IMPERIAL PROBLEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15562, 20 March 1914, Page 10

IMPERIAL PROBLEMS.

EMIGRATION AND FINANCE.

SPEECH BY MR, MACKENZIE.

[niOM ' 017b.. OWN CO]

London, February 6. i Tee High Commissioner for New Zea- i land (Hon. T. Mackenzie) was entertained | to dinner by the Anglo-Saxon Club, at the i Hotel Cecil, on Wednesday evening, when Ix)rd Plunket presided over a good attend- : once including Lord Sydenliam, Sir R. ', Baden-Powell, Sir Charles Lucas, Sir T. A. Coghlan, Sir John McCall, Colonel Sir ! J. S. Young, and Mr J. H. Mackenzie. '' j In proposing the health of their guest, i Lord "lunket said it gave him great pleas- ! lira in doing so because he had known Mr. : Mackenzie fairly intimately for ten years. New Zealand's High Commissioner was a modest and unassuming gentleman. Modest and. unassuming Mr. Mackenzie undoubtedly was, but he had absolutely no reason to be so, for in the great Dominion of Ne,w Zealand ho had had. a distinguished careor thai all might honour and envy. (Applause). Mr. Mackenzie had been the most successful Parliamentary candidate in the Dominion. He had •represented at different times fi"e constituencies, and had never been defeated. In educational, charitable, municipal "work and the like ho had taken as prominent b part as anyone in that country. He had filled many Cabinet positions, and at all times had done exceeding well. If one were to ask Mr. Mackenzie what, in his heart, ho considered the best claim for iiia country's regard, he would answer the work for the farmers of New Zealand and the trade of the Dominion generally. Promoting - Patriotism. The toast having been accorded musical honours, the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie thanked the members for their markedly cordial welcome. New Zealand, he ma, had been blessed the high class of men ■who bad represented ' the Crown in that (far-distant,cdifaffetpy, and 'no man more deeervEidly occupied that high position than did their chairman, who left bohind him a memory which stood endeared to the heart of the people, and whose good works would !>& .'long remembered. (Applause.) In order make New Zealand successful, not. only had they to place their people on the fend under such conditions as would afford a comfortable living, but also they had to* discover markets to which they could send their produce. ' Consequently, some fifteen 'years ago he resigned his position in the. New Zealand Parliament, and came Home in • order that he might study - the handling of produce on the London market. By reason of that practical- experience he had been able t<» advise, their farmers on the lines of action which he thought it best for them to take. He looked back upon his long public career with great satisfaction, and he felt that something had been done to help on that beautiful country with which he was connected. (Applause.) He noticed that the first»object of the club ■was to promote patriotism. That he took to be comparatively easy, inasmuch as the vast majority of the people who owned the sway of- the- King were patriotic in every fibre. An Effective Force. Continuing, ho confessed that at times New Z.'alandcrs, in their patriotism, were 'disposed to regard the attacks of the Little Englanders as trying. They were working out their destiny. In connection with New Zealand finance and its defence policy, it was extremely annoying to find that mien who had no concern whatever •with New Zealand were continually falsifying its financial position and giving utterance to slanderous statements regarding the work that their country was carrying out. Happily, one of the members of Parliament, who had recently returned from the Empire-tour, stated that ho had not met with a " croaker" during the four months aver which his visit to Australasia had extended. It remained for the people on this side to " croak." What was required was to weld that patriotism, into- «n effective force. ! The -Emigration Problem. . | Another object of the club was to dis cuss questions of national and Imperial importance, and this was especially necessary at the present time. .In hisopinion emigration and finance came under tlhat (head. "At the present time," said Air. MacItnnzie, " we are all working in different ways and with no perfect system of emigration. Emigration must ho independently dealt' with, find is, in my opinion, a, question for an Imperial -authority in a council which should include, of course, representatives of the Home Country and of the Overseas Dominions. So long as we have Dominions to people, and there are surplus Britons available, tha system should concentrate on our own possessions But what is lacking at this end is a proper syslematisation of training and emigration. Without elaborating the scheme one Las in one's mind, 1 might sav that all children who are now considered neglected should be taken : m < Hand by the State and instructed in vae'i>'> "' -Matrons, in order to meet the reoti-r im m « or the overseas .possessions-.i n„ >i„„i7d agriculture mid domestic work lie taught, so that when they go abroad, where there is abundance of land, they may become useful titiaens."