STATE WELCOME

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 61, 7 December 1943, Page 4

STATE WELCOME

Canadian Pressmen Entertained

COMMON INTERESTS OF TWO DOMINIONS

New Zealand’s appreciation of the hospitality extended by the people of Canada to aiiunen from this country trained there under the Empire Air Training iScheuie was expressed 1»y the Deputy-Prime Minister, Mr. Nash, hi welcoming the Canadian Press delegation at a State luncheon in its honour yesterday. The members of the delegation are Messrs. A. Ford, B. T. Richardson and L. Pare, and -the other guests included Ministers of the Crown and representatives of the Press and allied organizations. Reference to Canada’s contribution to the cause of the United Nations was made by Mr. Nash, who said its production ranked second only to the United Kingdom and the United States of America itself. He did not know the eonceiver of the Empire Air Training Scheme, though he had heard several names mentioned in that connexion, but; he did know that its organization was almost exclusively the responsibility of Canadian minds, and that because of that organization men were going forward to do some of the greatest work that was ibeing done outside Russia to destroy Germany. The hospitality received by New Zealand airmen training in Canada had been shared not only by the Canadian Government and by the Provincial Governments, but by every Canadian. The opinion that New Zealanders could make a great contribution to the future welfare of -the world was expressed iby Mr. Nash. “We have something iu our freedom that is priceless,” he said, '“and I believe that we can hold it by making sure that other people have it, for bur freedom depends on the freedom of other peoples, too. The small peoples of the Pacific cannot ilie menaced by the might of other nations.” Many Things in Common. After mentioning that it was his birthday and that he had never had such a delightful birthday before, Mr. Ford, the leader of the delegation, said that when he received the invitation to visit New Zealand he had accepted it with alacrity. All Canadians were interested in New Zealand and in its social experiments. Canadians and New Zealanders always got on well together. New Zealand airmen attending the Air Training Scheme in Canada had made a great impression with the Canadians. Men of the two countries were together in Italy and the two countries had many things in common. New Zealand, said Mr. Ford, had something worthwhile to contribute in any plan for raising the standard and conditions of the peoples of the .islands of the Pacific. New Zealand could probably solve the problem of the relationship with neighbouring native peoples better than others, for it had already done so in its own country. They had to take an interest in ' the whole ®of the Pacific in future and help to raise the standard of living and to improve the conditions of the Asiatics. The Pacific would take a predominant place in the future, and if they could not work out some system of goodwill between Europeans and Asiatics they would only the heading for another world war. Canada was prepared to see the war through in the Pacific as well as in Europe, and after the war to put her feet under the table to work out a better world both for Europeans and Asiatics. . The hope that, it would be possible to have a better interchange of news between New Zealand and Canada was expressed by Mr. Ford. He said it was pretty difficult to know each other unless there was a better realization of what was going on in the two countries. An improved service might not be possible just now, but there should be one in the future. With the improvement in air communications after the war there should be much.greater opportunities for peoples to get together. “The realization was ranch greater than the expectation,” said Mr. Ford in referring to the New Zealand countryside and the scenery and mountains. New’ Zealand, he added, would have great tourist potentialities after the war, probably to a greater extent than was appreciated. “Air-Conditioned Paradise.”

“New Zealand is an air-conditioned Paradise if there were ever such a place,” said Mr. Richardson. New Zealand, he added, was a household word today. It was a country in transition just as Canada was. Mr. Richardson said' that if anything in the world demonstrated the extent to which the Allies had taken the initiative it was the meeting in Persia of Mr. Churchill, Mr. Roosevelt and Premier Stalin. Last August Mr. Churchill and Mr. Roosevelt had met in Quebec, and lie had attended the very last Press conference on that occasion, when it was said there would be another meeting of the Allied statesmen before the end of the year while a hint was given that the Russians would be there. This conference in Persia had been according to plan. He believed that at . the Quebec conference the strategy of the defeat of Germany was pretty well settled, and that the finishing touches'were added to it at the conference the other day. He believed the air offensive would play the major part in the defeat of Germany. He also believed that some surprises were coming up for Japan. Reference to Mr. Nash’s work in Washington was also made by Mr. Richardson. He said that Mr. Nash, whom he had personally met in Ottawa, had, become v great figure and citizen in Washington, and was in the news as a member of the Pacific War Council. “The Chinese walls of our isolationism have fallen,” said Mr. Richardson in referring to the possibilities opened up by the new age of air travel. Mr. Nash said he would not have been able to do what he bad in Washington had it not been for what had been done in New Zealand, and by its men in the Middle East and in the Pacific. It was this that had brought the name of New Zealand to the forefront. Mr. Pare also spoke. w