YOUNG AUSTRALIA

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 84, 3 January 1929, Page 16

YOUNG AUSTRALIA

OFF TO SEE THE WIDE WORLD WELLINGTON’S WARM WELCOME The Young Australia League has done valuable service for the Commonwealth during the past few years in sending contingents of Australian boys abroad to study conditions in other countries. The fifth tour organised by the League is to the United States and Canada, and a contingent of 159 boys arrived by the Makura on Monday morning, and were extended a civic reception at the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall at noon. The lads looked very smart m their semi-naval uniforms, and were « under creditable discipline. During the speeches the valuable work such tours were doing in cementing still more cordial relations amongst the Eng-lish-speaking peoples of the world was stressed, as well as the educative value of closer acquaintance with other nations. The contingent, . headed by their band, marched to and from the Town Hall with military precision. Councillor W. H. Bennett represented the Mayor (Mr. G. A. Troup), who is on holiday, and was supported on the platform by Sir Alexander Roberts (representing the Rotary Club), and Mr. D. J. McGowan (representing the Harbour Board and Chamber of Commerce). Missionaries of Empire. Mr. W. H. Bennett, on behalf of the Mayor, in extending a welcome to the members of the League, said he understood that 159 members, representing 67 schools of the Commonwealth, were going abroad to enlarge their education. He was sure that every one of them ■would be missionaries from Australia and New Zealand in the tour they were embarking upon. He was sure that they would be proud of their country, and study points about the countries they visited which would make them better men and better citizens. They would hold in their hands the honour of the countries they represented, and he had no fear upon this score. Presentation of New Zealand Flag. Sir Alexander Roberts, representing the Rotary Club, said he understood it was a principle with the League to carry with them the flag of their country on their tours. The Wellington Rotary Club had asked him, as district governor of the Rotary Club of New Zealand, to present to the League -a New Zealand, flag to carry with them. There was ai necessity at the present time, he said,, for the best of feeling between the Eng-lish-speaking peoples of the world. Indeed, the peace of the world depended upon this good feeling. He asked them to remember this upon their tour. He wished them a pleasant and prosperous trip in the great country of America. Sir Alexander Roberts then handed to Mr. J. J. Simons, of Perth, the leader of the expedition, the New Zealand flag, which he hoped they would proudly carry on their tour. ' Broadening Education. Mr. Simons, in responding, said they were very grateful for the many gestures of goodwill which had been extended to them by the people of Wellington during the few hours they had been in New Zealand. Travelling under proper guidance was a great factor in broadening education. Every one of them had preconceived ideas concerning every country which would have to be recast on visiting these particular countries. This was the fifth tour undertaken by the league, and they had had New Zealand boys with them before, and all he could say was that the New Zealand boy was every bit as good as the Australian boy, whom he regarded as the best creature ever made. They were all desirous that the most cordial relations should always exist between the Commonwealth and the Dominion, who belonged to the same great race and the same great Empire. He could only re-echo what Sir Alexander Roberts had said—that the present tour would do something to assist the good feeling between the English-speak-ing peoples of the world. Lest We Forget. Mr. Bennett said he often wondered if the_ rising generation remembered what their forbears had done for these young countries. He sketched a picture of Wellington in his boyhood days, pointing out that most of the land upon which the business portion of the city stood had been reclaimed from the sea. It was the duty of the young men to study what had been done by those who had gone before them, in order that they might the more worthily do their part when their turn came to guide in civie and national affairs.

Mr. W. H. Gee, of Perth, the second In command of the expedition, in thanking Mr. Bennett for the reception, said that he had come to New Zealand expecting to find a vastly different country, but was surprised to find that he was still at home, as he found the people of New Zealand very much the same as those of his own State. This applied very much to the people of the Empire, who were one in speech and sentiment. After the National Anthem had been sung, the members of the league gave a “sky rocket” for Mr. Bennett, an “Australia” (in which the cooee figured prominently), for Sir Alexander Roberts, and an “Ecole” for the New Zealand flag. Genesis of the League. The Young Australia League was founded in Perth in 1904 by Mr. J. J. Simons, the leader of the present expedition. The movement took on and expanded at such a rate that the first section of the headquarters building at Perth has been erected at a cost of £32,000. and almost 9000 boys have passed through the various departments. The first overseas tour was made in 1911-12, when a 'group of 40 boys was taken around the world. The second tour was made in 1915-16, when New Zealand, the United States, and Canada were visited, and the third, in 1924, to the United Kingdom and Canada. In 1925 140 boys toured the United Kingdom, Prance, Italy. Switzerland, and Belgium, nnd during their travels they were welcomed by King George V, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Connaught, the President of the Irish Free State, the President of France, the King of Italy, the Pope, the President of the Swiss Federation, and the King of Belgium. The present tour will begin at San Francisco, and the party will travel southwards through California, calling at Los Angelas. and Pasadena, thence to Arizona, El Paso (New Mexico), and to San Antonio and New Orleans, thence to Birmingham. taking in Atlanta, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. After leaving the United States apital. the itinerary will lead to New York, across the Canadian territory into Montreal, Quebec, and Ottawa, then to Niagara Falls. Buffalo, and other cities, to Chicago. From Chicago, Canadian territory will be again entered, and the tour continued through Winnipeg to Vancouver. Four New Zealand boys—Roy Wells (Wellington), Bromley Bennett (Napier), and Stewart Carter and lan Young (Palmerston North)—will represent the Dominion on the tour. Roy Wells has been made the custodian of the New Zealand flag.