Oct, 19.
There was a most impressive prelude to the Imperial Conference this morning at Westminster Abbey, where the Prince of Wales, in the presence of Mr. Stanley Baldwin, the British Prime Minister and the etaer Empire Premiers of the Conference, members of the Cabinet, the Sea Lords and. high military officers, unveiled a_tablet presented by the War Graves' Commission in memory of one. million men of the Empire who fell in the Great War.
A short dedicatory service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, after which the Abbey was. opened to enable the public to file past the Memorial, and the members. lof the Conference repaired to Downing Street.
The tablet is to be placed in the Chapel of the Holy Cross, close to the Unknown Warrior's Grave Tribute to Malaya for Gift to Singapore Base Oct, 18.
The Imperial Conference opened] at 10 Downing Street this morning.
Public interest was shown by the large crowd in the street outside the Premier's residence.
The proceedings were tomial. Mr. Baldwin officially welcomed the delegates and, each, of the Dominion ference.' After welcoming the members, he paid a tribute to two men who' had made a great contribution {to the previous conferences, and whose deaths were deeply deplored by all, Mr. Massey, the late Premier of New Zealand and Lord Curzon, the tate Foreign Minister.
Tt had been suggested time afte ime, he said, that little was accom. plished. at these Imperial gatherings. Since the first. Col ference was held in 1887, less than 40 years had elapsed—not long in the history of a nation, much less of a great Commonwealth of nations. "Yet in that time how much had been accomplished?
In 1887 there was no Commonwealth of Australia, no Union of South Africa, no Trish Free State and no fall representation of India as it existed to-day. Apart from hardly any matters larger policy came before that Con ference, which was confined questions not, indeed without importance, but mainly of " secondary] Kind.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.