A.—7.

There are other questions of a technical nature which will also claim our attention. In particular, questions of air communications have grown greatly in interest and importance since the last Conference, and some aspects of these' will demand our consideration. We can, I suggest, apply to these technical problems the principle of partnership on an equal basis which has been applied so fruitfully to the organization of scientific research and the dissemination of its results. Much useful work in this direction has been done by the special Conferences of Commonwealth representatives which have met in recent years. It is said that all scientific problems can best be attacked in the " team " spirit by a band of collaborators working together in the same field, and I submit that what is true of the collaboration of individuals is true also of the collaboration of governments. Conclusion. Let my last word be this: In all. human relationships, whether of individuals or of States, co-operation is most fruitful when it is based, as that of the peoples of the British Empire is based, upon mutual loyalty and trust. It is in circumstances such as these that steady progress towards ultimate success is ensured by free discussion in an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding. And in achieving this we may give to the peoples of this distracted world a proof that combined work amongst nations is as possible as it is in the everyday experience of the social life of each one of us. Whatever be the nature of our problems, whether they relate to international and political questions, or are of a technical and scientific character, I am confident that we shall be able to find the solution of them through co-operation in unity of purpose under the Crown, which is at once the symbol of our partnership and the focus of our common loyaJty. STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA. The Right Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King: It is my happy privilege to express appreciation of the welcome which you, Prime Minister, have extended to the delegations from overseas, a welcome as kindly in feeling as it was felicitous in expression. If any of us felt strangers in this old land, we should now feel more than at home. Tribute to His Late Majesty King George V. I should like to associate the people of Canada, as well as my colleagues and myself, with the sentiments expressed by the Chairman of the Conference in the reference he has made to His late Majesty King George V. The late King greatly endeared himself to all his peoples, but to none more than to the people of Canada. We remember with gratitude his unfailing efforts to advance the well-being of all his realm, and to promote friendship and peace among all nations. In the period of unprecedented conflict and change which coincided with his reign, the Nations of the British Commonwealth were indeed fortunate in having so wise and so good a king. His essential humanity and the character of all his public utterances brought us together as members of a great family. His conception of empire was always proclaimed in terms of the loyalties of the home and the affections of family life. In everything King George strove for the unity and goodwill of all parts of the Empire. In concord and co-operation he saw the means of bringing about peace not only between the nations, but between classes and creeds, and within the economic order. In him, Monarchy and Democracy became united in serving the common needs of man. Tribute to the late Sir Austen Chamberlain. Meeting once more in Imperial Conference, I may be permitted also to refer to the loss the British Empire suffered in the death a few weeks ago, of Sir Austen Chamberlain. Many present have listened to him in public and in private, in London and in Geneva, discussing the problems of foreign policy with sureness, simplicity, and straightforwardness, and we recognize what a force for international goodwill has been lost to the world. Changes since the 1923 Imperial Conference. As I look around this table I am impressed by the many changes which have come about since I first attended an Imperial Conference in 1923. You, Prime Minister, occupied the chair that year, as well as in 1926. It is a source of particular pleasure to me, as I know it is to all present, that this Conference also is to have the benefit of your wide knowledge and sympathetic understanding of Commonwealth affairs. I recall that the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and the Secretary of State for Air were present at some of the meetings of the Conference cf 1923. But of the delegates on that occasion from India and the Dominions, only Mr. Bruce and I are present to-day. General Hertzog, Mr. Havenga and Mr. Lapointe were with us at the Conference of 1926. General Hertzog and Mr. Havenga and Mr. Fourie have attended Conferences since then, but nearly all the other delegates, at least from outside Britain, are to-day sitting in an Imperial Conference for the first time. It is not only in personnel that change is apparent. The Irish Free State, whose delegates took part in their first Imperial Conference in the year to which I have referred, is not represented here to-day. I am sure we all trust that this is only a temporary situation, and that future Conferences may benefit by the distinctive contribution to their discussions, of the Free State representatives, as did those of 1923 and subsequent years.

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