EMPIRE TIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 11

EMPIRE TIES.

"A SECOND ENGLAND." TRADE COMMISSIONER WELCOMED. A short address touching matters concerning commercial ties between the Home Country and the Empire was given ' yesterday afternoon by Mr. A. Edgecombe, British Trade Commissoner, who is travelling on H.M.s. Hood on her | cruise of the world. The commissioner was entertained by representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industrial Association at afternoon tea in the Pacific Club. Mr. J. W. Collins, SecreI tary of the Department of Industries and Commerce, and Mr. P. Verschaffelt, Public Service Commissioner, were also present. | The portion of his department in which ' he was actively working was particularly interested in the development of commercial ties between the Home Country and the Empire, said Mr. Edgecombe., "I have found New Zealand the most ■ enjoyable of all the places I have visited! llt is far -more like England than any other place I have seen," he said. Here he found the people had the same ideals, outlook, and religion as in the Old Land. People would say, "No, I have never been Home," and he thought that no expression could give a clearer idea of the sentimental ties binding the two countries. That England should be "home to those born and brought up in this far away Dominion spoke for itself. New Zealanders had the same commercial honesty, and the same general desire for world peace as had people in England. They also had the same desires to get on with their own business without interfering with the other fellow, the same commercial enterprise in matters agricultural, pastoral, and industrial. i Since coming to New Zealand Mr. Edgecombe had, he said, investigated the "commercial possibilities" of Mt. Cook, . -Ynitomo Caves, and other places. j (Laughter.) The speaker agreed with i the spirit of New Zealand in advancing 1 agricultural and pastoral interests before industrial interests, and he was | pleased to learn that over 90 per cent jof our exports were represented by the I cow and the sheen. Development hstd j been well balanced. It was pleasing to ! find a second little England tucked away down here in the Southern Hemisphere, and it was well worth coming 25,000 miles to see. Mr. Edgecombe had only ' | two points to refer to in the way of , criticism, and those were that New Zealand needed greater population and more 1 consistent and comprehensive Press pub--1 licity in the Old Land. An occasional ' leference to a horrid murder was of no benefit to New Zealand. The commis- ' | sioncr thought that the connection beI tween ..rigland and New Zealand was closer than between any other two coun- ' , tries in the world. (Applause.) I The need for drastic amendment in the | Dominion's preferential duties in the direction of giving greater encourage--1 ment to British manufactures was advocated by Messrs. A. A. Martin (chair'iman. and J. A. C. Allum, president of the Industrial Association. $ I =