A BIRTHDAY BANQUET.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 276, 22 November 1927, Page 9

A BIRTHDAY BANQUET.

MR. AMERY FETED.

LARGE TOWN HALL GATHERING.

"This is Mr. Amery's birthday," said the chairman at the Town Hall luncheon, and in wishing him 'many happy returns' we are going to ask him to take this cake with him to the Grand Hotel so that Mrs. Amery may have the honour of cutting it."

The three hundred guests endorsed the sentiment with hearty applause, and the guest informally responded. '"I feel like a little boy," he said, "in being allowed to take my calce home with me, and I feel tempted to lift the chocolate kiwi off and eat it." He thanked them warmly for their thought - fulness.

The official welcome to Mr. Amery was voiced by the chairman, Mr. A. G. Lunn, as president of the Chamber of Commerce, by Sir Francis Dillon Bell, representing the Prime Minister, and by Mr. Geo. Baildon, as Mayor of Auckland.

"We regard this visit," said the chairman, "as significant of the dawning of a new era in the history of the Great Commonwealth of Nations, of which we are so justly proud; an era characterised by a closer sense of unity and co-opera-tion than has been possible in the past.

"You will have found, already, that New Zealand is essentially British," he continued, "so- much so indeed, that we believe it can justly claim to be more British than Britain herself. No less than 99 per cent of our population (excepting Maoris) is British in origin. This figure, so far as we arc aware, cannot be equalled elsewhere within the Empire; but beyond this spirit of kinship are the strong, though intangible, bonds of loyalty to the Crown and affectionate regard for the old Homeland. We trust, Mr. Amerv, that your mission will be one of unbounded success, and that its results will be so satisfactory as to warrant the hope of a continuance of such happy occasions." (Loud applause.) Sir Francis Bell said that not the least enduring mark of the initiative shown by the present Secretary of State for the Dominions might be the creation of a further method of communication between His Majesty's Government and the overseas Dominions. The speaker paid a tribute to the success which the guest of honour had achieved in his present high office, more especially by his wisdom in overcoming the difficulties of dTstanco between the Motherland and | the Empire's territory overseas. (Applause.) The Mayor endorsed the welcome on behalf of the commercial interests of the city. Mr. Amefy's Response.

The guest of honour was received with enthusiasm. He told a good afterdinner story about a big fish, and added that he would confine himself to what the chairman had described as the new era in the British Empire. Touching oa the earliest colonies across the Atla»tic, which had broken away, the speaker said that while for several generations Great Britain had recognised the responsibility of defending the outside possessions of the Empire, no interest was taken in the problems of trade. In the last 40 years statesmen overseas, like Rhodes in Africa, Seddon here, and others elsewhere, had emphasised the w:«dom of adopting a new point of view. A Change in Sentiment.

Mr. Amery spoke of the change in Empire sentiment which had come about during the war. In recent times many new reciprocal treaties had been entered into within the Empire, and no more remarkable preference had been given than that which had been given by New Zealand. (Applause.) "You are now giving an immense measure of preference," added the speaker, "which is deeply appreciated by the hard-pressed people at Home. We do appreciate the fact that in proportion to population New Zealand is the largest buyer of British goods. And on our side I may say that Britain is practically unanimous in realising the value of Empire trade. (Applause.) Reciprocity.

Dealing with the fostering of Empire trade, Mr. Amery remarked that you could not get the British purchaser to take a bad article at a good price, but given the quality the Home Government could undoubtedly do much to help in the way of arranging "Empire shopping weeks" with a view to getting he or she (and "she" was the most important factor) to get into the habit of asking for Empire goods. He believed that the Dominions had felt the benefit of the work which had been done at Wembley, and since, in the way of promoting Empire produce. (Applause.)