A DELIGHTFUL VISIT.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 122, 22 May 1920, Page 7

A DELIGHTFUL VISIT.

PRINCE'S FAREWELL MESSAGE

WONDERFUL WELCOME.

DOMINION'S SPLENDID FUTURE.

(By Telegraph.—(Press Association.)

CHRISTCHURCH, Friday.

The following farewell message to the people of New Zealand was handed to the Prime Minister on board H.M.&. Renown this evening by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales: —

"To the Government and People of New Zealand,---

"My delightful visit to New Zealand has come to an end, and I cannot sail to-morrow morning Without sending a message of affectionate farewell to the people of the Dominion. When I spoke iv Wellington I tried to express the great pleasure which my travels through the North Island, rapid aa they were, had given mc, and I said that I looked forward to having just as good a time in the South. The event has exceeded my expectations, high though they were. I can say now that not a day has passed since I landed on-April 24 which has not cdded to the pleasure and value of my, tour. I have been most deeply touched by the wonderful welcome which has met mc everywhere, and I will never think of the people of New Zealand without affection and gratitude.

"I should like to renew the thanks which I have expressed before to the Government of the Dominion, and to all the authorities throughout New Zealand, who have been at such pains to make my journey punctual and comfortable. The excellence of all the arrangements has enhanced the pleasure of my travels, both by road and by rail, and I am particularly glad to have seen oven a very little of the magnificent scenery of mountain, river, and lake for which this Dominion is famous throughout the world. MISSED A GREAT DEAL. *T have only one regret—that my visit has been too short to enable mc. to see all that I should llkejto have seen. I have stayed nowhere without wishing that my stay could be prolonged, and I feel that I have missed a great deal. I am particularly sorry that, owing to the shortness of the time at my disposal, I could not travel a little through the settled districts and see for myself something of up-country life. "I have seen enough of town and country, however, to realise that a splendid future awaits the Dominion. Your achievement since the country wM annexed to the British Crown, only 80 years ago, justifies the almost visionary confidence of your pioneers, and: conetitutes an amazing monument to . the grit and enterprise of those who have go rapidly civilised and developed the land. • "

"Two things have particularly impressed mc here. In the first place, New Zealand is a land not merely of oppor--unity for some, but of equal opportunity for all. I havo never' seen wellbeing and happiness more uniformly evident .throughout the population of country and second place this Dominion is a living example of' the fact that the European race may take over a new country without injustice to it_ original inhabitants, and that both may advance in mutual confidence and understanding on a common path. Both races of New Zealand, Pakeha' and Maori, are an essential clement in the life of the Dominion, and I have been deeply gratified to see what progress the Maori people are making, hand in hand with their British fellow subjects. TRUE TO TRADITION. "New Zealand is one of the greatest monuments of British civilisation in the world, and I have felt that from end to end of the Dominion the are true to British traditions, .and true to British form. I have found the strength of yout loyalty to the Empire and its Sovereign as keen and bracing as the mountain air, and I know that you will never weaken in your devotion to British unity and British ideals.

"The spirit of New Zealand was shown most signally by the splendid troops which she sent to the front in the Great War, and also by the way in which the whole country threw itself, without hesitation or reserve, into the Empire's cause. It has been a special pleasure to mc to meet again so many of your returnad men, and I should like to thank them once more for turning out In such large numbers to meet mc wherever I have been. I regard them always as my old. comrades in arms, and I am happy to see that they are maintaining the close ties of comradeship which bound them together in the field. New Zealand need fear nothing of~the future if her manhood preserves the spirit in which this generation fought and endured for freedom and right. "In its permanent forces the Dominion possesses a very valuable nucleus of trained officers and men. I have been struck by their smart and soldierly appearance on parade, and have also been impressed by your territorials and cadets, who have turned out in large numbers, and always looked very well. You have reason to be proud of the results which your system of training has achieved. CONFIDENCE IN FUTURE. "Your confidence in the future haß another solid ground. No one realises more keenly.than I how heroic was the part which the women of the Empire played in tlte prolonged and terrible ordeal of war. I should like to take this opportunity of congratulating again the ■wotoen of New Zealand on their great services and brave endurance during the last five years, and also of offering my heartfelt sympathy to those whose gallant men will not return. New Zealand women have proved themselves indeed a valiant counterpart of their husbands, brothers, and eons.

"Both men and women moreover have created noble traditions for the new generation which is growing up to-day. I have been greatly impressed by tbe gatherings of school children which have been organised for mc everywhere, and I have never seen a more robust, good mannered, and promising race. I always felt, when seeing them, that they were very lucky children to have been born in such surroundings and amid such promise, and they made mc confident that they would be a credit to "their country and their King. "I must end this message now, but 1 shall not ear good-bye. I feel myself a true New Zealander in heart. I look upon you, the people of New Zealand, as my own kith and kin, and I trust that you, on your part, will always regard mc as one of yourselves, who belongs to you as much as to the Old Country, or to any other of the King's Dominions. "There is a good part of the world for mc to traverse still before I can say that I have seen the British Empire as a whole, and I do not know how long it

may be before I can pay you another visit here. But this, at least, I can say, that I shall be drawn to New Zealand by very, happy and affectionate memories, and that when tbe opportunity arises of returning here again, .1 shall take it with delight and without delay.— Kia Ore."

EDWARD P,