PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885
8
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE' BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC, COPYRIGHT, PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
142
of Appeal I should not be justified in taking up the time of this Conference with a similar result to that attained last year clearly in view. I do not, therefore, propose to go on with this matter unless there is on the part of any member of the Conference a desire to see further discussion, with a view to carrying out what seems to me the desirable object in view; and I do not intend to repeat the arguments, unless I see that there is any such intention, because I do not think it would be quite respectful to this Conference if were to do so.
Sir WILFRID LAURIER: So far as Canada is concerned, we do not see any reason to depart from the view arrived at by the Conference of which Sir Edmund Barton has spoken, and to express satisfaction with it as far as we are concerned.
Mr. SEDDON: The view taken by New Zealand is as was taken at the Conference in London and expressed by our representative. There might be some amendments in respect to the constitution of the Committee in dealing with Colonial cases, but on the general principle we agree on the existing copditions.
Sir EDMUND BARTON: Under the circumstances I will not press the matter at the present stage.
MERCHANT SHIPPING-UNIFORM LAWS THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE.
The SECRETARY OF STATE: Mr. Fuller, do you wish to say anything about Merchant Shipping?
Mr. FULLER: No; I have no instructions about the matter.
Mr. SEDDON: On that Merchant Shipping question was it not intended by Sir Gordon Sprigg to bring about uniformity in regard to Bills of Lading and Insurance ?
Mr. FULLER: I do not know.
Sir ALBERT HIME: I fancy it was intended to bring about uniform legislation in the Colonies to bring them more into line with the legislation of the Mother Country, as far as load-line is concerned, the accommodation for seamen, and a variety of other matters in which there are sundry restric- tions on British ships. I imagine that is what he means.
Mr. SEDDON: There is a serious grievance in our Colony, brought up at the Chambers of Commerce, in respect to Bills of Lading.
There is no uniformity, and the Colonial shippers are entirely at the mercy of some unscrupulous shippers; and the insurance companies, they, too, say that there ought to be uniformity, and I understood that their opinion had been sent on to the Board of Trade. I do not know whether Sir Gordon Sprigg was going to bring this up or not in order to deal with that phase of the question. If so, there is a good deal to be said.
Sir ALBERT HIME: Have not most colonies got the same laws as those of England with regard to shipping?
Mr. SEDDON: I think not. I think the Board of Trade here-if I remember right-some time ago at this last Conference, or since that, intimated that this was one of the questions that they urged upon the Colonies.
Mr. FULLER: As regards the certificates of captains and so on there is law in the Colony. You might send a ship along the coast in charge of a
143
man, yet he would not comply with the requirements of the Merchant Shipping Aot.
IMPERIAL STAMP CHARGES ON COLONIAL BONDS.
The SECRETARY OF STATE: The the Government of the Common- wealth put down "Imperial stamps charges on Colonial Bonds."
Sir EDMUND BARTON: In respect to that, I have not succeeded in obtaining the full information that I wanted before entering upon the subject. Therefore, I would ask to defer the subject for the present. I only want to say this much, that application has been made from time to time on behalf of the Colonial Governments for a remission of this charge which, however, the Imperial Government has not yet seen its way to grant. At the present moment I would ask that it should be taken into consideration in connection with the question of preference, because if the Imperial Government finds a difficulty in extending any substantial preference by way of Customs to the Colonies, and no doubt there must be a great difficulty in the way of that in some cases, then this might be one of those matters of a miscellaneous character in which some consideration should be given to the Colonies, and I put it no higher than that at the present moment. I shall address the Secretary of State subsequently upon it.
The SECRETARY OF STATE: Then I think that terminates our labours for to-day. What we have still to do is to deal in regard to the question of commercial relations.
Mr. SEDDON: What about the Notice of Motion respecting the Army and Navy supply contracts?
2
The SECRETARY OF STATE: I am to deal with that. What we have to deal with in regard to the question of commercial relations is with the definite proposals of Canada, and, to a certain extent, of Australia, and to decide hereafter whether we pass any general resolution. As I understand, Sir Wilfrid Laurier is to call a meeting of the Prime Ministers to discuss that privately before coming to the Conference again.
As regards Naval and Military Defence we have to conclude the private communications which have been going on and to report the result to the Conference, and we have also to deal with two kindred subjects, the question of Army and Navy Supply Contracts, Commissions in the Army and Navy, and uniformity of patterns of weapons; and I would propose-I could hope- that we might be able to deal with all those subjects at our next meeting and that that would conclude the proceedings of the Conference.
But before we meet again I would like, in the meanwhile, that the Prime Ministers should consider the question of publication. On previous occasions the Prime Ministers are aware we published certain speeches and papers which were laid before the Conference, but did not publish our discussions; we only published the resolutions at which we had arrived. Now, I confess that I regard these Conferences as not only being important in them- selves, but as being especially important as having an educative result in all the countries concerned-in the United Kingdom quite as much, perhaps as in the Colonies, and with that object I very much desire, and I think it would be wise that the whole of our proceedings should be published. I do not think that there is anything that any of us said in the course of these discussions which need hereafter be treated as confidential, although, of course, any correction which individual speaker
any migh wish to make, would, of course, be attended to; or any portion of his speech might be omitted, if, on further consideration, he would desire that that should be done. But, speaking generally, I think a corrected proof of our proceedings would be very valuable as an educational instrument, and I should be inclined to suggest, therefore, when we come to discuss the matter, that it should be published. I say that while I regard the proceedings of 84
176
2