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A.—4

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12th Day.] Imperial Court of Appeal. [20 June, 1911. The PRESIDENT : Yes ; it alters the practice as far as the Privy Council is concerned. Mr. BATCHELOR : Any dissentient judge will be free to give his views. Viscount HALDANE : That is so. The PRESIDENT : That is the point to which great importance was attached ; and it further provides that as far as possible a full Court shall sit in all cases—that is to say, sit one week for House of Lords cases, United Kingdom cases, and the next week for Dominion cases. Sir JOSEPH WARD : This carries out exactly what we agreed upon, and it is all right. The PRESIDENT : Yes, we may take it that that puts in form what the Conference really agreed to, and it is approved. Report of Committee on Defence, Mr. HARCOURT : Then there is the Report of the Committee of the Imperial Conference convened to discuss Defence, Military Matters, at the War Office. That is before the Conference now in a Paper. Assuming that that Report is approved, it is proposed that the precis of to-day and the proceedings of the Conference when published should contain the following statement on the matter : " The Conference received and approved the Report of the Committee on Military Defence, which had held two sittings at the War Office, under the Chairmanship of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff " —and the report will be included in the papers of the Conference. (Mr. PEARCE here referred to the question of the Conferences which were taking place at the Admiralty with the representatives of the Dominion of Canada and of the Commonwealth of Australia with regard to the status of the Dominions' naval forces and their co-operation with the Royal Navy, and it was agreed, on the suggestion of Mr. Harcourt, that a memorandum embodying the conclusions reached should be incorporated among the papers published in connection with the Imperial Conference.) Reciprocal Visits of Ministers. (a.) That in the opinion of this Conference it is desirable that Ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominions should between Conferences exchange reciprocal visits, so as to make themselves personally acquainted with all the self-governing parts of the Empire. (b.) That the Government of the United Kingdom take into consideration the possibility of holding the next meeting of the Conference in one of the oversea Dominions. Mr. FISHER : I have ventured to bring this motion before the Conference for this reason. Great advantage, has arisen through these Conferences having met in London, and the Dominions have benefited by the discussions that have taken place. All the members of the Conference will remember that when it first met there was a doubt as to its utility. I believe the time has come when it should be recognised that greater advantage would arise if this Conference could possibly meet in the Dominions or at other centres. Our resolution that I submit is : " (a) That in the opinion of this Conference it is desirable that Ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominions should between Conferences exchange reciprocal visits, so as to make themselves personally acquainted with all the self-governing parts of the Empire, (b) That the Government of the United Kingdom take into consideration the possibility of holding

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