How is. each part , of the Empire to make its
voice heard in foreign affairs without encroaching upon the prerogatives of the Dominion Parliaments ? An all- Empire Parliament is out of the question. Dominion sentiment would never consent to transfer any of the powers of any Dominion to a body in Westminster. The ideal solution would appear to the writer to be an annual Imperial Conference, attended by the Empire's Premiers, to meet every second year in London and in the intervening years in one of the Empire's other capitals. There is no reason, save that of distance, why, once in a decade, the Imperial Conference should not meet at Ottawa, Canberra, Dublin, Wellington and St. John's, with great advantage to all concerned. The suggestion is, however, open to the criticism that Prime Ministers, in these days of small majorities—and curiously enough the Governments of Canada, Australia and New Zealand have only narrow margins—cannot absent themselves so frequently for three or four months from their own coun- tries ; in the case of Australia and New Zealand nine or ten weeks must be allowed for travelling alone. The linking-up of the Empire by a reliable and efficient air service in the future would, to a great extent, remove this difficulty.
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