COLONIAL STATESMEN IN LONDON.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 18 April 1907, Page 4

COLONIAL STATESMEN IN LONDON.

lOnitbd Peess Association. — Copy- . niaHT.] ' A POLITICAL BANQUET. THE FREEDOM OF THE CITY. LONDON, Thurs. Addressing the . Radical Political ianquet" at the Holboi-B Restiinranl, which all the colonial Premiers and colonial Ministers attended, Sir H. C. Bannerman, who presided, declared that jt Was a slander to assert that Radicals Wefr& "Little Englanders," permeated the naMoW and Hostile views regarding tho colonies. All favoured tht maintenance of the Empire on princi pies of freedom, independence anc equal justice, wliich were the very breath of its being. If not cOntinuet on these lines a good' many of us, h< said, would wish that it could not bi continued at all. He indicated that thi King's first act on his return would b< to stretch forth the right hand of fel lowship to the Premiers, and to ex press the feeling of affectionate devo tion and recognition of their gl<eai services which lie and his subjects en tei-taihed: . . Mr Haldaiie, Secretary of State fo , War, who succeeded Sir H. C. Banner ! man in the chair when the latter wa compelled to return to Parliament j proposed the toast of "Our Guests.' , He commented on causes and principle " going deeper than party. The Empir \ ttas beyond controversy.. It possess 3 ed an unwritten, an unrigid, constitir J tion, able to develop, able to adap itself to circumstances, a constitute which carried oversea, refafihionec yet still the same, preserving to ii the King'? subjects a conscious enjoi irigfll of'tlje fullest fj-eedom- The En pi re rested, riot, oli force, but oii. con mon ends, common purposes. Libert was its bond, holding the Empire U gether. Mr Haldane, adverting to tl Transvaal constitution, welcomed Gen i'aj Bptba. He and the General Sta intended to confer with General Botl shortly on the mutual defences of tl Empire. Apparently the early t'oj n ferment of a Constitution ."ii tl i Transvaal seemed to be in the very n t ture of things to those appreciatii the self-developing character of the Bi j- tish Constitution, which may give i o great things— it may give us Imperi d Councils, and possibly great varieti ,e of iiistittltloilS. . , 1K Mr Deakin, Commonwealth Premie J. who was warmly .greeted, responde W sdifl t(ia.t Mr Haldane had spoki with professional, equally with person enthusiasm of the Constitution, but, a ter all, it was only true that the pt manent basis of a union lay deeper th: 16 ' the Constitution; it lay m the peop! m and tho character of the people fit « 'whom the Constitution sprang. Witho le the acceptance of the principle of eqy jv fr_e^oiii even the British Constitute t- Mollis i?R id fra:ti He agreed wi b- Mr Haldane thab tney must devel er arjd .adapt themselves to tha Jiseeßsiti s . of l\i<i lm-. He described the anon! is lous position of tfig .hh'ference',. i ie meters belonging -to a body H-itßo ti status, but he hoped it would be al in to tilt. Sotn*< steps, it short steps, t m wards a better tvtifklKg policy,. Austi i B lia needed population, and he iiopu'l l a t Conference would devise machinery : le curing her a home, British, populatio „j General Botha (Transvaal) in an Ii e perial, loyal, and optimistic speech l e ! garding the prospects of the union t 6 the white races in South Africa, toai r( f ed the Moiiie ClovSHiment. He declar ,1. that the whole of .tlie people of Trrti s . vaal grasped . the hand of freedom i tended to them,, and would not 1 it go a&iiri. . (Cheers.) Mr cWcliill, Uilder-S^cretary f the Colonies, in responding, exprelsi the hope that his friends attending t Conference would return convinced th there is no anti-colonial party in B In iat"' ; {e lii connection .with the. ceremony 1V conferring the Fi-fe'dorii of tlie Cjty. S g Premiers, Sir J. Ward ttaa s'rpetgtl lt the streets with shquts of "Kia .Ora. -, Mr Deakin said there was no loyal jr lilth the byaalty of free men, no bo: at like the bond of free men. .Upon tl 1( j depends greatness, upon this depeii e . the greatness and future of the E n _ pire. The gold casket would be flu is.hed because they bore tbe imprint r^ the Motherlalid. THe Premiers, wf g grateful for the reaffirmation of i , ties of blood which bound them. B Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Canada) descr: ed the previous Conferences as sp; y modic, disjointed, being appended ' ceremonial events. The resent gathi ing was unique. It marked ani ' departure, it demonstrated to t j world that the Empire was a livi entity. He paid an eloquent tribi , to Mr Seddon. and proceeded to S ' j that though tne. Hopes of ardent t , tHusiasts who \Vished to bind the 1 ture by putting upon the present i tolerable conditions were perhaps « realisable, there would be no failu i Connected with the Conference. 1 was delighted to receive Dr Jamesor assurance that South Africa Would 'f federated before next Conference. General Botho Bat hcxt to Lord Ro r ' crts. -n —