5 JUNE 1926, Page 10

Owing to the coal crisis and the general strike, the

West -India Conference, whose deliberations have • just closed, has not received as much attention in the London Press as it deserved. Never before have the British West Indies—including British Guiana and British Honduras—been represented in London by so important a delegation as has been meeting in a room at the House of Lords. The Report of the Conference is now being drafted, and I understand that one of its recommenda- tions is the establishment of a permanent Conference of leading men representing British West Indian interests which would be to the West Indies what the Imperial Conference is to the Empire as a- whole. Whether an ultimate Federation of the British West Indies is feasible is open to question, but the closer co-operation which would result from a permanent Conference would be a decided advance. Sir Edward Dayson, who has presided, has done excellent work both for the West Indies and for the Empire. The Spectator has often pointed out the need for better representation of West Indian interests. -