CIVIC RECEPTION

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 July 1944, Page 3

CIVIC RECEPTION

VISITING PARLIAMENTARIANS i COMPLIMENTARY DINNER Shortly after their arrival from Christchurch, last evening, the two members of the overseas Parliamentary delegation who are visiting the West Coast were accorded a civic reception to Greymouth at a complimentary dinner held at Harkers.. The guests were Mr. Frank Collindridge, Member of the British House of Commons for Barnsley, and Mr. Angus Maclnnes, Member of Vancouver East in the Canadian House of Commons. The Minister of Mines (Mr. Webb) and the Under-Secretary of Mines (Mr. Benney) accompanied the guests. The function, which was attended by about 80 representative citizens and representatives of local bodies, was tendered by the Grey,mouth Borough Council, Grey County Council, Greymouth Harbour Board and Grey Electric Power Board, and the Mayor (Mr. F. A. Kitchingham) presided. Following the dinner a toast list was honoured. After proposing the Loyal Toast, the Mayor proposed that of “Our Guests.” Mr. Kitchingham extended a cordial welcome to the visitors. Their visit was an historic occasion for Greymouth, it being the first time members of the British and Canadian Parliaments had visited the town. One came from the Mother of Parliaments and the other from the oldest British Dominion. The Coast was the most romantic place in the Dominion —only 80 years ago there were 100 i Maoris at Jackson Bay; in 1864, alIrnost to this very month, the gold i rush had set in. The early dangers laced by the miners had bred a hos- • pitality, friendship and trust in each , other which still characterised the older native-born inhabitant of the Coast. From this part New Zealand had produced her greatest Premier, Richard John Seddon. The Chairman of the Grey County Council, Mr. R. Clark, supporting the Mayor, said West land probably employed more than half the total number engaged in coal mining in New Zealand and was the only source of bituminous coal. In spite of all the criticism aimed against the miners, they had done a good job. Mr. Webb’s, policy of acquiring mines had the support of all the miners’ unions in the Dominion. The Chairman of the Greymouth Harbour Board, Mr. J. Mulcare, said the Harbour Board were anxious to do their job and intended to do so, but could only do so with the aid of the Government. With its help he believed that job could be done. In his opinion farming on the Coast had a bright future but farmers wanted a better spin. They did not want to see, as they did, within a radius of 16 miles of Greymouth, 10 or 12 holdings of 14 out of production and a ; pest of noxious weeds. The Chairman of the Grey Electric Power Board, Mr. W. H. Parfitt, said the guests were on the mission of strengthening the British Commonwealth in war and peace. All hoped and believed the war would soon end. He wished the visitors the pleasure of a safe journey. The President of the Runanga State j Miners’ Union, Mr. G. E. English, said it was always, a pleasure to meet strangers on good terms—there must be a profit from the exchange of ideas. On behalf of a union of about 500 men he was pleased indeed to 'welcome the guests. He was sure both .visitors and men would benefit from I the visit. ■ The President of the Grey Valley Miners’ Union, Mr, W. Purdy, assured

Mr. Collindridge that New Zealand had the best Minister of Mines. He ’ hoped both visitors would have an I enjoyable visit. , The Deputy Superintendent of I State Coal Mines, Mr. J. Hadcroft, said , he was sure the visits from one part I of the world to the other could only > do good. With high-speed travel and | the smallness of the world it was < necessary to travel to get on com- > mon terms. From 100 men the Indus- i try in the district had grown to 1000 ; men with stores and wages bordering 1 the half-million mark. The only thing i that would prevent the State Mines i being a success was lack of co-opera-tion from the men in the industry. CANADIAN VIEWPOINT. Mr. Maclnnes, acknowledging the welcome, said the friendliness shown had been a continuation of that begun in Sydney six weeks before. He expressed pleasure at the beauty of the scenery on the Coast and elsewhere in, the" Dominion. New Zealand was better known in Canada than was Canada in New Zealand despite the fact that per head of population more New Zealanders visited Canada than Canadians came here. He had come to see how things were done _ here. To-day was a time of great crisis in the history of the British Common-1 wealth, a crisis that had brought out I the best in the peoples of many nations. References had been made on his tour to the sufferings of the British people in this war; there were very few nations that had had to meet the same circumstances as those confronting Britain after the fall of Dunkirk. But, as Emerson had said, there was no evil but had its good, and even the terrible bombing and blitz of 1940 and 1941 had had their compensation lor the British people because of the way they took it. The prestige of the British people rose all over the world at a time when that, was very much needed. ~ n Mr. Maclnnes said New Zealand had done its very gallant share—for a small nation probably the largest relatively. However, it was a global war —lighting an enemy who, had he been successful, would have destroyed all the things they stood for. Wherever the Nazis set foot the first thing they destroyed was the Labour Movement, and the working people of the world! had been the first to realise the dangers of Fascism. Because of that he agreed they must, make war, knowing I’ii’ll well that young men would have to give up their lives —it would have been worse for them to be turned into ihe men Hitler had influenced. Canada had first of all called on to defend her those for whom shq could find no use in the 10 years before the war, and she was determined such a state of affairs should not pertain again. Four hundred thousand men and 100,000 women had been taken from the fahns, yet the volume of production had. increased 25 per cent, because the old men had returned to the farms and the women and children had helped, while farmers had been encouraged by subsidies which did not materially increase prices. In industrial production Canada had really amazed herself. Before the war there was no Navy or Army; to-day the former had over 800 ships and shared with Britain the convoying of the North Atlantic. The national income had grown from four billion dollars in 1937 to over ten billions this year. Mr. Maclnnes said he believed that I by utilising the scientific knowledge now obtained, and by understanding, not only would wav be banished for ever, but a prosperity they had not even dared to dream would bo built. More than a military victory, they had to obtain a peace that ensured the sacrifices were not made in vain,, otherwise they would be guilty of.’ taking the lives of young men with-j out obtaining the reward for which the sacrifices were made. I

MR. COLLINDRIDGE’S REPLY. Mr. Collindridge, who prefaced his remarks with a series of anecdotes, spoke of the regard in which the British miners held Mr. Webb. He himself had left, the pit to go into Parliament six years ago, having been down a mine since the age of 13. The British miners had had a bad spin, and in remarks reported elsewhere he indicated their wholehearted response to the war. Referring to coal consumption, he commented that an acre of wasted ground could be reclaimed, but a ton of coal wasted was gone. The best use should be made of the resources. In April, when he left England, there was a feeling that victory was likely to be distant, but he now felt the bells of peace might be ringing early in the new year for the European theatre. Then New Zealand would become a base for the final struggle against Japan. The Minister of Mines, proposing the toast “Mining Industry,” stated that the industry was the basis of most of the mechanical undertakings of the world. He was in agreement that a commodity that had taken 10,000 million years to form must be preserved in every way possible. No nation was poor that had an ample supply. The world was fast approaching the stage where every piece of coal would be thoroughly utilised in its by-products. The commercial aspect of winning coal should be removed from the element of a gamble. At the James mine for over 20 years the State had lost money, but when they started on the extraction of pillars they made up the loss in five or six years. A mine should be opened up properly to return dividends not in 10 but 50 years. Dobson and Wallsend would have become dead towns if left to private enterprise. The mines had been taken over at the request of the companies and already 300,000 tons had been proven ahead of the area where it had been proposed to stop. By the present exploratory operations a new lease of life would be given the industry in the Dobson area. (Other remarks by Mr. Webb are reported elsewhere). In reply, Mr. Benney said coal was the world’s chief source of energy, light and heat —possibly the future chief generator of oil. Strange as it may seem there was no other substance as inefficiently extracted and used. The reason was economic—it had. to be won within a certain price and' not consistently at a loss. Much would depend' on the courage of governments in facing the problem. Above all things there was a great need to convince the people that conservation was one of the most important works. He doubted if at present, for instance, New Zealanders would be prepared to face the cost of washing coal. On the ordinary economics of business—not “battleship economics”—it was rot yet possible to exploit the carbonisation process. Mr. M. Hall, President of Lie Wallsend Miners’ Union, whose name was coupled with that of Mr. Btnney, said the miners did not prof ss to be 100 per cent, angels and he asked for more tolerance towai ds them and all workers. Items were presented by Mr. W. Richmond (vocal solos), Master r' Outram (violin solos). R. Kemp (\ jcal solos). Mr. H. Chalk was c ' compa nist. The Mayor presented the visit! ig M.’sP. with copies of “Old We tland.”