In forests and fish the Dominions abound, and possess enormous
possibilities of extended trade.
Conservation and Development of Natural Resources in the Future
This subject received our earnest attention. We considered that the
various Governments of the Empire should take steps to secure the
development and utilisation of their natural wealth on a well considered
scheme, and that to do this, a preliminary survey was needed of the
relation between Empire production and Empire requirements. No such
survey, as far as we knew, had yet been undertaken, but in the
_Memorandum and Tables relating to the Food and Raw Material Requirements
of the United Kingdom_, which we submitted to His Majesty in 1915, the
Commission had made an effort, not without some measure of success, in
this direction. We regarded it as vital that the Empire's supplies of
raw material and commodities essential to its safety should be, as far as
possible, independent of outside control, and made suggestions which
aimed at effecting this object. We recommended that the survey mentioned
above should be made by an Imperial Development Board, which should be
entrusted with the whole subject.
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