ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12602, 17 June 1904, Page 6

ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE.

ANNUAL BANQUET. SPEECH BY NEW COLONIAL. SECRETARY. [FROM OTTR OWN. CORRESPONDENT.] • London, May 6. . On Friday evening the annual banquet of the, Royal Colonial Institute took place in the Whitehall room. of the Hotel Metropole. Mr. Alfred: Lytifiton, the new Colonial Secretary, presided, and there was a lsjge and representative -company, including the Duke 'of Marlborough (Under-Secretary for the Colonies), Lord 'Jersey, and others. In proposing the health of the King, the Chairman remarked that a great convention had been arranged between this country and Prance. . Unlike most conventions, with farreaching results, it was not signed after a war, but in a time of peace;,audi that great achievement and the spirit of the two countries which had enabled it to be brought about, was very largely due to the efforts of His Majesty, relations with our gallant neighbours had throughout his life been of the most cordial and friendly description, reflecting in that, as in other matters, a kind and generous nature.

Responding to the toast of " The Imperial Forces," Admiral Bowden-Smith remarked that the officers and men on the Australian station had always been treated with kindness and courtesy. . Referring to the war in. the Far East, he spoke of the able manner .in which : the Japanese ,had handled their vessels. We had beard that the Russian Baltic Fleet, would shortly proceed to the Par East. It would-be interesting to .eee how they would get so far without coaling stations, and how, if they got: there, they would be able to carry on operations without a base which was not dominated to a certain extent by the Japanese. f The 1 unfortunate loss, of the Ptropavlovsk must make all of us consider whether it would not be possible to have rather smaller ships, instead of putting so much; money into one vessel. With regard to our own jayv; the great thing was to have sufficient and efficient reserves. He believed that (here n*ver was a time'when the officers and men took more interest in the service than now.' ,/: ■'.•

Mr. Lyttelton proposed " Prosperity to the Royal Colonial Institute." :He referred to the fact that this toast was proposed in 1897 'by the Colonial Secretory—a designation which for many years to come Britons would only identify with Mr. Chamberlain.; (Cheers:) The toast was then responded to by Sir A. Milner, now Lord Milner, who, happily, was in : office still, and who for over seven years, had exhibited, to the admiration; of all his countrymen, acombination of sympathy, courage, and intellectual power. .The association of these two eminent and distinguished men summoned to his : mind a vision' of what we might all, he trusted, live to seea permanent union of the British and' Dutch races under the British flag- in Souths Africa. ■;■•; It was true that in ;an > age: when all things were exaggerated, "and in which most men were in a 'great hurry, cries of impatience were heard from all sides because the Government of; Pretoria did , not reflect; in ' all respects the regularities, ' or should he say the irregularities, -of the Government at' Westminster and nt Washington. ' There seemed to bo an expectation that within a few months of the termination of the great, war in which we were lately en- * gaged all things should be regular, and ordered as if in a time of long and profound peace. But that wecould not legitimately'; expect. An immense deal had been dome in South Africa, much' more would ]be I done; but in the meantime we might surely * let hope stimulate patience, because ;no man. who had studied the histories of the British and the Dutch races could help feeling that there were many, and great affinities between the two races. The best Englishmen and the best Dutchmen were truly attached to law and to Government. . Since October last,: when he took over ; his present office, there had been settled the great and thorny question of the Alaskan boundary; and more recently, without a dissentient! voice, so far as he could at ' present- ge"', we had arrived at a/great settlement with our gallant neigh-; bours, the French. As one who had per-' sonal knowledge of Newfoundland, he congratulated that colony upon once more being mistress of her own territories. He trusted that these two great settlements . might contribute largely to the ability of the colonists of the Empire peace- ; : aboly to develop their own affairs. , . , THE CHIXESE I-ABOITB QUESTION. ".- ' After referring to the possibility of.introducing to West Africa and other parts of the Empire the industry of cotton-growing, Mr.; I lyttelton touched on the labour difficulty in South Africa. He hoped . that those pre- | sent would no* expect him to 'discuss' so controversial a question on that occasion; but, he reminded them that, at this present moment, a million and a-quarter of Chinese were living and working under the flag ;■ of the King, representing a capital sum of pro-" perty of about £4,000,000, amassed chiefly, within the King's dominions and under the security of his peace. "No problem of the I future was mora worthy of the serious consideration of those who, like the audience he was■ addressing, studied the conditions and the varying circumstances ' of!' the Empire than that of how to reconcile the - two great opposing forces of the present day. Anyone taking a bird's-eye view of oil* planet, would sea ! great tracts off lands sparsely, populated, but .equally fertile : with : those .which were thickly populated. One of the work" l forces which must be reckoned with was the desire of those who lived, within the congested areas to break out of them to filtrate into the vacant spaces of the earth. On the other hand, there was a racial sentiment which he, for one, | would be the last to decry, and which was represented by the members vof those great democratic countries who said, "We have, it is true, possessions of land which are lu'gely vacant, but we absolutely decline to admit as competitors ! within ; them those of a lowei civilisation and a lower industrial standard." He did not think that many of those present would j live to see a thorough reconciliation of those two" great opposing forces, but he felt a certain doubt as to whether we did right not sincerely'and courageously to face it. There was, to his mind, a certain hollowness, a certain spirit; of ; formula, in speaking of the unity and the homogeneity of the Empire when the people of one portion of it—and he did hot say for a moment that they were wrongrefused free way and leave: to other subjects of the King to move freely within their midst. He apologised for introducing a subject of such> vast complexity as this, but he did not think that problems grew easier if they were; met merely by \. perorations. .'. CHe felt* that he should have done wrong had he not submitted to the examination and to' the analysis of so expert a body as the Royal Colonial Institute, with its , members from all parts , of the Empire, a problem which would, h« believed, be one of the greatest to ■; confront English statesmen.

Field-Marshal Sir Henry Norman responded to the toast, and then Colonel Sir George Clarke proposed " The; United Empire." He referred to. the immense growth'of the Empire during the past century, 'and said that it was to-day not only unique in wealth and power •? among all Empires of which mention was made in history, but it was the greatest power for good in the world. The moral baste of the British Empire ought not to be lost sight of. So.long as it stood for truth, equal justice, and freedom isc long would ;it •; continue to play a leading part among the nations. If it ever lost those high ideals, it would fall —and it would fall deservedly and no regret-' ted. ':-:J ■:":."'■'"'.'■■ '"/^' : :- : :■;'•;.' ,; ' : ->•;:';■■..'.

Sir West Ridgeway 'having replied, the health of the chairman was proposed by Mr. CD. Rose, M.P., who declared his confidence that the interests of Britain's colonies were perfectly safe in Mr. Lvttelton's keeping. '..'■ -.-.% ;•■;■;;. . This,wag received with loud applause and the proceedings then terminated. • All the arrangements were as \xc«rlent a? ever under the-care of Mr. ; 'A; O'HaUorah: the secretary of the institute,..and Mr. Chamberlain, his indefatigable assistant. The sole drawback lay in the exceeding mildness of the speeches, which were' the poorest I have ever listened to on such an occasion— and; this was my. twelfth successive experience of this annual series. From r purely New Zealand view point, moreovei, the almost; total;.' absence of representatives of that colony seemed

regrettable. Only four real - New / Zealand could bo detected among those '303 guests, viz.,.Mr. Hall-Jones, Minister for Public Works, Mi. James Allan, M.H.8., Major Nelson George, And Mr. Theemin. I heard much regret expressed that, the Agent- . General fo* New Zealand was never able to attend these gatherings; It seems to me that his presenceoccasional at any rate—is desirable, As matters now stand New Zealand appears to be on. the verge of total disappearance from within' the horizon, of the Royal Colonial Institute,'interests. That surely is a pity. - __