“I LIKED MR. FORBES”

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 113, 6 February 1935, Page 8

“I LIKED MR. FORBES”

Lord Snowden’s Tribute An appreciation of the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand, is contained in the second volume of Viscount Snowden’s autobiography. In describing those taking part in the Imperial Conference held in London in l(/30 Viscount Snowden writes: “New Zealand was represented by Mr. Forbes, her Prime Minister. He was not an, eloquent member of the conference, but when he did speak he stated his views in a few words of unmistakable directness. I liked Mr. Forbes very much. He was just a plain, honest farmer, and I think he would lay no claim to possessing outstanding gifts of statesmanship. Mr. Forbes was born in New Zealand and tliis was the first occasion on which he had visited Great Britain. Like all New Zealanders lie was intensely loyal to the British Empire, and he confessed that apart from the work of the conference his visit to England had been a great experience to him, as it gave him ail opportunity to learn the views of leading men and to gain a personal knowledge of the conditions here.”