§ Sir J. NORTON-GRIFFITHSasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies 2945W whether he will consider the advisability of a system whereby civil servants in his Department may be interchanged for a period of years with those in the Dominions and Crown Colonies in order to ensure that the same have a practical and personal knowledge of the Empire and the needs of its various component parts?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREAs regards the self-governing Dominions, the matter was discussed at the Imperial Conference of 1911. A proposal for interchange of civil servants was modified, after discussion, into one for periodical exchange of visits, and a Resolution in favour of such exchange was carried. This Resolution has already been acted on in several cases, and will, I hope, be followed in future. As regards the Colonies, the question is being considered in connection with the Report of my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Education on his visit to the West Indies.