THE NEW ZEALAND DINNER.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 184, 4 August 1913, Page 9

THE NEW ZEALAND DINNER.

A STJCCESSSTTL S3TTNIOH.

FACTORS OF EMPIRE. j LONDON, June 27. j The annual reunion of New Zealande.Ts lin London took place ax the Trocadero ; Restaurant. Piccadilly, last night, and j some two hundred and twenty souls dined ' and wined, smoked and gossiped trader the 'genial presidency 01 the Hon. Thomas [.Mackenzie. A big dinner on a sultry ! n:prht in -lunr is not always an enjoyable funrtion. but in spite of the fact "that | there was a rather too lengthy flow of j poit-prandi-al oratory, and an entire absence of vocal musical interludes, the ( seventeenth annual Xew Zealand dinner ' mu>t be voted a srrecess.

' One agreeable- innovation was a break !in rhe toast list for an interval for eonj versation, but the interval mi.sht with ; advantage have been extended at the 1 expense of the oratorical solos which ' followed.

We. of course, were called upon first to do honour to the usual ioyal toasts, propositi by the chairman, a-nd then. Ixird Emmott, V.V.. Undersecretary of -State for the Colonies, proposed '• The Dominion of Now Zealand." Hp had. as h* confessed, a somewhat, difficult task in speaking nf Xew Zealand, bnt lie succeeded in saying many thinprs that fell pleasantly on the ears of hi* audiTOCC First of all lie alluded to England's pride in her oversea dominions, and her e-speoial sympathy with New Zealand. He drew attention to the. creocrraphira! features which are common to both fount He*, hut {prvc Maoriland. pride, of place for the. crrande.ur of ho.r see-nerr, and raised a laughing protest by referring to the similarity f>f climate in toe Old Ccmntrv and the new.

Of course. Lord Emmott brought in whit may be called "'the Dreadn-oufrht touch." "hut this did not <?vo*kp the cheers it does at featherings of English people. Truth to tell. New Zenlanders seem rather tired of. having t.hi-> particular patriotic action brought out for admiration on every possible occasion. His lordship also made reference to the Hon. James Allen's visit, and to New Zealand's offer to provide a continent of troops for service outside "the Dominion if necessity should arise. This, he declared, was a striking example of the determination of New Zealand to be one with the Motherland in "weal trr ■woe. Lord Emmott had a, sly dig at the High Commissioner during his concluding , remarks. He observed that whilst one might say anything in reason about New Zealand, it was quite unsafe to say a word against Scotland m -the. presence of out chairman.

In the course of his speech the High Commissioner pointed out that the Dominion U advancing rapidly in every poesiHp way, and that never were its prospects brightpr than at thr present, time. As regarded the futu-re ho feltsure that given certain factors, the results would be quite equal, and probably better, than tho=e already achieved. Tn all developing businers-fps or States it was recognised that if they were in retain their position, relative to others, capital and men wore essential tn carry operation-. The: lime was past f-r depending entirely upon the accumulations of profits to provide the means for uovrt-oprcvent i» kci»p:njr vrith t lie world*-? competition. Population and capital. therefore, -Tr-crn..absolutely necessary in End and thrre was n pfptliora At* both. New Zealand suffered from x paucity of each.

Taking fir , .*'; the matter nf incrra,=rrl rnr ra,a t't> n - Naturally the OM Country did not e-xpect only the. hest, of her people to go abroad: whilst Now Zealand, on the ofchoT 'hand, desired thn lio«t. But, apa-Tt from this, it sh-ould bo possible for a wf>ll-thorj;jb.t-_out. plan to hn adapted for rrtilising- much labour that is at present value-less, and also -fo-r training the young. He 'believed that the overseas pos=pssions could -he fjiormously helped they to unite with thn Govcmmont of the Mother Country in establishing training institutions" tjo which conld be. sent children that are at present regarded, rather as an encumbrance than as a valuable asset to the Em.]|ire. Philanthropic instatntSons were doing much, but he felt that a ■wider baste was necessary. Take New Zealand as a case in point. Agricultnre was the chief industry. If the lands were to be opened up and cultivated more extensively, more trained labour ■was required. His idea was that there ought to be farms established for de-moTLstra-tion, expprirmmt and training. The advanced scientific knowledge of the Old Tjand should be nvalla.bte, and the country to which the trained youth purposed going should have its practical representative also instructing. By this means the youth would he first trained to be of value to 'himseif; secondly, ids services ■would be <?agt>rly sought for in either the State or the dominion; and. thirdry, he. Would constitute a. profit to the Empire.

As regards capital, he proceeded, it was essential for the development of the overseas possessions that money for that purpose should be forthcoming, and undoubtedly from every point of view yonr own possessions should receive marked preference. Economic borrowing, like mercy, "was twice blessed." Tf the great development that had taken place in British trade w;is :-tudied it would be seen that the vast bulk of it was with our own people. Every extra colonist in New Zealand meant £7 10/ p° r a.nnmn trade to Britain, whereas every person going to the United States of America or the Argentine meant only 2/6 to 5/ British trade. Every million pounds spent in development works in British possessions meant pounds increase in value to British trade as against pence if spent in foreign countries. The increased trade coming to the Old Land directly benefited manufacturers, financiers, aTid workers, so he cUimed that economic borrowing, like mercy, '""btesscth him that srives and him that takes."

i In conclusion Mr Mackenzie said:— "'3ly friend Lord Emmott is about to begin -what will be an epoch-making mission. He and his Parliamentary friends are about, as you know, to visit the great territories over which he has especial care. They are going to learn something of the Empire which the Imperial Parliament controls. 11" people are to govern well they must possess a \>ersonal knowledge oi" their territory and people. ■What do they know of Empire who only Kngland knowV 1 am sure that Lard limmott will return with a wider ImI periaJ conception and ideal after beholdi ing something of the vastness of the j regions-, their populations ;>.nd interests.' .

To Sir .Montajrue Nelson, one of the "old stagers'' at Anglo-Colonial gatherings, fell the task of proposing the quests. The Hon. IV. P. Eeeves returned thanks for the visitors. He raised many a laugh by his genial whimsicalities at the expense of the absent High Commissioner for Australia, whose place he filled quite adequately as an after-dinner speaker, even if he could not, as he indicated, hope to fill it in another sense. Mr Reeves has no need to pray for his '"too solid fiesh' , to melt, for be has not even the faintest symptoms of being in the way of emulating the rotundity of the Australian High Commissioner. But he can. like Sir George, make a merry speech, indeed, as after-dinner speakers in the lighter vein wo have few men in Kngland who can tickle the ears of audi ence.s with more effect than these physical opposite*.

The chairman's toast concluded L'jf proceedings shortly after 10.30 p.m., but the company lingered long over the breaking np process.

Who -was there? Well, almost everybody who is anybody in the Anglo-N.e.«-Zealand circle and some others. Tbenwere, as already stated, some. 2"20 dinerf, and the maiority were either New Zealanders or gentlemen deeply interested commercially or otherwise in the Dominion.