Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1936. AN IMPORTANT VISIT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 25, 9 November 1936, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1936. AN IMPORTANT VISIT.

Though the Marquess of Hartington comes with no speciaL mission from the British Government, his visit to New Zealand cannot fail to have ultimate benefit to the Dominion. This benefit will not be confined to that arising directly out of the informal discussions on State affairs that he expects to have with the Government. Brief as his tour unfortunately is, he will, by personal contact with representative men in many walks of life, obtain a degree of insight into New Zealand ideals and conditions that he could not otherwise hope to attain, and the knowledge thus gained will be of the utmost value in the discharge of his duties as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs. The desirability of members of the British Government having personal knowledge of the overseas units of the Empire was recently stressed by Viscount Bledisloe, and happily on the return of Lord Hartington he will be able to collaborate with a chief who has had the same advantage, for it is not long since Mr Malcolm MacDonald was a welcome visitor to these shores. Though under the Statute of Westminster the political relationship of the Dominions with the Mother Country has changed considerably from the system under which the various units developed, the connection is most vital, calling for the exercise of broad statesmanship and sympathetic understanding on the part of those who are entrusted with the duty of maintaining the laiason. In his speech at the State luncheon tendered to him in Wellington, Lord Hartington said it was inspiring to see how the self-governing nations of the British Commonwealth were growing closer almost daily in their relations with the country from which they sprang.. This is due largely to the tact and ability with which holders of the responsible portfolios in the British Ministry have met their responsibilities during recent years. The Colonial policy of Brtiain in days gone by was open to grave criticism,- but the mistakes and blunders that marred that policy were due in large measure to the fact that the handicap of distance rendered actual conditions overseas scanty and not reliable. The advance in means of communication, both of travel and of information, played a decisive part in changing the outlook of British statesmen. With the presentday facilities for rapid travel frequent opportunity arises for ministers to visit the Dominions. Lord Hartington is therefore welcomed both on his own account and on the expectation that his action, following the example of some of his predecessors in office, will encourage the tendency to regard personal acquaintance of the more important parts of the Empire as an essential for the successful conduct of the important department of State that is particularly concerned.