MINISTERS AT HOME.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15774, 15 December 1916, Page 10

MINISTERS AT HOME.

THE VISIT TO FRANCE. social r unctions:. (FEOM OTTR ow.v CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, November 3. The past week has been a full one for Mr Massey arul Sir Joseph Ward, and they probably both welcomed the respite from social engagements which was affordod them by their visit to the front. On Wednesday the Ministers were the guests of honour at a dinner given by the Pilgrims at the Savoy Hotel, and afterwards they both made rather stinking speeches at an evening reception. Many prominent members of the British Parliament were present, as well as Agents-Gcijeral and leading members of tho overseas coloDy in London. Lord Bcrcsford presided. Mr J/iassev had a very cordial welcome., Referring to the Picas Conference held in London some years ago, he remarked "that the Editors who attended it had gone back to their homes more enthusiastic than ever, and never lost the opportunity of preaching patriotism in their papers, and telling the people they ought to think Imperially.'' (Cheers.) He believed one good effect of that conference on.the Empire was the reduction of cable rates between England and New Zealand by about -5 per cent.; and, if that was an effect of the Conference, he thought the sooner another was held the better. (Laughter and cheers.) There was nothing more satisfactory than cheap postal and telegraphic; communications. (Hear, bear.) They envied the public men of IJritain the knowledge they got so quickly of what was happening in the war, and they wanted to know more themselves. The people of New Zealand were a. distinctly peaceable people. They had in consequence of the development of events come to the conclusion that they must do something in regard to compulsory military training, a.nd had passed a law in connexion with it, hut they thought the. bene lit of it would be in the. direction of imparting discipline to their young men, and improving their physical condition by military training. (Cheers.) When the war L-ame along the people of New Zealand realised that it would require every ounce of effort the Mother Country and her Allies could put forth to secure victory within a reasonable period. The response to the appeal for men was splendid; tbey enme in faster than they could be trained, and all classes were represented. A TIME WORTH LIVING. "I felt that that time of life was ■worth living,'' observed Mr Massey. "Tho men who went to Samoa, did not know whore or when they wore going, and they never asked. All they knew was that they wen? going into the Pacific, where several fa-st German cruisers were known to be about, and they went out as gaily as though they were going to a. dance or a picnic. Wo took possession of Samoa, and we are holding it for the Imperial Government; but wo mean to keep it. (Laughter.) We do not want a.ny more German neighbours in tho Pacific." (Cheers.) In addition to a large number of troops, New Zealand had contributed two hospital ships and some hundreds of nurses, many native soldiers, thousands of horses, and a large sum of money (£15,000 per mouth) for the benefit of the Belgians. Tho Dominion's Act. of Parliament, relating to the enlistment of troops was based on Abraham Lincoln's system in America.. They had power to go to a. family and say, "You have four sons, and not one of them has volunteered ; I we want two by a certain date, and if they don't come, wo shall send for them.',' (Cheers.) Mr Massey proceeded to expound the pension scheme for those serving in tho war, a nd their dependants, under which fair provision was made for the men and for widows and children. They had set. their teeth, with determination to see the war through to a. success.ful termination. "Just as, I was leaving Wellington,'' concluded Mr Massey, "the lollowing message was handed to me:—'Stand fast, men of Britain, to the honour of the race, to the glory of thev i lag, the good of the Empire, 'and the welfare of humanity.' " (Loud cheers.) TWO AIRCRAFT TO OXE. Sir Joseph Ward, who also had a cordial reception, strongly urged that the Empire which in the past had regarded "two keels to one'' a-s a. safe naval standard should see to it that iu the future we should have a n air fleet equal in magnitude to the Navy. If wo were to hold our own that was imperative. The Air Fleet, must, be developed and made as strong and efficient, as our Navy was on the sea. He had closely watched the development of aircraft, and although he admitted that we should have done little in this struggle but for the British Navy, yet he was convinced that in the future w e should havo to depend largely, for our defencc on the development of the Air Fleet. Tho Oversea Dominions would be glad to provide trained airmen full of initiative and resourco who would co-operate with the men who were now doing such splendid work in British ships." We must all take care that the Naval Air Services were fuly developed to such an extent that they could dc absolutely relied upon to protect tho Empire. Zeppelins had given the German Fleet a great advantage over the Britisu in the Jutland fight. Sir Joseph Ward was loudly applauded when he .revived tho sugegstion that he made at the Imperial Conference in 1911, thut the lowers holding tho Suez Canai should not permit German vessels to pass through tho Canal o r use the coaling facilities of- British ports on equal terms with their own. ships. If wo were going t.o allow our enemies to havo the same commercial privileges that wo had allowed them fo r 40 years prior to the war. we .ought, to be heartily ashamed of ourselA'es. It would not be fair to the men who had laid down their lives for the Empire. c should not show auv sentimentality or stupidity towards a country which had be.eu trying to put us in tho backgiound and crush us out of existence. The British nation had been too generous, and in another 15 years if the war bad not come, when it did, Germany would have gained a commercial superiority without firing a shot- = It would be one of the most grievous possible mistakes to allow Germany to regain a position similar to that ~ she held before the war. A\ e required to trade with all parts of the world, and to give preference to ou r Allies and to the countries that had been friendlv towards us in time of crisis. We must not forget, when the war was over, that the United States of America, though they had not in some respects been generously disposed towards us, would have to be brought into any scheme is-here preference \<rcs to be adopted between the different countries. Whether the United States of America had only been looking 'after their own interests was. so far as the future was concerned, beside the question. America was a cosmopolitan country, who was growing great and powerful, and had been founded on British stock: she w?s looking out for trade with other countries, and the British Empire should not do anything to make a permanent enemy of her. It used to be said that trade followed the flag, but now they could safely ray that trade followed the ship. * (Applause). THE COLONIAL INSTITUTE. The following day the New Zealand Ministers had dinner at tiia H*ivai !

Colonial Institute. In the absence of Lord Islington. who was confined to his room with indisposition. Lord Plunketwas in the chair, and amongst those present were:—Sir George Perley, Mr T. r. O'Connor. Mr R. D. D. McLean, Sir James Carroll. Mr F. G. B. Waldegravc, Mr Acton Ad3ms, R-ev. 11. L. Gwynne. Sir Thomas Mackenzie. Mr H. H. Wall. Mr Ranald Macdonald, and many others. In proposing the health of the visitors. Lore] Plunket referred rather hap- { pily to the fact that Mr Massey was j an Irishman from the North with the 1 sturdy independence of Lister, while ! Sir Joseph Ward represented the warj like spirit and poetry of the South of ; Ireland. They had been able, though ! long separated in politics, to come to- ' gethcr in a national emergency, and he j hoped that other people in Ireland and ' elsewhere would be able to emulate j their example. i Mr Massey. in replying, said lie felt , strongly on the question of foreign j trade, as he had a very vivid recollcc- ; tion of the commercial and iudustrin! ! position Germany occupied prior to the j outbreak of hostilities. "There arc : many people who cannot help thinking I that a serious mistake was made when j Germany was allowed to go on building ! up what, was undoubtedly the greatest, i best-equipped, and best-trained army I in the world. We knew they were I not doing it without a motive, and that j possibly, even probably, the army was 1 intended to be used against Britain, j We allowed it to grow and develop until ' the Germans considered the time ripe | for action : but I think T may say that ■ never again, never will that mistake I be repeated. (Cheers). So with tbb | German Navy. They were allowed to ! build ship after ship, knowing full well j that they were trying to build more i powerful ships than ours; and knowing • that there was no other sea power i againsj, which so many and such powcrI ful ships would be required. We alj lowed them to send their spies into | every corner of the Empire. We allowed tiiem to bee our harbours, our ports, ; and our preparations, such as they j were. AVc invited 'them "to sec our j military and naval reviews. Wc al- | lowed their ironmasters to see our arj s.enals and all our latest machinery, and ■ consequently be able to calculate for j themselves our possible output of muiiitions; We hid little or nothing from I them 'icrniau waiters listened to our : conversations in clubs and hotels, aud j probably reported them to the German j authorities. German governesses won j the confidence of the families where ! they were employed, only in many cases | to act the part of female. Isc-ariots. And j bitterest thought of all, when she was preparing the great army which took he. lield in August. 1014. and which, wes intended to crush France and smasii Britain—when she was plotting i>.nd scheming with that object—she • s .s financing her great undertaking partly from profits made from Australia and Canada, and every port of tin: Empire, even Britain herself. T trust that such steps will he taken by the Legislatuies throughout, the Empire, and by British citizens all over the world, that will innko such lolly impossible in tho future. (Cheers). With regard to the difficult question of Free Trade and Protection. I certainly think that wo should aim at a self-contain™' Empire. Our motto in this ennnexica 'mould be "British trade for British icine, always remembering thct proper and just consideration inut.t, be given to our present Allies." (Cheers). After referring at some length to the steps which were being taken to settle soldiers within tho British Empire after the war. lie said New Zealand would always welcome British emigrants, though ifc had to be admitted that we had not any vast areas of unoccupied land to offer them. He hoped lie would be pardoncel for suggesting that there was a great deal, in his opinion, that might be done in the Old Country to provide, places on the land for nieu who would otherwise emigrate, and lie tvould like nothing better than to see this matter taken in hand. Sir Joseph Ward, in his - reply, spoke highly of the devotedness. with which Lord . Plunket had worked in this country for the benefit of the wounded New Zea. land soldiers, and he. wished to thank him, and those associated with him, for the fine work that had been done. He wafi proud of the Old .Country, and what the Old Country had done. We were certainly not prepared two years ago for the greatest, emergency that had ever arisen. After all, we were, not working for the Old Country, and the Old Country was not. working for us. We were working as .one because we belong to one Empire, and the successful emergence of the Empire from this struggle is of as great importance to us as to the Old Country. New Zealand had already invested largely in Imperial Treasury bilk. He expected by the end of the current year that wc should ha ve a balance 'of two millions; which also -would be invested in Imperial Treasury bills, with the object of being able at the end' of the. war to repay to the British Government. sonie of the advances ma'do to th e . Dominions for war purposes. We had made provision for nearly all our loans that were falling due for nearly 11 years, cxcepfc one or two of not very large amount. The finances of the Dominion were on a very sound basic., and he looked forward with confidence to excellent financial results. "If the war should last another eighteen months, or even three years—which personally I do not believe will be tho ca.se, or anything like that time—we are ready in New Zealand not only to provide brave men to do their duty in the trenches, but the financial sinews necessary to enable us to play our part." It would bo short-sighted to attempt to do all our trade within the borders of the British Empire, but ho believed that the extraordinary, generosity for which the British had been remarkable in days gone by-—the generosity which extended the hand of friendship to a deadly foe —ought to be reconsidered and readjusted to meet the altered and varying conditions of the overseas Dominions and dependencies. "I say we ought to take a lesson from the nast and seriously, review the position in which w r now fiud ourselves. What wc say is, that we ought not to treat such an unscrupulous, treacherous, and malicious enr-my as w e treat our own people, a nd that, to do so in the light of the knowledge wc hav<» gained, and the sacrifices wc. have made, would be suicidal." A LEAD FROM NEW ZEALAND. Owing to his absence in France, Mr Massey was unable to be present at the luncheon of the British Empire Producers 1 Organisation. In a letter of apololy for his absence he wrote: — ''I have reason for believing that the Germans intend after the war to enter upon an economic conte&t with. Great Britain, with a view to regaining the industrial and commercial position which Germany occupied prior to the outbreak of hostilities. This being so, the sooner we arc prepared to meet them and provide our own raw materials for our requirements, the better it will be for ourselves. In this matter, every part of the Empire must to a certain extent act for itself, and in accordance with the conditions which exist. I have looked up the position which New Zealand occupied prior to the war with regard to German trade, and I find that wc imported from Germany, although we had no direct communication, over £700,000 worth of German goods and manufactures. On the other hand, our exports to Germany (leaving out wool)— and it is not necessary for me to point out that we-did not require to go to Germany for a market for our wool — were practically infinitesimal. In the long list of articles which wo imported, [ I can hardly find anything which wc j could not produce within the Empire, ! and probably as cheaply as obtained from Germany. "I think 1 can go to the length of saying, without the. sligJitc.it fear of contradiction, that, during the present generation the people of New Zealand

will not purchase any enemy goods which is .it all_ possible to obtain within our own Empire, or from our Allies. tCbeers.) In any case, it will be absolutely necessary to meet the heavy responsibilities we have incurred owing to the war—that our part of the Empire should develop its own resources and increase its cxporto. (Hear, hear.) I think we. should aim at, a self-con-tained Kmpire—(cheers)—one part producing what the other requires, and which it cannot- produce itself. It. may not he possible to have. Free Trade "within the Empire for many years to come, .perhaps never, but it is possible for each part of the Empire to give preference to the others, and it is also possible to open the door to our -Allies, and this should be done to a far greater extent than' previously.'' (Cheers.') Discussing Mr Ma-sey"> speo-.h at the Colonial Institute "The Times" savs:--"It is an excellent thiug that these reminders should come from men like Ma secy and Sir Joseph AN a rd. llk y have a certain detachment in their view of the present, and future of the Empire. For two year* of war they hav c looked upon the t-truggle from afar. They had time—as people in this country have hardly had time —to make up their minds about its more remote causes and. to form a judgment about its results. The effect of this detachment upon their minds has been clear in the speeches which thev have made since thev reached this country. They arc not content to leave all questions about the future of the Empire in abeyance till tho war is over. They have evidently been thinking much about, these questions, and want, the British people to think about them i too."