§ Mr. WALTER LONGMay I ask the Prime Minister whether he has any statement to make with regard to the Conference on Military and Naval Defence, and whether the report of the proceedings of that Conference will be submitted to the House?
§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Asquith)I am much obliged to the right hon. Gentleman for putting this Question, and I must ask the indulgence of the House if my statement in reply exceeds the limits of an ordinary answer.
The Conference, which has just concluded its labours, was convened under the terms of Resolution 1 of the Conference of 1907. In the invitation sent by His Majesty's Government at the end of April to the Governments of the Dominions, it was stated that the object of the Conference would be to discuss the general question of Naval and Military Defence of the Empire, with special reference to recent proposals from New Zealand and Australia, and to the Resolution passed on 29th March by the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada. It was further stated that the Conference would be of a purely consultative character, and that it would be held in private. It follows that all Resolutions come to and proposals approved by the Conference which has now been held, must be taken, so far as the delegates of the Dominions are concerned, to be ad referendum, and of no binding force unless and until submitted to their various Parliaments.
I should add, in special reference to the delegates from South Africa, that they did not feel themselves in a position, in regard to either naval or military defence, to submit or to approve positive proposals until the Union of South Africa was an 2311 accomplished fact. With this preface I will briefly summarise the main conclusions of the Conference in regard, first to Military, and next to Naval Defence.
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- MILITARY DEFENCE. 338 words cc2312-3
- NAVAL DEFENCE. 537 words