PUBLIC SCHOOL PARTY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 38, 15 February 1933, Page 4

PUBLIC SCHOOL PARTY

CIVIC RECEPTION

DOMINION'S HOSPITALITY

' TKe visiting English public school Jioys 'and their' leaders, Colonel N. Charteris, Mr. J. Blackie, and Captain 'A. J. Wilson, wore accorded a civic welcome-at the-Town Hall at noon yesterday. The _Mayor (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop), in extending to the visitors the best wishes of the city, said that tho idea of tho visit was a splendid. one,. inspired no doubt by the line: "Ho little knows of England who only England .kuows." The advantages which followed upon the interchange of visits between tho peoDle of the Old Country and the Dominions, whether in the field of sport, commerce, or purely, social visits, were apparent to anyone who thought at all about them, and particularly valuable were visits such 'as' tho present tour of the representatives of the great public [ schools of England. Those who read /history were aware of the influence impressed npon the Empire by the boys ! from the public schools of England. Becfore him, on the wall of the council chamber, hung the portrait of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the founder of tho ,colony of New Zealand and one of tho [founders of Wellington.City, a representative of one of England's public •schools, and ono.of-th. many such representatives Whb' from 1840 onwards did so much to lay the foundations for the development of this country. Mr. Hislop wished the boys an en- | Joyable and valuable tour, remarking '.upon the great variety of magnificent i scenery to be fouridin so small a coun- '■ try. He spoke of the warmth of the .'regard of tho' people of New Zealand . for the Old Country, from ; whose es> ample in times of adversity New Zealand took encouragement and inspiration which would see them through. •' In conclusion, Mr; Hislop referred to [some of; the municipal activities in Wcl- , lingtop, the tramway, power, and milk ■ departments, activities elsewhere gene* ' lallyleft to private enterprise,' but im-portant-phases of municipal develop- .. ment here, managed on such sound prin- ■ ciples of business - that though the wasr one 'of'great-difficulty-} they \vere. steadily carrying ahead. "STRENtTdXTS HOSPITALITY." ; Colonel Charteris thanked Mr. Hislop i for the kind welcome he had extended ■on behalf of the citizens'of Wellington, .' and remarked that throughout their '. tour the hospitality had been somei thing far more than they: had a right to ."expect; it was "strenuous hospitality." (The Government had 'been extraordinarily generous in providing free railway- passes and in many other directions, and the private iospitality 'had been most generous and kindly, I Particularly did they' appreciate the ■ generosity of private... hosts, -and1 •hostesses, for by the division of the ." party among many homes the boys had , an opportunity of becoming acquainted • with the people of New Zealand and of T. making many friends. ._ The tour was really .educational, and every boy was benefiting greatly and would look back npon the tour with in- ; creasing pleasure as the yeai-8 went by. . This was the tenth tour of its kind, and •would do much to knit still closer the ' strong bonds between the Dominions and [England. He had left England an Im- ' ; perialist; he was now an ultra-Imperial-ist, for nothing could; bring to. one a better realisation of the magnitude of the British Empire than a tour such rtos the party was engaged, upon. ; The singing of- the National Anthem ■ Concluded the gathering.