COMMONWEALTH: Imperial Conference

(BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS)

The Imperial Conference, or the Conference of Premiers of the British Commonwealth of Nations, concluded its labors in London, which extended over a period of seven weeks. The Premiers expressed themselves as satisfied over the results of their work.

The report of the Conference, which was published subsequent to the end of the deliberation, was vague and no comprehensive survey can be made owing to the fact that many details were kept secret.

The report placed on record that the Conference thought that it might be necessary for Great Britain to act alone on the reparations tangle without consulting France; that it was ” both desirable and practicable to meet American requests” for a twelve mile limit while ” safeguarding, as a cardinal feature of British policy, the principle of a three-mile limit; that, while accepting the principle of a further limitation of armaments, three principles of Imperial defence must be recognized: 1) The deep interest of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand and India in the provision of a naval base at Singapore as essential for insuring the mobility necessary to provide for the security of the territories and trade of the empire in eastern waters; 2) necessity for the maintenance of safe passage along the great route to the East through the Mediterranean and the Red Sea; 3) the necessity for the maintenance by Great Britain of a home defense air force of sufficient strength to give adequate protection against an air attack by the strongest air force within striking distance of her shores. It was also agreed that ” power should be taken to readmit a woman to British nationality in cases where the married state, though subsisting in law, has to all practical purposes come to an end.”

Other things discussed were: Near East situation; Middle East situation; Egyptian settlement; Washington treaties. It was also agreed to empower the overseas British nations to conclude treaties of their own accord in cases where neither the Home Government or any other British Government is affected.

The Conference also agreed to a preferential tariff for British goods on the following articles: canned salmon, apples, dried fruits, honey, fruit juices, preserved fruits, and possibly on sugar and tobacco. In addition to this agreement was understood to have been made on “manufactured goods,” but this enigmatical phrase of Premier Baldwin was not elucidated.

It must be understood that those parts of the program enacted by the Imperial Conference have to be passed by all Governments concerned before they become operative. In view of impending general elections in Britain, the fate of the tariff preference, for example, is uncertain and may come to little, as did the Tariff Reform policy of Joseph Chamberlain in 1905.

Elections

The necessity for early general elections definitely entered the realm of practical politics in Britain. The principal reason is that Mr. Bonar Law promised the electorate when he was elected Premier last year, that his Administration, now under the leadership of Premier Stanley Baldwin, would make no changes in the fiscal system without referring the question to it. The preferential tariffs agreed upon, by the Imperial Conference render necessary a fiscal change if they are to be passed by Parliament. Therefore elections must be held. Another reason is that much dissatisfaction has been evinced in some political quarters over the inert foreign policy of the Government.

Conservatives. The Conservative Party is virtually split. One section supports free trade; the other a vague protectionist policy. The latter is headed by Premier Baldwin and is committed by the Bonar Law pledge to a general election. The former contains such men as Lords Derby, Robert Cecil, Salisbury, who are anxious to maintain the Administration until after the passage of the House of Lords Re-form Bill, which has been the morceau choisi of the Conservative Party for years. This Bill is designed by the Conservatives to increase the power of the Lords.

Liberals. The Liberal Party is already split under the leadership of ex-Premier Lloyd George and ex-Premier H. H. Asquith, the former leading the National Liberal Party, the latter the old Liberal Party. It is believed that Mr. Churchill, who was reported about to contest his old seat in Glasgow, rendered vacant by the death of Mr. Bonar Law, will be used by Mr. Lloyd George to unite the Liberal Party. It was also stated that Mr. George will, if necessary, consent to serve under his old chief, Mr. Asquith. Surface indications, however, disprove this contention. Mr. George, immediately after landing in England from his U. S. visit, began a campaign against tariff protection and the Baldwin Ministry. He is not an out-and-out Free Trader, but Free Trade has become a convenient political weapon for him and he has seized it. With this plank in his platform, the hidden one of national unemployment insurance, and the popularity he has derived in Britain from his U. S. tour, Mr. George is in a strong position—stronger than Mr. Asquith, who is not very popular. If the Liberal Party is to unite, it would seem that Mr. Asquith will have to do the stepping down. Failing this, a Centre Party is the almost certain solution. In any case Mr. Churchill in his forthcoming speeches will aid his old chief, Mr. Lloyd George, but he will also favor a united Liberal Party rather than a variant.

Laborites. The Labor Party is in a curious position. They are against protection, but so are the Liberals, and for that matter some of the Conservatives. In these circumstances the ground has been cut from under their feet. They must therefore fall back upon their capital levy plank, which again is certain to prove less attractive to the proletariat electorate than Mr. Lloyd George’s unemployment insurance coupled with his anti-protectionist stand. Nevertheless predictions were made that the Liberal Party would consolidate its influence in the country at the elections. It would seem, however, considering the fact that they owe their present position as leader of the Opposition to the fortuitous circumstance of the split in the Liberal Party last October, that their position will be weakened.