was understand at the conference that, notwithstanding the canalitv of the Dominions with Great Britain, the major share of the responsihilitv, in the twin domains of foreien affairs and defence, must necessarilv remain at the present stage with His Maiestv’s Government in Great Britain In order to ensure that the actions in ‘his connection of that Government mav ineet with the approval of His Majestv’s Governments in the Dominions, everv possible sten is taken to consult with Dominion Governments, and to keep them up-to-date in all material developments, but on the cardinal principle of tritish policy there is no difference f oninion hetween anv of the Govern. ments of the Empire That principle 's the maintenance of peace-the British "ammonwealth desires nothine bevond this. and the whole of its efforts are lirected to that end Its foreien policy 's conducted openly and nubticly insofar 1s this can be done in-the present state of the world, and‘all the Governments renreserted at the were firm nm their supnort of "this attitude ‘vherever practicahle From the point f view of foreign nolicv. and from the noint of view of defence, it was made ‘imnndently clear that whatever mav be he status ‘or the nowers of the Gov ‘ronments fortning the Empire, on these ubiects the Fmnire sneaks with one ‘ice Technical Arms Reviewed. The Dominion delegations were shown ‘te latest develonments in the Navy. ie Army, and the Air Force Each ‘ranch arranged a dfisnlav of great in‘orest. To observe the work of the "Tavv the delewations were taken to sea ‘om Portland by the _ hattle-crniser Revenge," where they witnessed realis‘‘e demonstrations of the progress that 's being made in the senior service.

Aeroplanes, submarines, and destroyers, using guns, torpedoes, smoke screens, mines, and depth charges, were seen in action, and manoeuvres and firing at yreat range by the battle fleet demonstrated the efficiency of the latest implements of war. The military authorities staged at Camberley an impressive demonstration of the movement towards the mechanisation of the Army. On a most difficult day, deluged with rain sl! kinds of vehicles, from the ee * * tn **- Tatest monsters, from wiv tors to one-man Fy "crabs," filed past in feet-of mud without a hitch or delay, and subsequently staged manoeuvres and a mimic battle, assisted by aeroplanes, to show the part that the mechanised army mav be exnected to plav in the future The Air Force at Crovdon provided a thrilling demonstration of the almost impossible things that mav he done in the air Not the least interesting feature of this dav was the almost insignificant machine in which Sir Alan Cobham had inst completed his flieht to Australia and hack One result of the deliherations of the conference on defence was the decision of the New Zealand Government, referred to itt the precedine lecturette, to lav before Parliament a nroposal to erent a subsidv of £1,000,000 towards the construction of the naval base at Singapore. — ' Communications. Very full consideration was given to the question of communications between the different parts of the Empire. The easier it is to communicate from one part to another, and the shorter the time necessarv to proceed from one part fo another, the more opportunity will be afforded for personal discussiott on any point at issue, and consequently the staller the possibility of misunderstanding or disagreement, The success of the 1926 conference in removing all misunderstandings by the solvent of personal discussion, brought the importance of communications more | clearly to the front. Every aspect of the subject was debated at lengthshipping, cables, wireless telegraphy, the aeroplane, and the aitship each received its share of attention, and the possibilities were recognised of future developments in the air of great Im-

perial significance. As a first means of drawing the Empire closer together in point of time, the two new airships that are now in course of construction are expected to prove of material assistance, and a party of experts from Great Britain are now in New Zealand in order to assist in the selection of a suitable base for an airship mast and the necessary terminal facilities to enable these ships to add this country to their route. It need not be stressed how greatly inter-Empire communication would be facilitated if it were found possible, as experts assert that it will, to reduce the time required to travel from Great Britain to New Zealand from some five weeks to ten or twelve }davs. A future lecturette will deal more fully with the question of Imperial conimunications. os The subject of inter-Imperial trade was one of the most important on the agenda, and it received long and detailed consideration. It was the unanimous opinion of the conference that everything possible shonld be done to encourage trade within the Empire, and although any increase in this trade must in the last resort depend upon the efforts and good-will of the traders and the. people themselves, it was felt that in many directions assistance could be rendered by the Governments concerned The very large part played by trade in bringing the peoples of the Empire into closer touch, and in assisting to create that understanding of different viewpoints amd different conditions that is so desirable, was explicitly recognised, and steps were resolyed upon to bring this point. of view clearly before the peoples of all the countries concerned. : From the material aspect it was recognised that trading within the Empire adds to the general prosperity all round, and helps to avoid real difficulties relating to exchange and to reduce the possibility of foreign entanglements. Allied with the question of trade is that of migration, The population of the Empire at present is not distributed to the best advantage... On the one hand we see in Great Britain a large number of people nnable to obtain employment, while on the other hand, in many of the great Dominions, there are vast stretches of country not yet fully develeped, The unemployment difficulty in Great Britain seems to be steadily decreasing, but the problem of how best to transfer the surplus population of the Old. Country, so as to bring into’ effective production the unused areas in~ the Dominions, is one calling for earnest consideration, ‘The subject was dis-?

cussed at length by a committee of the conference, and, while mo novel or dramatic step was found to be possible, the result of the committee’s deliberations will be to facilitate in many directions the desired — movement: ‘of population. . Value of Publicity. Another very important subject debated was that of kinematograph: films. The members of the conference were unanimous in recognismmg the desirability of arranging for the exhibition of a greater proportion of British films. Throughout the Empire the present position appears to be that the American film practically dominates the market, and that British people, by _means of this new and extremely popular method of entertainment, are being gradually educated to foreign ideals and foreign customs, It.was felt that this cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely, and that the welfare of the nation demands that the vounger generation should not be confined to the lessots and the examples of foreign films, but should have the onnortunity of seeing on the screen British films conveying British ideas fand British customs. How best to achieve this end is a difficult question. but a Bill for the purpose has alreadv been introduced in the British Honse of Commons, and the New Zealand Government are considerine the introduction of a somewhat similar méasure The question of research was considered by an expert committee, which produced a most valuable report, recommending, among other things, the -establishment of a considered scheme -of co-operation and uniformity in this subject throughout the Empire. Point--ed attention was called to the fact that if the Empire is to hold its own in the periad of active competition that is anticipated in the ‘future, it must rely more and more unon the apnlication of science to increase its produc. tion or decrease its costs Fven ina small country’ such as New Zealand the potential possibilities of scfentific research cannot he over-estimated It should be recopnised by all that, as a cominnnitv, we itt New Zealand exist by the sale of our raw productsour wool, dairy produce, meat, frit. ete.--and that... in nracticalte all these articles, the comnetition in the future is likely to he more severe than in the past. Tf we are to maintain out nresent position we must. so to sneak. attentnt ‘to make two hlades of wheat erow where one erew before-to pro. duce more goods at the same, cost, or

the same quantity at a lesser cost. Science is already grappling with these problems, and the conference . has pointed out the significance of the subject to the Iimpire, and the necessity of our keeping pace with the world, The Spirit of the Conference. The outstanding result of this conference was not the work done, but the spirit in which the work was approached and in which it was completed. When it is remembered that the conference consisted of representatives from all parts of the world, speaking for people iti all stages of development, of different races, of different histories, and with different conditious of life, the existence of varying points of view is inevitable, and the fact shat it was possible to arrive at unanimous conclusions on so many delicate and difficult subjects must be regarded as remarkable. Oné thing, and one alone, enabled this unanimity to be achieved, and that is good-will. I¢verv individual representative quite obvionsly arrived at the conference with a determination to consider fully any point of view that micht differ from lis own: with a sympathy for countries other than his own, and for their individual problems; and with an intention to sink any individual and selfish interests for the good of a common whole. While this spirit of good-will exists there is no season to fear for the continued existence of the British Comtnonwealth of Nations. After all, the. forces that bind us to- . vether are stronger than anv force that might tend to drive us anart. From the material point of view of self-pro-tection, we are obviously stronger toeether than we are anart Covering all portions of the world. and produeine raw materiais of nractically every kind reauired bv civilisation. we are in an excellent nosition to combine the nroducine potentialities of the Dominions with the manufacturing nowers of the Old Corntrv, avd to exist, to some extent, in an economic svstem, undistnrhed hv the fluctuations and nossihle issensions of the ontside world From the most selfish’ noint of view there are verv real advantages in maintaining our association. But the strongest and most enduring ties of all are, of course, those of sentiment, of sympathy, and of mutual understanding, ond there can be no more powerful instrument for strensthening and perpetuating these ties than the full personal discnssions of the . Imperial Conference,. ‘