THE PREMIER ANGRY

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 233, 25 June 1908, Page 7

THE PREMIER ANGRY

SPEECH AT OREYTOWN.

COMMENTS ON BISHOP JULIUS'S ADDRESS. ,i A REPLY TO " THE DOMINION." (BT TEIiEGBAPH—SrECIAIi CORRESPONDENTS.) Croytown, Juno 24. In his speech at) Greytown'to-night, : Biti Joseph Ward referred at somo length''ttt'iuo! recent sermons of. tho Anglican Bishop;; of j Christehurch (Dr. Julius) at Palmers'ton! North and Wellington, and replied to Thb! Dominion's comments thereon, 'l'he Pi-imo' Minister said that Bishop .Julius,,-a, highi dignitary of a great. Church, , had delivered; two important discourses to which lie''felt it necessary, in so far .as their public was concerned, to .allude.. ,In doing e'q.'. ho must bo pormitted to remark -that-tho' Bishop's position, apart from his. high standi ing as' a man, gave to his utterances a' weight which would not attach to those of anyone occupying a less' prominent station.'. Ho felt it all the more incumbent upon him to say something concerning tho deliverances of tho Bishop owing to the fact that the Opposition mouthpiece in Wellington, The Dominion newspaper, had been good enough to state in its loading columns that tht deliverance in some respects was directed at himself. He was not sensitive to Press criticism, and was' dealing with the mattor calmly, dispassionately; and'without any. feeling excepting from the standpoint that he believed The Dominion's political prejudice and aspirations for' itß party caused it to be unjust and unfair,' and a refutation was called for in tho interests 'of' New -Zealandi WHAT "THE DOMINION" SAID. The. Premier then read a portion of 'I'm editorial of Tuesday last, en' titled " Frantic Boast ,and Foolish Word." The oxtract was as.follows:—.

"His Lordship is unlikely to be disturbed should his 'utterances bring him a little unpopularity. On the contrary, ho may feel that smarting may bo the . beginning., of . repdntaiieo.v Of. a kind as rare as it is wholesome, his sermons havo a special relish and timeliness just now whon the hills and valleys aro still ringing with the jubilant shouts of the Premier a.ud his enthusiastic eulogies of the unexampled excellence aud prosperity of Now Zealand, They were hard wordß that His Lordship uttered,, but we aro afraid; that they, are- .very , : true.r.! : Wo havo.'no horizon,';he said; wo are tho narrowest people on earth; wo think that New Zealand is tho hub of the universe, i'and that at. any : rate tho Old Country ' i? dependent'upoii.us; wo, are very little and talk big; wo pipe anthems on our little tin trumpets in praiso of our greatnoss—iii short what is required in New Zealand is 'a little less bragging, a little less boastfulness, a-little loss big talking, and a groat deal moro earnest, honest, faithful service.' Each individual New'. Zoalanderr must 'settle',.' wjth' himself the issues raised by the Bishop's sermons, but'thoir lessons for our public men aro tho concern. of evorybody. Wo havo always held that it is' timo that New Zealanders; gave up tlieir belief that the. largo world beyond the seas is constantly'watching and admiring and copying ' us. Perhaps Now Zcalanderß havo begun to wake up from tho extraordinary delusion, ' but in Sir Joseph Ward's case tho disoaso is more active than ever,"

; "THE' DOMINION'? BLAMED." "I want; to say," continued'tho Promier, "that I have no reason to suppose that Bishop. Julius's allusion had reference spcci- 1 ally to mo, but tlio fact that'tho'newspaper'" . Dominion is kind enough _to,.say__that it is intonded for mo makes it necessary that" I ■should, first., say a word .or two as to the causo of the apparent. appreciation by that journal of , tho Bishop's remark's. It will ba ° Remembered by many that I ha,vo had occasion moro than qnco to point out that Tin ; Dominion newspaper did its best ai short lime ago to decry, tho financial position of New Zealand,' when at that time,"if tho. paper had had the infiuenco to do rrjuch.harm, an. incalculable ' injury . , would v ' have boon done tho people of Now Zealand. In fact on looking back at' its: articles it will, be seen i by: anyone that it preached the doc? trine of preparedness ' for panic;sit even utilised its correspondents in different portions of tho country to endeavour to confirm ,its view by. obtaining interviews with various people and having thein telegraphed and published in its columns, because at the time it was my duty to state what I believed., to be correct from a .contrary opinion en-. tirely to', that expressed by this' Opposition journal. That paper,'took up the:attitude' ;that I was; wrong, arid that I, should preach y the doctrine it was attempting to-inculcate, a doctrine which I bolieved' to ho not only, unwise, but' without warrant, and so I did nothing of the kind; I said I, belioved ' : 'to bo right and- true, and in the best in- I torests of New Zealand,, and if cqnfirmation, of tho line I took up against the croakers is : required, a reference to a powerful Opposition .journal; of • maijv years standing , may. v. suffice. Tho Christchurch 'Press,' it will •;•', be found, declaimed in its leading columns ■ > against the croakers, and indicated that if such a doctrine was preached long enougli it would bring about tho very .results desired ... to be avoided. That was the'same' lin<j that I have from the.start been''giving .utterance to from the'platform, singlelianded if 'is*'triio,. ■' and for which I. had ■ received tho 'adverse criticism of Ttie Dominion, f .Now,mark you, I .was dofending the financial positiori and stability of New Zealand, and The Dominion ' newspaper takes up the discourso of Bishop Juliii? for tbe purpose of endorsing the ab- ' . ominablo and. outrageous lino of policy that, they had pursued of decrying tho financial stability, and prospects -of New' Zealand, ir|'respective ■ of the serious injury that their- , advocacy, if such had become, . general , throughout this country, would-have done to the business men, tho farmers, arid : to the general cofnmorco of New Zealand' and •the words of warning*uttered by tho Christchurch''Press' against the croakors clearly indicate that I am not expressing an extreme ,view in this rospcct.-. This .paper, ; '.This. Dominion,,uses the,discourso of.' Bisnop ;i • Julius in they havo taken üb. I have road ..the, uttor-J.'! ajicos of Bishop .Julius as published frqm Palmerston,' and I personally listened with great pleasure to the second deliverance of his Lordship, and neither in the, Palmerston speech nor in the one I listened to was a single word said or uttered by tho Bishop that could in any way be 'distorted into a ' ' reflection upon the financial stability of Now •Zealand. Tho, stretch of imagination required on the. part of the writer of The Dominion o -, article to try and'fit tho Bishop's deliver-* " ancos in with the unpatriotic 'utterances contained iu _ that paper somo timo ago I loavo to the impartial critic to judge.

NOT A JINCO. "Now having said so much about this at- """ tempt on tho pnrt of this newspaper to unfairly usO tho Bishop's remarks for its'tiwn?-'* political purposes, let mo say. that while I'~V havo at all times been a staunch and consistent defender of; tho fair: name and • fam?i- of New Zealand, and will always continno to bo j so,, I Imvo not at any time preached 'jingoism,' nor have I at. any timo dcclarod that Now, Zealand was the hub of tho universe as I have never been stupid enough to boi lievo any such thing. I havo (and will con- • - tmuo to do so if oircumstances require it) spoken of the greatness, the power, and glory of tho Old World to which wo are so - nroch attached, and havo in season and out of BMsen pointed out that tho strength Of % •Now Zealand is dependent upon the strong ' arm of tho Old Land. Many thousands of peoplo throughout New Zealand .have heard ■ me during my recent Wurs throughout: the Dominion omphasiso the fact that it is to tiio Mother, Land wo require to look for that ' assistance and protection. and support which

in-the years gono by haye never failed us, and which, never, will. And I. have not forgotten to state that «we should also do something to help ourselves. I have pointed out that our being an important part of the •British. Empire did not divest us of: great responsibilities, and that wo would do our part to the best of our ability in recognition of what the 6ld Country has done, and will continue to do for us. It will bo found on record, from the 'various speeches delivered by me throughout New ; Zealand that I have consistently urged that it. is the British Navy that we have largely to'rely upon, and in recognition of what the British Navy is doing for'us, I have advocated that we should give an increased contribution. And here I-may aay that on behalf, of: the Government, months ago I communicated through His Excellency .the Governor to the British Governirient New . Zealand's desire to increase the contribution, the conditions of which Parliament; will; be duly informed'of and asked to ratify .this coming session. ; . ' RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEFENCE. "I have • also, had the opportunity during the last six months of addressing many .thousands of children; throughout tho; Dominion, and on, every, occasion : the. public has been present er considerable -'numbers, and 'they can'bear .out the statement that I am now making that everywhere I impressed' -upon the children tho inestimable value of our being a portion of the British Empire, arid how- much we had to depend upon that attachment for. the support we got from tho British Navy, of the great value as pne of the dependencies of the British Empire that* New Zealand was, and of the supreme importance of the children throughout this country being so educated that when they attain .-, to . manhood. , they will be able, yto -' take their ' part .. as-,, woll equipped, .well drilled,'and disciplined volunteers, to''help in the .defence of our country should the necessity unhappily arise. It will also be remembered by thoso '.who heard me that 'in - every • instance I urged'upon both the« children and the public that wo should not indulge in anything approaching a jingoistic spirit, but that 'the matter, should' be looked at-from the standpoint that as trustees of art important outlying portion of the British Empire; it was pur duty, if occasion should arise, to spend our last shilling in helping, to defend it. to the last man, and majntain and keep the Britislv ensign flying with all its glorious traditions.", s THE MOTHER COUNTRY. The Prime Minister went on i to deprecate the statement of-Bishop-Julius that if New Zealand were to disappear suddenly and for ever, England would'simply go into mourning fcr.' eight days, and'then- forget, while 'the Admiralty would • just wipe us off its charts. He did not, believe such a, view was genorally held either in, New Zealand or. the Old Country. He hoped that in the Bishop!s case it was only a figure of ; speech. If a foreign flag, were planted in: New Zealand it would strike more than a feeling of horror into the minds of all who felt-that in the Britislv Empire, .and all its parts, they had somethjng worth defending apart from any sentimental aspect. He would direct attention to the economic position of New' Zealand. ;The net public' and'private wealth' of New. : Zealand in 'December, : 1906, '.was £317,438,000, .our, imports from the Old Country :in .1906. were £9,003,229, and our exports to the United Kingdom in the samo year were,£17,173,400.. . ,