1512 IMPERIAL UNITY [PART VIII 
by the Prime Minister to be impossible in practice : there 
were 27,000 papers a year to be dealt with, of which 1,000 
must go before the political head of the office, and no Prime 
Minister could face the duty. Sir J. Ward also withdrew 
his proposed change of the title of the Secretary of State.! 
The Conference then discussed the question of the inter- 
change of civil servants which was brought forward by 
Sir Joseph Ward,? viz. ‘ That it is in the interests of the 
Imperial Government and also of the Governments of the 
overseas Dominions, that an interchange of selected officers 
of the respective Civil Services should take place from time 
to time with a view to the acquirement of better knowledge 
for both services with regard to questions that may arise 
affecting the respective Governments. Mr. Harcourt sym- 
pathized with the view that there should be greater mutual 
knowledge, but he dealt upon the difficulties which lay in the 
way of a formal interchange of civil servants. If, however, 
any Dominion Government sent over representatives and 
attached them to the High Commissioners’ Office, they 
would be given full facilities to become acquainted with the 
work of the different public departments. Similarly, mem- 
bers of the Colonial Office had been attached to the staff of 
the Governors-General of the Union of South Africa, the 
Dominion of Canada, and the Commonwealth of Australia, 
and the Colonial Office would have the advantage of their 
knowledge and experience when they returned, while visits 
had been paid to some of the Dominions by Sir Charles 
Lucas and Mr. Just. He would be glad also to afford any 
further assistance possible to the Dominion Governments. 
Mr. Batchelor for the Commonwealth of Australia accepted 
the view of Mr. Harcourt, and the resolution wag therefore 
adopted with the substitution of © visits ’ for the proposal 
of interchange. 
* The dislike to the word Colony as applied to self-governing dominions, 
though real (cf. Ewart, The Kingdom Papers, pp. 20-2, and Mr. Lynch’s 
successful blocking of a Governor’s Pension Bill which used the term in 
1911), is not very intelligible to Englishmen, and de facto Dominion Ministries 
constantly use it. Dominion has no adjectival equivalent. 
* Ibid., pp. 194-6.