A.—6a,

280

of a certain number of gentlemen of expert knowledge and capacity who woulel investigate: and report upon any question of an economic or commercial character when asked to elo so by any Government in the British Empire. if the functions of the Committee went beyond those, and into the regions of tariffs anei things of that kind, the Committee would kill itself at once. In view of the good work which had been, done by the Shipping Committee, and provided they steered clear of the multiplication of organizations outside of the sphere: eif the Governments of the Dominions and of the, United Kingdom, and of setting up too elaborate machinery, he agreed that it was possible that the Committee might do good work, and he had no objection. Mr. Riordan raised no objection to the appointment of the Committee, provided the position were clearly understood to be as described by the Chairman —namely, that in a matter with which two Governments were concerned they woulel consult in advance before it was referred to the- Committee. If they did not both agree the matter woulel. not go to the Committee ; if they both agreeel it would go. Sir Patrick, McGrath said that he thought a gooel case, had been made: out for the establishment of the Committee, which in bis view ought to be: regarded as an experiment. Mr. Innes said that he had come to the meeting with an open mind. He had wanted particularly to be reassured on the point that no question affecting Inelia should be referred to the Committee without the consent or at the instance of India itself. In view of the addition suggested by the Chairman to the resolution, India weiuld be very happy to accept the proposal. He agreed, however, with Sir Patrick McGrath that the Committee should definitely be on an experimental basis, for he thought it was possible: to make too much of the analogy o.' the Imperial Shipping Committee: the, proposed Committee would have- to deal with a very much wider range of subjects, and he rather doubted whether it would be practicable to get in a Committee of that kind so authoritative a body as we had got in the Imperial Shipping Committee. Need for Separate Representation of Colonies. Mr. Ormsby-Gore thought a Committee of this sort could be: of great value to the colonies and protectorates ; for instance, in marketing, the colonies could not afford agents in this country, and this Committee could be of great assistance to them in the many difficulties they were up against in marketing their produce. He hopeel the- Conference woulel agree to a separate representation of the colonies and protectorates apart from the British Government. This was the opinion of the unofficial commercial community ; and if the colonies were to play their part in the development of the Empire, they must, have the, assistance of the unofficial world, and their opinion must be allowed more weight. With so many colonies there would be a difficulty in representing them on a Committee. He suggested that there should be a panel, on the; lines of his unofficial Advisory Committee, who would appoint the member most concerned to attend each separate discussion. After further discussion, the resolution was adopted by the; Conference, the Canaelian representative, howcve;r, dissenting. The Constitution of the Committee. The epiestion of the constitution of the Committee: and the representation upon it of the various Governments concerned was brought up at the Twenty-second Meeting of the Conference on Thursday, the Bth November, 1923, when it was agreed that the Dominions and Inelia should each be represented by two members, no rule being laid down as to whether the members should be Government officials or non-official persons. It was further agreed that Great Britain shoulel be represented by four members, one of whom, the: Chairman explained, would be a Government official, and the others representative persons of outside knowleelge and experience— e.g., agricultural, manufacturing, or mercantile and financial. The colonies and protectorates, it was agreeei, should be represented by one official and one non-offielal, who should change in accordance with the subject under discussion. As regards the expenses of the Committee, it was agreed that it was not necessary for the Conference to come to any decision, at any rate, for the present. The- Chairman said that it was not proposed to make the setting-up of the: Committee in any way conditional upon contributions being forthcoming from the: various constituent Governments. It might, no doubt, be better in the: longrun that it should happen that the various Governments interested in the Committee should be prepared to contribute towards it ; but he was not going to make the: appointment of the Committee, or ask the Conference: to make the, appointment of the Committee, in any way contingent upon there being pro rata contributions towards it. Adoption of Resolution. The decisions of the Conference on this subject were accordingly as follows. It was decided to adopt the, following resolutions : — That in the opinion of this Imperial Economic Conference (Canada dissenting)— 1. It is desirable: to establish an Imperial Economic Committee, comprising representatives of the Governments represented in the Imperial Conference, and responsible to those Governments. 2. The function of the Committee should be to consider and advise upon any matters of an economic or commercial character, not being matters appropriate to be dealt with, by the imperial Shipping Committee, which are referred to it by any of the constituent Governments, provided that no question which has any reference to another part of the Empire may be referred to the Committee without the; cemsent eif that other part of the Empire.