The Imperial Conference The Imperial Press Conference in South Africa
came to an end last week with speeches by General Smuts and Major Astor. The proceedings of the Conference, the delegates to which have spent some months in South Africa, have, naturally enough, been reported with some fullness. If it served no other purpose, that publicity alone would justify this quinquennial event (previous conferences having been held in Britain, in Australia and in Canada). The meetings have been the occasion for some very frank speeches, amongst which that made by the Minister of Defence was notable. But beyond the more immediate issues, the value of the Conference should prove lasting for two reasons. Its inquirieS are likely to lead to improvements in the machinery for the transmission of news ; and secondly, those who return to their own countries with first-hand knowledge of Dominion problems are likely to stimulate in their own journals greater attention to Empire news. The reality of the Empire as a single unit depends in no small degree on the adequate day-to-day reporting of Imperial events.
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