10

in their practical application. Official and non-official residents alike will have greater reason to regard the Commission as belonging to them and working for them, if it is located within the area, than if it is located at some distant point. Furthermore, it was observed that, in the case of the Caribbean Commission, the West Indian Conference of 1946 had reached the conclusion that, unless the Secretariat were established in the area, much of the value of the Commission's work would be lost. 32. The New Zealand delegation, therefore, suggested that the headquarters of the Commission should be located in Suva, Fiji, although, if evidence could be advanced to prove that some other place within the area was more suitable than Suva, New Zealand would have no objection to the choice of such an alternative site. 33. Objections to the selection of Suva were based on the grounds that a site such as Sydney could provide better accommodation, better research facilities, and a better climate. The New Zealand paper examined all these points and came to the conclusion that there was little to choose between Suva and Sydney in the matter of accommodation, since housing problems were world-wide and that, given a measure of priority and assistance from member Governments, there should be no major difficulty in this respect so far as Suva is concerned. With regard to climate, it was pointed out that Suva compared with many other tropical areas, is pleasant and healthy, and that most of the advances which have been made in solving the problems of tropical areas have resulted from the efforts of men living in the tropics. Reference was made to the work of such men as Dr Lambert and Dr D. W. Hoodless r as well as to that of the early missionaries. It was suggested that the advantage of the wider research facilities at Sydney could be gained if the Research Council were to meet in Sydney. 34. The New Zealand Paper, which was well received, played a large part in enabling the Committee to reach a decision in this respect, the final agreement being that the permanent site of the headquarters of the Commission and its auxiliary and subsidiary bodies should be located within the territorial scope of the Commission. The actual site is to be chosen by the Commission within six months after the agreement comes into force. 35. In the meantime, however, recognition of the existence of problems of accommodation led to agreement that temporaryheadquarters should be established in Sydney.