EMPIRE POLmCS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 203, 26 August 1913, Page 6

EMPIRE POLmCS.

OVERSEA VISITORS ARRIVE. A HITBB.IED VISIT. BRITISH M.IVS IN *TEW ZEALAND. Tlie British Parliamentary party which is visiting Australia at the invitation of the Commonwealth branch of the Umpire Parliamentary Association arrived in Auckland this morning, en route for Sjdflpy. The visitors being the gueels of the Australian members, and their time being limited, they cannot spend more than a few days in New i Zealand. They leave Auckland this j evening for Holonia. and then hurry on to Wellington, where thry catch the boat for Sydney. The idea of the visit grew out "of the courtesies that were extended to the party of Colonial Parliamentarians which went Dome for tlie. Coronation of the King, and it h hoped that it will be the first of many subsequent visile. Lord Bmnvott, Under Secretary of State for the Colonies since 1911, iis in charge of the party, and tho other members are the Right lion. Lord (who w particularly interested in educational matters), I'olonel Kir Edward Mildred Oarlile, Kir Stephen Collins, the Right Hon. Thomas Lough, the Right Hon. C\ R. Stuart- Wortley, X.1 , ., Musers. Will Orookt}, Arbhnr \V. Bltuik, Uanuir (ireenwood, Donald M.iomaster, X.C, Edgar Jones, D. V. Pirio, Arthur vSherweJl. l<l !•'. Mitchell, XX., iuid Mr. Howard d'EgvSllo (the lion. eccretftTy of the Association). The Inclim of the party are I-adv Eminott, l-jidy Carlile, Mies CarlUc, Lady Collins, Mjm. Lough, Miss Pirie, and Mrs. Shnrwell. Mr. Will CroolM will he well re.membe.reil in Auckland, which ho visited about four years ago, and Mr. Sherwcll. w.ho is an authority on economics mid social questions, has also viriiti'd the Colonies previously. The visitors were met at the wharf by tho Hon. 11. D. Hell (Minister for Internal Affaire), Mr. B. M. Wikson (General Manager of the Tourist Department), and others, and welcomed to New Zealand, afterwards Wing driven up to the- Town Hall, where they wero accorded ji public reception. CIVIC RECEPTION. WELCOME TO AUCKLAND. ENTHUSIASTIC GATHERING. A civic reception >-ie accorded the mombnrn of the Kmpiro Parliamentary Atwocmlion thw morning at the Town Hall. There wa* a large {fathering of reprcßcnLa'Uve citizens, including members of the City Council. <Uic lion. O. Kowldtf. M<*rir» A. M. -Mwra, MJ\, S. J. NxMran, A. Clark, .1. 11. Upton, G. J. Garland, YV. A. B«UU><\ T. W. Lew, H. Horton. K. C. Cutten. V. J. .StiUin'g, W. J. Napier. L. J. Ragnall, Alfred Kidd, Dr. Valinthie, Graves Aiekin. M, .F. Shcolian, A. Ros-ser, and other*. Representing the UoverrmieiH 'Ufre the Lion. 11. D. Udl I.Minister f-or internal Affaire) and B. M. Wilson ((•cnera-i Manager of tin* Tourist Department). The Hon. G. Jones, M.L.C., was also present. The Mayor (Mr C. .]. Parr), in welcoming the vir<+tora. <*-iid he felt pure that be w.irt voieHig t lie feelings of the population of Auck-land when he >«ikl tha>t they fi-it honoured «t tiro presence of suoh a <fwtingui--lif-d company of Eng-lish-men and KnglteSi women. The citizens ■of Auckland wero always glad to eec people from the Ifcrarekind, and particularly on such an occasion a« tho present, when they had nrFcm.bled to welcome peomU< of note and authority whose voicen were heard in high places. Seldom indeed had sneh a many-fiidod compiXiry t'hrae ehorve, for their visitors represented i-oroimcrce., the law, literature, politics, mid social questions. He believod that nuch a. tour n« tho party -was new undertaking would be not only 'beneficial to thcmnelvt*, but to •the countries they visited. They would he abJe bo gr> Home again and tell I.he truth about New Zealand, and would he lin « position to judgo «h to -whevther what they read in ■(She newspapers oaah morning abont the Dominion was quite the gospel every time. It ttjs to he regTefcted that their stay in New Zealand cwne to be euoh a fchori one. and he did not krmw -why the Hon. Mr Bell did not let them spend the whole four days in Aimklund. for ihe thought that Uroy 'would agree with him after having eeen the town of Auckland there wan nothing in New Zealand left to fvpe. (Laughter.) Prowcding. Mr Parr eaid that he tlrougfct t-hery "would find one or two outstanding facts. In the first place, wherever tibeir travels might lead therm, h<? was convinced tha-l they would come to the cOTichißion thiii nowhere were the people -more loyal to the Hritish flag hhan the people of New Zealand. Tie ■was sneaJcJng more particularly 6'n behalf of the youngcT generation of New ZealaTuifTn, tihe vnfit majorHy of whom (had ncvcT ween lh" OM Land. They bad been well taught, however, by their sirofi, and believed that the traditione of Empire belong , Bβ much to them ac to tlioee residing in the Homciaml itself. The Mayor then went on to Tcfer to tlie possihHities and ■potentialities of the country. There tyvas, he said, uo country in itiho world where the poor man's eon was 'provided with a better opportunity to better himself. They, 'had no aristocrats in New ZealuTid. The only aristocracy they had "w-ae that of hra-ins and character. This country rejoiced in <no extremes of 'wealth or poverty, and n-o Tnan could become cxcieeeivriy ricli an Now Zealand. Tho Government weraid "not let 'hhm. If one u-i'meil xvt the aggregation of ■β-rge estates he waß considßred bo be -a eocial pc»t, and a law known ac tihe Graduated' Land Tax. coon put a stop to any .aspirations an thie direetroii. No man, ho-werer, m>ed J)e •wibh-out work Jni N<?w Zeatoid. Sometimes Ui« -wrong class of rminigraTit fouTid a diifficulty in obtaining employment, but those men w.hwn the country wa.irl.od, farm labourers and bo fortli, could be sure of ffpendSiy WLnnifng ihoimre ior thranspJ-Vffl. ermtintrcd Mr Parr, lit- ■vu*ibor« would find tliemeelven in a. country where umvwma.l military training had been cheerfully nxk)ptwl. Berth polil'ical 'pn.tt'usn ira.il approved it. and tlhie hrwl ertdorsod. il. almost iiiianiuifuitily. They realfeed that in a young country such art this, they Rlionld In' in a position to defend , Wie/mfcVcs ehotild' •tlu> (HH-,if*ion ever aritsc. Tlie visitioTß ■miy'h'i, lw>ar one or two dis-KT-nf irnt voices. bTit 'ho OFtnrro Ihcro thai, c!;liirost una.n.mroiißly the military tr&imrrg echeme. had d:hc Birpport ol Iho •people of ihr conTttry.

MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING. Thr lion. TT. D. 8011. Minister for Internal AfTaii-s. whn welcomed the vi«itors on bfthalf m iht> Parliament of \ew Zoa.la.nd. laughingly said h? was fwpcci-allv {fratofiil 1o tho ?.la.vor for allowing him to treat Auckland as a part of the Dominion. The visit he

hojjcfl was but the forerunner of other visits of a similar kind, and believed they 'would tend to an increase of the mutual knowledge which was no essential in binding the 'Empire together. Such visits -would help to convince the law-makers of the Imperial Parliament that the laws made by the self-govern-ing dominions were not passed with the idea of antagonism to the welfare of the Empire as a whole. New Zealand's representatives on every occaeion upon which they had visited the Old Country had been treated by the Motherland with unlimited hospitality. So far ac lay in their power tlicy wanted to show that the eamc feeling which actuated members of the British Parliament actuated the legielatore of New Zealand to-day. They doubly welcomed t>he visitors because they came representing both Houses of the English Parliament. THUfKLNC: IMPERIAIXY. Mr. A. AT. Myors, M.P., one of the officers of tho New Zealand branch of the Association, and iw president, of tho Auckland Overseas Club, joined tho expressione of welcome and pleasure which had been extended to the visitors. The period they were upending in tho Dominion, said Mr. Myers, was all too brief, but he trusted tluit when they ciuno to consolidate their views they wonld (Iml that they luul gathered n great deal of useful" information. Mo reminded them that, although Now Zealand was a very young country and thatonly seventy years ago tho pioneers hud been can-ing out the first settlements, New Zealand had not played un ulto. pother inni-gnilleaut part Tn the history of Kmpire. Ju .soldiers had fought niile by Hide with tho regiment* of the Motherland in South Africa; its battleships hud floated in the name water with vwmols t rf the Home fleet, and ho claimed that in v short time New Zealand had i done Homntbhix as a daughter of tho I ■Kmpire. Now they realised that the' time hud coma to 'think Imperially on the problems of the Old Land ad* well as of thorn of the overseas Dominions. There was tho problem of n greater federation of tho British Empire, and he felt that it was only by travel and by cultivating a wider" outlook that they would settle satisfactorily thU important question. He hoped 'this wonld be the first of many similar vwits. There would uo doubt be many great sacri- j fice-s to make in nettling' the problem*! before them, but he had no hesitation in saying that when it came to New Zealand's turn to ttharo tlioso sacrifices there would be no flinching. LORD EMMOTTS SPEECH. tj*'>Ti{ Jvmrnott, wlsro wxut on L.Tiusutrfticufly received, expressed Iris kouii appreciation of lh« welcome accorded the party, Ho explained that tho trip was reaJiy being ottulc at the invitation of the Australian branch of the Association, .bat they wt-re looting forward with jmnrcnsc interest to the few days they wore to Hpcnd in New Zealand. Hβ also wisbed U> acknowledge the kindncai otf the Government, and to nay how imtoh they appreciated the hearty welcome convoy t\l to them hi a lettvr tiiat they had jiist received from W.s Excellency tho (iovcrnoT. They had received a magnificent reception in Canada, ami no nooner had they »rriwd iv Auckland than th<«y found welcoming hands extended tt> them. It was liis first visit to New Zealand, and as Umlcr-Scwetary of State for the Colonies it was going to bo a visit of great interest and importance to him. He wont $n to say that at Home he had frequently heard of the attractions the county- and its peoplv had v> ofTer, and In? liad α-hvaye desired to njaloe :i trip Ui thtwe beautiful lands. Cm *3io very Inst ni«sit b«fore Oeaving London. h<> had -not t3jv late Oovemor of New Zealand. 1.-.vrd" Islington, who had asked him to bring out a message. To ejuoto Ix>nl Islington's own words, they were:" T hear you arc going to New Zealam). I do want to ask you to give thorn my love." (Applause.) Lord Rnrmott w-ent on to say that he thought there was a peculiar" sympathy between the ■people of GTeat Britain and the "people of New Zealand. They were iinmetrecly .proud of Uk? greater dominions, "but between Orent Britain and New Zealand thore. appeared to be serine geographical Mmilarity. There were, in oauh ca»c, two islands, of what irright .lx> called managoaWe size. Tic did not think, however, | that New Zealand got all the delicious | thrills from her weond island that they got from theirs. CLaughter.) New Zfalan<l had always ibecn conspicuous in its ioyalty to the TSnrpire. They bad embarked irpon this tour, hopeful of increasing mut-unl knowledge, which would nnWf tbrnn to de-.vl wifch the great Imperial problems tha-t must u-ltknatply be [settled. Their hearts responded wTien previous speakers referred to thn great tTiwHt'fons of the British race —it was a pride they shared in common. Tlvc problems ahead could not be hurried to a solution, lwt it was posefWo for thtsm to cultivate a right frame of mind in which to a.pproach thene questions. He bo'aeved that tiicy would long continue to maintain the Britsh Bn>pire as the greatest, jnost en'lisjhtcnod «uid most progressrve Empire in the world. (Applansc) Lord Sheffield was the next speaker. Ho eaid he had long desired to visit New Zealand, to eeo its beauties for himsrJf, and ho was sure from his first glimpse of Auckland Jie would not be disappointed. As they drove up Queen Street they had been commenting upon the name of the city, and ho for one was sure that Lord Auckland's name should preferably go down to fame iv the name of a peaceful and progressive city rather than as a name ansiociatcd with a disnstroiiH war. It had alwuya ■been possible to read a great deal about New Zealand, but the reading of a lifetime could never be ad convincing as the vieual realisation. In New Zealand, lie continued, they had the pick of the original races in the Pacific Tho British petrtlers had bad severe tussles with them in the early dnyp, but that had only served to convince the white man of the worth of the native nice, of tdieir chivalry and good qualities. lie thought it was to the everlasting credit of the BrithJi people iv New Zealand that they had recognised those qualities, and had helped the Maori, elevated him to the legislature, and treated him as an equal. It wafl v noble trait in the character of New Zealand. Lord Sheffield concluded by saying that he believed New Zealand as a country would develop ou Kmpire lines, always maintaining the just principles of freedom, tew, and ordex. (Loml applause.) CTIAUACrEMSTIC SCR. CROOKS. In response to a request from those assembled Mr. Crooks was called upon ■by the Mayor to say a few words. T.he member for Woolwich received a great reception. He eaid tho previous visit he paid to N-ew Zealand had been such a happy one that he could not resist the invitation when it came to join in the present, tour. His friends of the party (with ■whom he had the honour on "most occasions to disagree) were finding with him that about human nature there Tvas nnicJi of a mudmesft. The hopes and troubles of the colonies were the same as those of the Home Land. Britishers were a peace-loving race, but if there ■wae any trouble going,

■well, they just had to be in it. Hβ was giad that there were two 'distinguished representatives of the House of Lorde in tlie party. He had veTy often abused them, but he could assure New Zealanders that they were eminently reepectwble. They were jtiet as human and poesecssud of just the came feelings as anybody else,' and his great hope was that they would ultimately secure "conversion by contact." (Laughter.) Continuing, Mr. Crooks said he would like to get hold of the fool who cabled some of the stuff New Zealand got a3 newis at the rate of three shillings per word. "Why," he remarked, "most of it would hardly get a look in with the 'Daily Mail.'" There wa« one thing, however, wJmpJi he thought ho could promise, they would say despite anything to the contrary from the eai>leinan, and that was that Auckland wae fche finest city in the Southern llomisphere. (Applause.) The reception concluded with hearty cheens for the members of the party.