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9 
which we endeavour to fulfil, both in our meetings and in the 
purposes of our Conferences, is to attempt to find out, if we 
can, better means of securing what we all desire. We 
meet under a sense of responsibility. Primarily we are 
responsible to our own Parliaments. We meet with the full 
knowledge that our actions, our suggestions, our speeches, 
may be subjected to the criticism of those who are 
responsible for sending us there. But I venture to say 
that we also meet with an added sense of responsibility 
in the realisation of that great conception,—that we are 
members of a great Commonwealth; that, in addition to the 
responsibilities we feel to those who are primarily responsible 
for placing us in our present positions, we owe a great 
responsibility to that great organisation which we, in our 
several capacities, are endeavouring to represent. Meeting 
as we do, with that full sense of responsibility, we trust that 
by the result of our deliberations we shall be able materially 
to contribute, not merely to the welfare and well-being of one 
or other portion of the Dominions, but by joint action we shall 
be able to contribute to the increased prosperity of the 
Empire. Above all, if I may refer for one moment to the 
eloquent speech which we have just heard from His Highness 
—(Cheers)—we shall be able to add something to the solution 
of those problems, and help to bring a happier and a better era 
to a war-torn and distracted world. (Cheers.) Last night, 
at a great Banquet, the American Ambassador, Mr. Harvey, 
a keen, an appreciative, and I venture to think a very friendly 
observer—(Hear, hear)—stated that he had experience, when 
he first came to London, of an Imperial Conference. This 
Conference which is now meeting is the second one which he 
had occasion to see meet in London. I am not quoting his 
exact words, but I think I am giving the full sense of them 
when I state that he said that the representatives of the 
Overseas Dominions had come to this Conference with 
a greater measure of confidence. I believe that that comment 
is a justifiable one. Why is that the case, if it be true, as 
I believe it is—that the representatives of the Overseas 
Dominions have come with a greater confidence? Itis,I believe, 
because they share that responsibility. (Hear, hear.) They 
know that they have the people of their own Dominions 
behind them, and they have come with a full and deliberate 
intention, not merely of dealing with matters affecting their 
own Dominions, but with the desire of contributing their 
share to the solution, economic, social, and political of the many 
other problems with which we find ourselves faced. (Cheers.) 
If I may for one moment depart from generalities and refer 
to a special occasion, I should like to say that I certainly