A.—7.

you, Sir, as Chairman, and to your predecessor, Earl Baldwin, to Sir Maurice Hankey, as Secretary to the Conference, and to other officers for the valuable assistance rendered to delegates during our deliberations, and we warmly appreciate the goodwill that has been extended to us by the members of other delegations. I came to this Conference firmly convinced that a united British Commonwealth could bring about such a readjustment of the economic causes of war as to make international conflict highly improbable, and after listening for some weeks to the members of the various delegations I am more convinced now than ever before of the great part that can be played by the British Commonwealth. The old contest for the balance. of power in foreign affairs must not be allowed again to find a place in the deliberations of mankind, and further attempts to expand trade and renew the struggle for foreign markets without recourse to improved standards of life for the people must be abandoned. When I leave England, as I must in a few days, I will do so in the fervent hope that the British Commonwealth will do its utmost to give a lead to other nations before it is too late. We can if we will. I leave this Conference, then, with the inspiring thought that the British Constitution and the self-governing powers of the Dominions are sufficiently wide to allow us to return to our respective countries with a determination to play our full part in shaping the future of the British Commonwealth and its relationship to the rest of the world, and at the same time to work out our own destiny. STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA. General the Hon. J. B. M. Hertzog: Mr. Prime Minister, I shall leave this Conference with a feeling of great hope and confidence in the ultimate results of what we have been able to achieve. The resolution taken on international affairs testifies to the importance attached by the British Commonwealth of Nations to peace and the maintenance of peace, as the great object which we have set ourselves to realize in co-operation with the rest of the world. In the attainment of this high object of world appeasement, at this moment of great international tension, the mission of the Commonwealth stands clearly defined. Having thus championed the cause of international world peace we have, Mr. Prime Minister, assumed the onerous burden of so conducting ourselves in all matters pertaining to our task that any action which may be taken by us shall at once bear the proof of being inspired by what is required of us as trustees in the interest of the world and of humanity. If, therefore, our endeavours in the fulfilment of our great task are to be successful, the impartiality of our conduct will have to be above suspicion and our disinterestedness scrupulously maintained. The guardians of international world peace can have no favourites amongst the nations. In so far as we, as a Commonwealth, shall be able to prove ourselves true to this high conception of our duty and our mission, in a spirit of goodwill towards all nations, I have no doubt as to both our capacity and our competency for good during the years to come; nor as to the great and beneficent influence the British Commonwealth will be able to exercise in the maintenance of the peace of the world. The glory that once was has departed from war, and as an instrument of power and of acquisition, war as a policy is to-day more than ever before proving its own futility and being discredited. The moment is fast approaching when only as a measure of self-defence in the hour of despair will war be resorted to. Already, as is well known, the opinion that this should be so is prevailing generally in civil life throughout the civilized communities of the world. That at this moment in the history of the world the British Commonwealth of Nations should espouse the cause of world peace, and exercise its great influence and devote its energies on behalf of mankind, as it is doing, is something which may well inspire it with the feeling of a great and sacred mission. Having the utmost confidence in the success of this great mission of peace and in the whole-hearted devotion and goodwill of all concerned in it on the part of the British Commonwealth, I shall, as I have already said, leave this Conference with a feeling of great hope and assurance as to the future. Before concluding, I wish to express my great appreciation of the manner in which the work of the Conference has been managed and conducted, and of the thorough frankness with which discussions have taken place. At the opening meeting I expressed the hope that we shall each contribute his best so that we may achieve the best not only for our individual countries, but also for the Commonwealth and for the world at large. That our labours at this Conference were directed to that world-wide end more than at any previous Conference I have attended, can with truth be said; and I hope, Mr. Prime Minister, that the future will bear ample proof of the sincerity and good effect with which they have been so directed, 7—A. 7.

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