PRIME MINISTER.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18926, 15 February 1927, Page 9

PRIME MINISTER.

ARRIVAL AT WELLINGTON. ENTHUSIASTIC WBLCOME. (»BM ISBOCUTIO* TIUOBAM.) WELLINGTON, February 14. On the stroke of 7 o'clock the port health officer's boat put out from the wharf to the R.M.S. Makurn, and tho Ministers of the Crown, Messrs R. F. Bollard, O. J. Hawkcn, W. Nosworthy, l''. J. Kolkoton, li. ti. Williams, 11. A. Uuglit, ana J. A. louug ueui. out to uccouio Uieir duel, tue Ht. iiou. J. U. tomes, ilie irrinie Minister and iilis Coutes were Jouiia to bo m ex«;iluui ncuiUi, alter a epleudid trip, iwuicdiaUiiy mo health oiauers bout loft ilio MuKura the vessel was docoratcd with buntiug aud she steamed slowly round to Queen's Wharf. When tho vessel was made fast, the Prime -M,inister aud Mt» Coate* touud themselves surrounded by practically every passenger ou the vessel, and it was nearly an hour before the- many friends of the voyago had bade the rrime Minister farewell. Many of the American passengers expressed their delight at the pleasure the presence of Mr and Mrs Coates had given them during tho voyago. Once the ministerial party reached the wharf they proceeded straight to where the Hon. Mr Downie Stewart, Acting-Prime Minister, was seated in • a motor-car, and exchanged cordial greetings with him and Miss Stewart. Mnny old friends gathered round and welcomed the party bank. Sir James Allen, Sir John Luke, and Sir William Hall-Jones, members of both Houses, and representatives of the Harbour Board and City Council were present at the reception in the Harbour Board shed. The building was given a ballroom appearance, by" the arrangement of flags round the walls. At one end a temporary dais had been erected. Here the welcome home was extended to Mr and Mrs Coates by the chairman of the Harbour Board. The speeches were brief, tlje chair-, » man expressing pride in Use achieve- , merit of New Zealand's statesmen in Empire affairs.

CIVIC WELCOME.

APPRECIATION OF MR GOAWB WORK. ' nraa hums tpteiu gsrde*] WELLINQTON, February H» A luge and distinguished assemblage at the Town Han to-night joined ia the' city's welcome heme to the ferine Minister (the, Bight Hon. J. B. Coatee) and Mrs Coatee. In extending a welcome back to We* Zealand on behalf o! the cltiMU of Wellington, the Mayor eaid that the Dominion wae proud of the part the Prime Minister had played in bringing about that unity in the "grand eld family" which had resulted from the Imperial Conference. < Sir Robert Stout said .the visit of Mr and Mrs Coates to the Homeland would be ever remembered aa having done much to promote * splendid feev ing of kindliness and amity between the Dominion and the other countries* as well ae Great, Britain aad Ireland. The Prime Minister was receivedlwitb j ' ' great applause on rising to *ttlyv ( .lifi .•<.. Coates dealt briefly with oveMmpotta* ' L V tion, which, he said, had no' doubt lid, - some people into displaying a pessimistic opinion. Such a feeling* wis, to > b'e deprecated, as there was no,nee4 a, ' for pessimism. (Applause.) Speaking/'OJtt \-" the need of good-fellowship, the Prime \", Minister heartily endorsed the view* > on that point expressed by the previbttt speakers that that spirit had been faro- ~ moted in every way, by the last eonfei* , ence. (Applause.) ,Y, ■* ■', Business people had told Um thai t . when they bought a sample ft! ' «dr ' Zealand produel they eould alwaya m> ,/ ,' pend on the main shipment being trft* \\y •- to sample, aad of the highest quality > y*\> (Applause.) „ ; / *" ""Beferring to his visit to Prance, the . ,'• 'Prime Minister paid a striking WbSe . to the loving care paid by the people *,,.' of Prance to the grave* of the mfr V ■' Zealand soldiers, and also by the. Wlr >.,->■ Graves Commission. Bit visit to Ranee ( V,\ had made him resolve to urge that they •" should leave,nothing undone to prevent ,/, each a war in the future. < -'*, Dealing with the question of the £#&• i"' ion's nutonajny, Mr Coates scouted 1 the - ;\ of one part of the Jsmplrt„ making a treaty with a foreign eovh; . try that would implicate other, parts of < the Empire. 'lf any Government of i, ; the Empire desired to make a treaty. , ; or enter into an arrangement **s • * ' country outside the family, U cow fiot . become legal until the whale of the Ebb- ■.. plre had agreed to \t (Anplaule*) He was in agreement with Sir Bebett Stout's statement that the party tpjuHt should not exist where Imperial Con- . ferenees were concerned, aid ho hoped it never would. Elaborating his earlier statement that the Conference • should be held at greater frequency, Mr Coates suggested that not more than four yeari should intervene between the gather'' ings.