SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 149, 23 June 1906, Page 7

SIR JOSEPH WARD.

« ARRIVAL IN LONDON. \ DEPRESSIONS OF THE POSTAL CONGRESS. FITUKE OF THE PENNY POST. (From Our Special Correspoaflent.) LONDON. May 10. cjt Joseph Ward arrived in Condon to Thursday night, having come direct from Rome. The Postal Congress was ,s+jll sitting when he left Home, but is to complete its. work to-day, after which comes a break of a few days for tbe preparation of the documents for Bgnattne. Mr. l!«-n. Wilson, his private Secretory- accompanied Sir Joseph on the journey from Home. Lady Ward and tier daughter Kilcoii had left Koine v week „ fj, previously to \ i-.it Switzerland, ihe Rhine, and Paris, after being joined B t Koine by the ivo cldc.-t sons. Messrs. -md Vincent Ward. The whole party met oeaiu in I'nris on Thursday, and after an hours wait, mine on by; ihe express to London, reaching Victoria \ at 10,-ti'i p.m. They were met ut the station by the Hicrli t ommissionor and several nieniinr of ' i- stall. A suit,' of rooms li.is been engaged lor i lie party j n Queen Anne's Mansions. St. .lames' Pirlc. am! here ye-terd.iv afternoon I j had the pleasure m greeting Sir Joseph 1 Want, and dNni.-siiiSf wi'.h him the part Uken tiy New Zealand in the World's Postal longrcs at Home. ! found him very confident :<s to the future of universal penny postage, despite ihe defeat ijl _ lv's motion iii i lie Congrc.-s. The Kite ot Sir Joseph's motion for : taiirersal penny postage appears to have J leen largely influenced by tlie attitude of Great Britain at the 'Congress. "If Great Fritatn bud voted for my motion,'' said Sir Joseph. "India and Can- 1 ! sdit would have voted i ,r it, and the Transvaal and Orange Free Mute would have also support,',l ii. though they are now merged into tin- South African delegation. Egypt. Aim m tin. and the Tinted States voter! for it. Ji was understood, shortly alter I reached Home, that the instructions of the ltritir.h delegation I were t" vote ai/emst my motion, and 1 Canada's instructions were to follow Great rlritain. Japan, i -,o. would have voted fnr the motion had Cre.it J'ritain i dor,:' so. America, wa.s gi. ing to oppose the motion :;t first, inn c\ fiitiuilly gave its support and it- -~,-,.. The vmingwas by countries, not b> the number oi delegates. Sixty-two countries were represented, and of these IT nb-tainid lioiu I voting on my motion, ini-bidintr C.'roat Britain. Japan. India. Souih Africa, and Canada. On tin: other hand. America. Egypt. Australia, ami N, ,«,- Zealand, representing iv round numbers I.m millions of people, -ill v<.f.-d for liie motion. "Now, see whit that mean-,, threat Britain has. <;,\ . 1(1 millions ~( people, Japan 10 millions. indi:i has :;oii millions. 7| and, although the great bulk of il>p-.e arc coloured race*, they count in tlie | postal world, l,ocn use by a system of farthing post cards ihe postal service | readies the very pror .--, clion of the population; so that from a postal point of view il is quite proper In count in •| India's 300 million.-. Canada Ims i-ix roilI lions, iini Australia and New Zealand I combined another s i v million-. That 1 means a total of :N2 millions, which, add- | nl in the I") iriillinns p nfeVented by the j (countries who voted for the motion. j i'ives a prund total < i over ."jtl'.i millions I c.f people—more than half Ihe population 1 of the including China. ';| '-lii-re. then, is the position. The fart j of America, Egypt. Su.-traLia. anil New 1 Zealand all supporting the proposal for I Universal penny postage, opens the door H to a restricted agreement between Ameriiu and England, which they are H entitled to establish under the j'o-tcil | Union Conveutiun. ITiey could inaugurate penny postaue between these- two great nation-. I wrote back to New Zealand a.-king the Ooverninent to urge that view upon the i'ost rnastf r-tjencral at Washington, and I also hope t,, s-e<-the President uf the Cuiled Mat's on j my way home. America has already go. a. restricted agreempiH giving penny , postage between ( unauu and ihe I i.iti-il Cnited Si.ite.-. If we could yei A.mcri'a. j and Enjrland to carry out ;i similar agreeM toent, then for a. certainty (Jermany and America would liave to do t.he same, if only for commercial purposes. Aud that simply means breaking through the barrier erected by this adverse vote at the Postal Congress. 11. would U; a hi- step toivard> the unh-er-al system. ">>j thai, ultlioncii the motion w ls lost at. the Postal Congress. I am .pule certain that a very great movement tom wanis the consummation of a iinivers.il system of postase has been achieved. It is my firm i-onviction that the countries Who opposed n;v motion cannot stand M nut very lon-- I am loiite <-ertain of it. ■ One thing that told agam-J. the success if the motion was f.:i:il oniv this year. H on April m. 1-r.inr-e e.st:ibif.siip-J internal M Penny postage, involving a p:re-,cnt lo>s of ! ' <mc million francs in revenue. France I was afraid her po«t:.l service could nor stand another |„.s n ~f revenue so soon: but she will rind as v.c found that: the recovers- of revenue is fio nipid that this | internal penny postage will, a,-, we hope, art as a stimulus tuwnrd.s the nnivenul system." The other matter most clasely nfl'ei fj H' Ne w Zealand at the Congress was Sir 3eserh Ward's proposal that Now Zealand should have ;,. separate vote in the j Postal Union, instead of being: merged «« the..:Au:,ti-aliarj detegttion as at present.* "The proposal for a separate vote was carried by a. majority of two after a very hard fhilu indeed." said teir Joseph. It was thrown cut by a majority of *hrce in CrainJ Committee ten j days before, ami th,- linind Committee under ordinary .oridiiions rules the Con- " H - rps - I was urged not lo invite a t;-to n ,| ,i„f,... 1t |,y bi-iiiMing up the moI *'<m agnin ben,,-.. ,;„. ,'uil Conpres=s. l-itt 1 brought it up holes--. Vo-,entecu j enuntries abstained ir.-m voting, and the ddceaten of th -ouufries were ab- "*' Tt - la the cud m\ motion v.u.s earby I WO Kilm, "The efl'ee, <~ lhia ;, U) „ Ui , Nl . w y,,.^. ■ wml the Kame positiun in the Postal nion iU eithei Kntduiid or Cei.uanv. -'■■n-eimih New Zealand will be looked Jipon as a separate imtion in the Postal «mon. with the right lo be represented

at all Congresses by a delegate with full powers equal to those of any other delegate there. At this present Congress Australia.and New Zealand had to j vote as one, and any representations New Zealand has wished to make has had to be made through either Australia or Great Britain. Now that is all altered. Everything will be done direct through the International Postal Bureau, aud we have our independent position secured. It is a very material gair indeed." Speaking of the opposition encounter- l ed from some of tho foreign delegates at the Congress, Sir Joseph said there ap- | peared to be a disposition on their part to regard themselves as diplomas rather | than as postal deleß-.J-.es. They were | afraid the balance, of power would be | thrown towards Great. Britain. "I told i them," said Sir Joseph, "that if we were authorised to discuss political matters ! touching the national sentiment of oiu respective countries that theory woulc be all right, but as a matter* of fact i we were there as delegates for the Go- j vemment of the postal world only, aud j there should be no such thing as oni country endeavouring to obtain an ad vantage at. the expense of another. The whole object of the Congress was to work for uniformity and the smoothing) away of difficulties. j •'The motion to give New Zealand an I independent vote was very determinedly j opposed by Germany. Hungary and l France. The German delegate delivered three speeches in succession against it. I The motion was carried by (wo votes.) and when the result was declared I de- > livcred a speech iv French just to show j 1 was quite alive to the situation (the whole discussion had taken place in French). It *as a very short speech— the shortest on record in my experience. I said. T thank you from the bottom ol my heart!' "Personally, the foreign delegates were ] very friendly disposed towards us. They were carrying out the instructions they ; had received in voting against us. and ! though we carried our motion I think on j the whole, except in one or two eases, i the opposing delegates themselves were 1 pleased that New Zealand was allowed into the Postal Union as a full member.' , The chairman of the Congress pave n banquet to the delegates on the night hi lore tbe voting took place, and Sii .Toreph Ward gave another last Monday evening, after the victory in the niattei of tin' separate vote for New Zealand, i it was a rao'-t successful function, am" ended with nn amusing incident. Ir their excitable way n number of th< foreign delegates gathered round Si: Joseph- in the winter garden of thi hotel, and showed their appreciation b) trying to kiss' him. He assures mc. however, that he managed to escape this toe embarrassing honour. During his stay in Rome Sir Joseph was busy buying statuary for the New j Zetland Exhibition. He purchased urn imp marble statue of Pauline Borghosa | -ister of Napoleon, and also selected various other pieces both for the F.xhi bilion gardens and for the interior I Thr.se will go out in time for the openim , |of the exhibition. • l Sir Joseph will only spend about :: , I month in 'England. He intends to set M. Marconi and to inspect his end othei I systems of wireless telegraphy, and if In j has time lie will rti't across to Berlir !to look into the telephone system there I yie v. ill also put in a few days in Ireland and return to New Zealand via. San Francisco, calling at Washington en , route to see the President and the Ami erica n Postmaster General.. He will , : reach New Zealand three weeks alter | the opening of Parliament. Sir Joseph has l, u en elected an honorary member of the Carlton, the Reform and other clubs. The Manchester Corj ooration have invited him to a banquet ,to be held shortly in his honour, am : n,\t Tuesday he wiil probably be pre .-,-nl at Kilmarnock at the eelebratioi L .f ihe 100 th birthday of the father o Mr George Fowlds, M.H.R. •