IMPERIAL CONSIDERATIONS 185 



Ten years ago, in my book entitled Land Problems and 

 National Welfare, I urged the need for an " Imperial 

 Land Conservation and Development Board," and the 

 need for it is greater still to-day. 



There are manv people who would like to see a full- 

 fledged Imperial Parliament, but personally I do not 

 think it feasible ; the Dominion representatives would 

 find it almost impossible to keep in close touch with their 

 respective countries, and the Dominion legislatures would 

 be very jealous of any super-Legislature. 



And even if an Imperial Parliament were an accom- 

 plished fact, in all probability it would be in no way 

 better qualified to deal with economic problems than 

 the various existing Parliaments. 



An Imperial Conservation and Development Board 

 would be in an entirely diff"erent category ; its two main 

 functions would be to guide the flow of wealth, in the 

 form of human beings, to those parts of the Empire stand- 

 ing in greatest need of population ; and to guide wealth, 

 in the form of capital, into the channels which would 

 most benefit the Empire. It would in the widest sense 

 secure " patriotic finance," instead of the German Jew 

 system of finance which has held sway for so many 

 years and which has been often actually anti-imperial. 



This Board would have to possess certain executive 

 powers which would need to be carefully thought out ; 

 but as it would be the means of bringing further capital 

 for the development of their resources to the Dominions, 

 it is hardly likely that they would object to the proposal 

 were it put to them properly. 



The strongest objection to a new board or department 

 is, that wc are so overdone with departments, that there 

 would be at this moment the strongest opposition to the 

 formation of any new oflici.il Board. No doubt it woukl 



