A ROYAL VISITOR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1033, 24 January 1911, Page 5

A ROYAL VISITOR.

■.. .. t- . PRINCE LEOPOLD IN WELLINGTON

A FLYING TRIP THROUGH THE DOMINION.

AN-INTERVIEW.

Prince Leopold of Battenberg, cousin to his Majesty King George, arrived, in Wellington by the Main Trunk express yesterday afternoon, in continuation of a flying: trip through the Dominion, inaugurated by his arrival in Auckland from Sydney on Sunday last. His Boyal Highness waai received at the Thorndon station by thai Prime Minister and Lady Ward, the Hon. Dr. J. G. Findlay, and tho Hon. E. MTCenzie, who extended him a cordial' welcome' to New Zealand. The' Prince, who is accompanied by Dr. M'llroy, left for the south by the Maori last evening. ."This is my first long voyage," said the Prince, when interviewed at Sydney by a representative of the "Daily Telegraph.": "I know Egypt and the Sudan pretty] well, but that was the furthest I had beerafield up to ■ this.. After visiting New. Zealand I am to sail from, Sydney on Feb; ruary 22 for Hong-.Kong in : the steamer. Nikko Maru. Alterwards I will go on to Japan, and then will go to Vancouver; and across Canada and tne Atlantic back to England. I expect to get Home at the end of May." : : He stated that he intended to spend a' month in the Dominion, and hoped to be' in Japan at the time of the Cherry Bios.' som Festival. "My object in this journey is to see tho world," he remarked.-. "I love travelling," he added, with all -thai enthusiasm of youth. "There is always; something.hew to see, and the educative/ influence of travel is immense."

IMPRESSIONS OF AUSTRALIA. !

THOUSANDS OF IMMIGRANTS NEEDED. '

The first thing that strikes the observe*, about Prince Leopold of Battenberg, son 1 of Prince Henry of Battenberg and Princess Beatrice, and grandson of the ■ lata. IJueen Victoria, cousin of King George, andi brother of the Queen of Spain, is his keen; perception (says the Sydney f'Morningj Herald" of January 18). The next thing, is that he looks more like a German than, an English prince. . He is fair- and fullvisaged, and has his moustache curled at! the ends. He is young and fresh-bloodedj' —he only. attained his majority a few! mouths ago—and is fond of riding, tennis,; motoring, and all. outdoor amusements.,' Aud now he is travelling to gain somai experience of the possibilities- aud the; problems-of Britain's'colonial possessions.! ■ The Prince reached Sydney on Monday,January 16, after spending Sunday with h» I Excellency the Governor at Moss Vale, and was escorted to the Federal ment'House. There, on January 17, haj was interviewed by a Sydney. ""Herald" I reporter. He is what may be termed am approachable type of the blood-royal. Hej is not hard to interview—bui.he is exceed-/ ingly diplomatic .in'his.' answers. ' Hisj brain is as keen arid alert as his eye. Youl will not catch him sideways with a ques- i tiou which, when put directly, he dis- j creetly considers it undiplomatic to an-J swer. No; he will take a cigarette out of the case, light it slowly, puff thought-' fully, and, "Ah.-bat- —" .' . City and Country Life. "I -"I left home on November • 11," saidi Prince Leopold, "and came straight out] here, reachiug Melbourne on -December j. 19. We called at Fremantle and Adelaide,. and I went .ashore there, bet only spent an.l hour or two in each place. I stayed in:; Melbourne, however, jfor a week. ■ I was\ .struck with the. fine,buildings and broad' streets. It seemed*to be alvery well-run' sort of a place. I went to the theatres, j and was- surprised at-the, excellent way in> which the plays were staged. I saw thai pantomime 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' and! jhought it compared favourably with thej productions at- Home. The choristers andj the .colour schemes I thought, extraordin-j arily good. On Boxing Day I went to; Caulfiold aud enjoyed the racing. •'■ After that I went to the western district and! stayed with Mr. Gordon Chirnside for the! best part of a fortnight, spending most or the time in riding and motoring. Younj country life is fine. People ought toi como ,out here and spend ■ six months ons a station. It would do them good.. I; am leaving for New Zealand to-morrow!' (January 18), arid will probably spend; three weeks there." ..■ '.

i . Need for Immigration. '. What were his impressions of Australia', and the Australians?

"Australia is a tremendously go-ah'eadj place," said Prince Leopold; "and every-J body seems to take'aigroat pride in thel country—in its wealth—in its growth.J There does not seem to be any idleness j here. Everybody is working. There iss plenty of work to be done. You need a, lot more people here. I think it would'i be a great thing to.get.immigraiJ.t3 froroj Home—thousands of. them. The only trouble is the distance.- .That frightens! them. ■ But if the: labouring classes: atl Homo; only ■ realised what tremendous openings there are here,.l.am sure theyij would bo only too willing to come. Look j at tho pay they draw here compared with! what they get at. Home....'-.. . j "On the ship I came out in, the Omrahu there were' many immigrants, and appar-1 ently- they were'not coming out on thol chance of getting a job, but had the work i waiting for them as scon as they ar-1 rived. It had. all been arranged before j they left Home. Friends- of theirs had, come out, and then written to them..j Every man who comes here has. friends at Home, so that the more people l come I here tho more friends there will be to' follow them when they are advised.. ' \ "If Australia were Canada." | "If only Australia were where Canada.'! is, it would make a lot of difference. It j. is so cheap to get to Canada comparedi with what it costs to come here. Canada.; is only four or five days', steam from! England. I think Australia should emu-1 late Canada and go in for. a more vigor-1 ous advertising campaign. You, have the j wealth and the resources, but you want! the people, and the way to get them is-i by advertising the country. You cani take thousands-of immigrants, aud there-' are thousands who would be glad to come., "They would have to work hard, of i course. The Australians are a hard-] working and very sturdy lot of fellows;! and they are very keen on sport and all, that kind of thing. Nobody seems to hei loafing about, and there is an absence? of poverty and squalor. ' Tho work in ths-J .bush is hard, but they sleep all the for it, and make money. The bush is ) the place for the immigrants.. It is notj like grinding over, a desk." '. ■ Had his Highness seen the destroyers. Yarra and Parramatta, • the beginning of ; the Australian navy?—"No; I did.not.see': them."

Did he: think it would be a good thing' for Australia to have a navy of her own,, instead of contributing directly to the I cost of the Imperial' Navy?—"That'is aj question which I. would • rather not; discuss." . •' Defence; "What impression "has Australia made* on your' Highness :" asked another inter-, 1 viewer. "A great impression. Everything here, is so go-ahead. Even a casual visitor a 9 I am is struck with the fact that you are progressing more rapidly than is pos-i siblo in any part of the Old Country. . . . The fact that you are now earnestly striving to build up.a. navy of your own, and that you are strengthening yonr land forces by a system of compulsory service, has impressed the world that • Australia is quickly merging , from the - position of dependence to that of a great i factor in Imperial defence—and possibly' offence. I can tell you this fact is: gradually ,becoming recognised in ', Bri-: tain." ' "1 notice that tho King and Queen to visit India next winter," ventured the reporter. "Yes," the Prince replied."That cablegram came as a surprise to me. Nothing of, tho kind was mooted-when I left England. In view of the recent troubles in India, such'a,'visit will bo attended with some risk. But, on the other hand, his Majesty's visit would go far to allay any disaffection. Of course a,plucky thing to do, but doubtless his ■ Majesty regards it in the light of a na-j ■tional dute," .......