MEN OF KENT

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 5, 6 July 1928, Page 9

MEN OF KENT

—- ♦ SIR W. HALL-JONES VISIT TO NATIVE TOWN (From "the Post's" : Representative.) LONDON, 2nd June. Sir William Hall-Jones was the chief guest at the annual dinner of the Folkestone branch of the Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men. Sir William is a native of Folkestone,.and.twenty-, four years ago,at the same Boyal Pavilion Hotel, he was entertained by the Mayor, members of the Folkestone Corporation, and other citizens when he returned to this country as Minister of Public Works for New Zealand. In replying to a complimentary toast proposed by the Mayor pn the present occasion, Sir William said that no one could realiso how it felt after spending the greater part of one's lifetime 12,000 miles away from'their own towny to come back to one's native town, to the places where one ran about as a boy, to see again those with whom one was a boy, and to see old faces many of which ,\vere the same as when he left theni. The Mayor would tell them that he had given him some jolly good and sound advice not many moments previous, and that advico was never to enter the political arena; and he ,would go so far as to say that a man .would be a wealthier, and iappier inan»i£ .he avoided that arena. (Laughter.) He had great pleasure in bringing to them from the branch of the Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men in Wellington, New Zealand, their fraternal greetings. (Applause.) . That branch was started only a little over a year ago, and ho believed Folkestone and Wellington were very much on a par in that respect, inasmuch, that owing to the,war;the branch fell away a little, but thfly were both pulling themselves together again. (Applause.) He wanted to see the Folkestone branch Dot only the largest in Kent but the largest in any part of the world. (Applause.) , WOMEN'S FRANCHISE. Speaking on more general topics, Sir ,William referred to tho proposal to give young ladies the vote. He was also glad to see that some of the work, start-r od in New Zealand was -to be continued in the Mother Country. They in New Zealand, he believed, started votes for womon. He would rather, however, sec the change, made, step by step. He hoped that whatever they did would turn out well, not only for the benefit of England but the Empire as a whole. Thoy all looked upon England as, home. He, remembered when he was leaving New Zealand his grand-daugh-ter, aged three, and a half, came with -her mother to see him off. ,As he stepped up the gangway this little girl said, "Good:bye, grandad; I am coming home some day." It was always home. Thero was a child whose mother even had not been to England, but they still called England, home.' (Applause.) He wanted to see that spirit continued; he wanted to see the Men of Kent and Kentish Men linked up the world over. Beferring to-tho present-day talk on disarmament, Sir William said ho did not quite like'all that talk. Why? Ho could only think of what occurred prior to tho outbreak of war in'l9l4. Ho1 considered it would bo wrong to have other than an army and navy reasonably strong for tho protection of their country and Empire. (Applause.) Armaments were an insurance against war. He wanted to see something done which was going to prevent any recurrence of what occurred in tho early days of the late war. , Let them mako reasonable provision now. Let, them determine whether they were to use the common sense God had given -them for the benefit of the people of their great Empiro ana the countries in which they lived, and in so doing they wouia help the people in England, they would help tho people in Now Zealand in tho samo way, and they would be doing their duty towards the British Empire. (Applause.) ..■'■.■.'■■• Before closing, Sir William mentioned the Mayor's suggestion to make him a freeman of the borough. He did not know there was sucli an honour, but it was a-very nice suggestion—a very nice thought for which ho gave his sincerest thanks. In the course of his speech Sir William suggested that the maidens of Folkestone should weave a Union Jack, and the maidens of Wellington and men •of Kent there should weave a New Zealang flag, and that they be exchanged between the Wellington and Folkestone branches. By so doing they would have a living link between the men of Kent out there and the mon of Kent in Folkestone. There was evident approval of this suggestion.