During the summer a special Conference was held in London, attended by ministers from all the Dominions. Mr M'Kenna, while {307} repeating the orthodox Admiralty view that considerations of strategy favoured a single navy, now recognized that other considerations had to be taken into account, and that 'room must be found for the expression of national sentiment.... While laying the foundation of future Dominion navies to be maintained in different parts of the Empire, these forces would contribute immediately and materially to the requirements of Imperial defence.' No wonder that the London _Times_ congratulated Australia and Canada 'on their achievement in having at last educated the Admiralty up to their own point of view.' Unfortunately the convert was soon to backslide, but for the present hearty and ready aid was given in establishing the Dominion naval policy. Australia agreed to form a distinct fleet unit, consisting of a large armoured cruiser, three unarmoured cruisers, six destroyers and three submarines, with auxiliary ships. Canada, not an island like Australia or Great Britain, had two seaboards to protect, ten thousand miles apart. The Canadian representatives, therefore, while agreeing that a second fleet unit in the Pacific would be desirable in the future, requested suggestions, which were given, for the expenditure, first, of {308} an equivalent and, second, of a lesser amount on two squadrons. When the Canadian parliament met in January 1910 Sir Wilfrid Laurier submitted the Naval Service Bill, which provided for the establishment of fleets according to the plan finally approved by the Admiralty. The ships were to be under the control of the Dominion Government, which might, in case of emergency, place them at the disposal of the Admiralty, summoning parliament to ratify such action. The bill was passed in March. In the autumn the cruiser _Niobe_ (11,000 tons) and the _Rainbow_ (3600 tons), purchased from the Admiralty, reached Canadian waters, where they were to serve as training-ships. Recruiting for these ships was begun and, while not speedy, was reported by the department as satisfactory. The Halifax and Esquimalt dockyards were taken over. Early in 1911 a Naval College was opened at Halifax; and in May tenders were received, ranging from eleven to thirteen millions, from six British and Canadian firms, for the construction, in Canada, of four Bristol cruisers, one Boadicea cruiser, and six destroyers. In June (1911), at the Imperial Conference in London, agreement was reached as to the boundaries {309} of the Australian and Canadian stations. The naval services of the two Dominions were to be 'exclusively under control of their respective governments'; but in time of war any fleet or ships placed at the disposal of the British Government by the Dominion authorities would 'form an integral part of the British fleet and remain under the control of the Admiralty during the continuance of the war.' Training