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Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 21, 25 January 1924, Page 9

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RECEPTION TO MR. MASSEY. A GKEAT GATHERING. DOMINIONS AND EMPIRE. The Town Hall resounded with rheers from some 2000 throats last night as the Prime Minister, Mr. W. F. Maesey, ascended the platform, esrorted by the Mayor and city councillor?, as the guest" of Aucklanders at a civic reception. Mr. Massey's welcome home was a most cordial one. and when he arose to speak on the subject of his trip to the Imperial Conference, he waa again most enthusiastically cheered. In welcoming the Prime Minister, the Mayor emphasised the necessity for advertising New Zealand in England, and said that it was to Great Britain, which bought most o£ the Dominion's goods, that our very existence, under modern conditions, depended. If England ceased to buy our goods, we would become banknipt. Not only solf-intereet, but the ties of kinship, made a strong common appeal. To-day they had great pleasure in welcoming Mr. Massey back from his fifth visit to an Imperial" Conference, for by his -work on behalf of the Dominion they were under very great obligations to him. They desired to gratefully ncknowledge the able administration as acting-Prime Minister of Sir Francis Bell during the absence of Mr. Massev. (Applause.) "The Foremost Statesman." Sir Francis Bell spoke briefly on his stewardship as head of the Government during Mr. Maesey's absence. No one, he said, knew the value of Mr. Massey more than his colleagues, and none were more glad of his return than those colleagues —and particularly the speaker. (Laughter ). As a Js ew Zealander he was proud to feel that the head of the Government was one of the foremost statesmen of the Empire —a man whose voice could demand a. hearing. They might be sure that whatever was before the Empire, New Zealand's part would be played whilit Mr. Massey was at the head of "the Government in a manner of which they would never be ashamed. He had tried, to fill Mr. Massey's place, but it was a place that was very hard to fill. (Applause ). Mr. Massey's Address. The Prime Minister thanked the Mayor for the very hearty welcome he had "extended not only on behalf of Auckland, but, indirectly, on behalf of the people of New Zealand. He joined in the expression of appreciation to Sir Francis Bell and his colleagues for their splendid work during his absence. Fifty years ago, said Mr. Massey, he landed in Auckland as a boy of fourteen, and he had grown up among them —Be belonged, as Prime Minister, not to one part, but to the whole of New Zealand, which was the most prosperous part of the Empire. No other part of the Empire could show the record, of service that New Zealand had during the last few years. It had been asked why Prime Ministers should visit England and be so long away from their Dominion. If the Empire was to run in harmony, it , was necessary for the representative : men of all " its parts to meet to- j gether in conference. He had seen j repeatedly men who met in antagonism agree wholly on specific points when they had sat for a couple of days in Downing Street. All Partners. The suggestion that the Imperial Government was subversive of Dominion autonomy was rubbish. They -were all partners in the Empire, and any man who would come to the conference and suggest the lowering of the Dominions' autonomy would get a very poor hearing. Regarding this hist conference, he thought that the economic aspect was the most important. He had etudied Empire preference ever since he had been in politics, and he believed nothing wo.uld keep the Empire together so well as Empire preference. The British Government which had just gone out of power, became a believer in Empire preference- The proposals of Mr. Baldwin were brought before the economic .side of the conference; they embraced Empire preference and duty on foreign goods, ■which competed with Empire goods, and they were wholly adopted. Trade Within Empire. . Sir. Massey read a list of Dominion goods which it was proposed to admit to England duty free as against foreign goods. Preference was not sought in reference to such things as meat, butter or cheese. Those matters were left for the British Government'itself to deal with: Regarding the goods agreed on, he had not given up hopes of preference being given them by the new British. Government, or by any other Government which might follow, for it was unthinkable that the agreement arrived at by the Imperial Conference would not be honoured because a new administration came into power. It had been discovered that in recent years the British Government had placed" very large contracts for food with foreign countries, ■when such goods could easily have been obtained within the Empire—for this Empire could produce all that the Empire required and more- Let them supply Empire requirements and trade with other countries for the rest. America produced almost all her own requirements, and she exported a tremendous lot. Five More Visits. The Prime Minister was applauded when he stated that although he had represented New Zealand at five Imperial Conferences, he hoped to represent it at another five. Every time he went away he had gone with a" mandate, and his last mandate was to do all possible to help strengthen the ties of Empire. Britain's Difficulties. "I am eorry to have to admit that the ■heart of the Erapire is in very serious difficulties," continued Mr. Massey. "In Ivew Zealand we do not see that, because we are so prosperous, but if anything interferes with the prosperity of Britain it will soon interfere with us. We are as interested in its prosperity as if we were in London. England has serious tiifficulties, a million and a-quarter of unemployed, for example. The worst feature about that," he continued, "was tbe dole. It was almost as much our duty as it was that of those at Home to see that these people got at least a little work. It was a matter for the new Government which was in office — they might not be in power, but they were entitled to British fair play, and he hoped they would get it. "Our exports this year," said Mr. Massey. "are likely to be a record." The floods last autumn had been serious, but since last session he believed he could have made a greater reduction in income tax. However, there was another session coming. (Applause.) ''When people tell us we have done nothing for the Empire and that Britain has done everything for us, I beg to differ from them," he continued. "We

have done our share. If there are Free Tradera m Auckland-and 1 suppose there are some backward people hereet mc tell them the beat way to get I'ree Trade i 5 by Imperial preference. 1 ao not disparage genuine Free Trade " bixty or seventy years ago it was a a splendid thing, but to-day almost every country was manufacturing its own = , ' and %vas sending its surplus stocks—many millions of pounds worth into England, the effect ~of which was to take the bread out of the mouths of working men and their families. "As long as I am in public life I am going to stand for Empire preference."' Many people did not understand what "Empire" meant. If something emashed tne ties of Empire we should have chaos —civilisation itself might go. Mr. Massey therefore urged the teaching of British history in British eehools. We had to see that the countries of the Empire were not taken one at a time. He was not predicting war, but the way to prevent it was to be prepared for it. The Ruhr Trouble. Regarding the European difficulty, Mr. Massey said he would'like to think that jif the difficulty between France and GerI many were settled, matters would be .righted, but he hardly thought that ■ would follow. Germany had not up to ,-now shown any desire" to comply with jthe Treaty of Versailles. Possibly the I amount fixed was too high, but Germany had not done what it ought to have done. France was certainly wrong in sending soldiers to the Fvuhr without consulting the other nations. A voice: Why do they not pay? Mr. Massey: If you said, "Why does not France pay its share of the debt Britain incurred, "I say,' "Tee, it ought to pay." I The Premier continued that he sympathised with France. He trusted the I recently appointed commission could rej commend something to which the other . nations could agree which would settle i the matter. Such a decision would not ! likely be satisfactory both to France [ and Germany, but by every law Germany should certainly be made to pay something. Britain's Sea Power. Xo Imperial Conference could pass over the question of defence. It wat lan Empire question. The Navy and I Army had been reduced since the war, ; and he feared the Air Force had been reduced more than it ought to have been. The Washington Conference had done good, but it would not prevent war. Some people were anxious about t"ie Navy. ar<3 members of t4io conference had attended the naval review at Portsmouth —lo miles of modern warships, and among them the Hood, by a long way the foremost ship of the world. They came away convinced that Britain was going to hold its own in sea power.