HON. P. FRASER

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 103, 28 October 1939, Page 12

HON. P. FRASER

ARRIVAL IN LONDON

A FAST JOURNEY

ALL THE WAY BY AIR

It was announced from Daventry today that the Hon. P. Fraser and his party have arrived in London, after travelling by air all the way from New Zealand. The journey took sixteen days, including time for stopovers at Auckland and Sydney. Mr. Fraser will represent New Zealand at the conference of Empire Ministers which is to be held in London to discuss the co-ordination of war measures within the Empire. Mr. Fraser is accompanied by Mr. C. A. Berendsen, Permanent Head of the Prime Minister's Department, Colonel W. G. Stevens, secretary of the Organisation for National Security, and Mr. J. T. Waugh, his private secretary. During Mr. Fraser's absence his portfolios have been distributed as fol-lows:—-Education, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason; Health and Mental Hospitals, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong; Marine, the Hon. W..E. Parry; and Police, the Hon. P. C. Webb. The Hon. W. Nash is acting as Senior Minister in the absence of Mr. Fraser. bMr. Fraser and his party left Wellington on Wednesday, October 11, for Auckland, and flew from Auckland to Sydney in the Aotearoa on Friday, arriving in Sydney after a good crossing. They were due to leave.Sydney early on the following Monday morning on the major part of their flight to England. VALUE OF PERSONAL CONTACT. Commenting today on the task that Mr. Fraser had before him in London, the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) emphasised the value of personal contact. "The personal touch gives Governments a better opportunity of co-bperating in what they are doing," said Mr. Savage. "In this case they have a big job, perhaps the biggest job they will ever be. called upon to do, and-it is desirable to have representative men on the spot to discuss things and see for themselves what is actually happening. No matter how well you try to do things by cables and letters, it is never done so well as by personal contact."

Mr. Savage said that the job ahead of them was a big one and it was easy for misunderstandings to crop up even through the best of intentions. It was desirable to have men meeting so that there would be no misunderstandings. "We have tried to make it plain that we are going the full distance with the British Commonwealth," added the Prime Minister, "and we want to be sure that that is expressed in our actions right through."

Mr. Savage was unable to say how long Mr. Fraser expected to stay in London. "I have told him to stay there while there is a job to be done," he said.