MAY JAPAN AID GREAT BRITAIN FOR WORLD PEACE

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6672, 27 July 1928, Page 8

MAY JAPAN AID GREAT BRITAIN FOR WORLD PEACE

Welcome to Japanese Visitors by the Mayor

During the course of the municipal luncheon to the visiting Japanese officers yesterday, His Worship the Mayor, Mr A. J. Graham, in proposing the toast of “The Japanese Navy" referred to the great possibilities for world peace in a continuance of friendship and mutual understanding between j Great Britain and Japan. Extending ! a welcome to the visiting officers on be-! half of the municipality and residents of Palmerston North, Mr Graham said: I •“It affords me a great deal of pleasure to extend to you and your officers a very cordial welcome to Palmerston North, which is the centre of a very rich agricultural and pastoral district, widely known as the 'Marvellous Manawatu.' “An opportunity will be afforded you of viewing some of the enviroments of our town, which has a very great future before it. When I tell you that a little over 50 years • ago the site on which Palmerston North riow stands' - was but a natural clearing in, the midstof dense bush, you will realise the remarkable progress that has been made.. , “Great ,as has' been that progress, it will be as nothing compared with, the progress that 'awaits ;us in the not- far distant future,''for l am fully convinced that commercially and educationally, Palmerston North is destined to'.rank as one of the chief - cities of this Dominion, ' ’ i '.'' ' ‘ A Great Service. “In extending to you the hand, of friendship wo recall with gratitude the great service your Navy rendered this Dominion in providing escort' for our Expeditionary Perce, and your closecooperation with .the British Squadron throughout the period of : war. ■, . '• “When the British Government Ashed your Imperial Government for assistance under the terms of the AngloJapanese Alliance you immediately responded to the call and faithfully-dis-charged the' obligation devolving upon you of consolidating and maintaining peace in the Par East.*" .said His' Worship.' - • ” ■' ;. /■ , “There is another service your .people have rendered us, and indeed/the whole World, to. wbiek I would like' to briefly refer, and that is in connection ■with the greatest war which mankind has been fighting for ages, the relentless, never-ending fight between microbe's and man. , ' : ' • Contribution to Science. “Your country has produced brilliant bacteriologists and clever, scientists, whoso wonderful research work / has made mankind their debtor. As a result of their brilliant laboratory work the deadly germs of 'yellow fever and bubonic plague have been unmasked and a way found to defeat them, and the conquest <of, the deadly diseases ofc tetanus and'diphtheria was made possible by Japanese research, work that enabled the weapons for fighting these diseases to be placed in the hands of men. ' ' ,v The Hand of Friendship. “International visits such as this, must, I think, create an influence that will minister greatly to the pacifying and unifying of, civilisation. In the last decade the world was" torn to pieces by a gib at disaster politically, and morally that revealed the worst side of human passions. To all : close observers it is apparent that *in the world to-day there ;is a ceaseless insistence, that humanity is capable of'better things, and a relentless challenge to the, nations to use their man power,' their organisations and their administrative genius to suppress the qrying. evils of selfishness, of avarice and disloyalty which run rampant in the for gain and power, and a clarion call to ; the' nations ; to apply themselves in the great work of re-construction, to the creation of a newer and a better world free from the tyranny and horrors of war. , • , ■■ ■ ; , ' I

“May I fervently- and prayerfully express the hope that yqur Great Nation will share with Great -Britain the task of spreading to the furthermost Emits of the earth the "blessing of peace and prosperity/ ’ concluded Mr. Graham amidst applause. Commander Togo Replies,

. Replying on behalf of his brother officers, Commander Togo stated that ho felt deeply the honour which had been done them by the- municipality. They had been-cruising for some time past in a vessel at-sea but since they had landed in ’New Zealand, they had found themselves although at home In the warm sunshine and beautiful scenery of this, country. r ' ' Everywhere they had been in the Dominion; they had been welcomed with open arms by everybody they had met. They were more .pleased than he could say, at this opportunity of visiting, this wonderful country and of seeing the peaceful land with its busy agricultural activities. .One of the training school’s chief objects was to give the trainees an opportunity of broadening their knowledge by coming in contact with the peoples of other lands and exchanging- courtesies with them. This visit, ho felt would go a long way toward, the fostering of friendship between his country and New Zealand. „ Wonderful Hospitality. “Your wonderful hospitality will live in our hearts for ever,” concluded the Commander. ‘‘ My English unfortunately is not strong enough to express all that I feel, but on behalf of my brother officers, may I wish you many years of happiness and prosperity. I have pleasure also, on behalf of my Admiral, of making you a token of our visit to your city. ’ ’ Commander Togo then handed to the