PRINCE AND THE EMPIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17649, 9 December 1920, Page 7

PRINCE AND THE EMPIRE.

LESSON OF HIS TOUR.

THE LINK OF COMRADESHIP.

TRIBUTE TO NEW ZEALAND.

UNSURPASSED LOYALTY. j i By Teleuraph—Press Association—Copyright A. and N Z. LONDON. Dec. 7. i The , Prince of Wales attended his first public function since his return, from his world tour to-day, when he was entertained in the Guildhall by the City of, London. ' j Large crowds lined the route and cheered the Prince during his drive to the Guildhall. Even the Thames Embankment, despite the cold weather, was lined with j crowds waiting an hour for his appearance. Traffic was diverted, and police- ; men were stationed along the whole route at short intervals on both sides of the roadways. The city was a blaze of colour, all the buildings being beflagged, some flying the Union Jack and the Southern \ Cross together. The Prince, in the uniform of a naval captain,, drove in an open carriage, preceded by a guard of khaki mounted men, with swords drawn. On arrival at the "Guildhall the Prince received the Royal salute, and was given an ovation on entering the library. Those present included several members of the Royal family, the whole of the Prince's suite, leading commercial men and financiers of London, Mr. Andrew Fisher. High Commissioner for Australia, Mrs. Fisher, and the Agents-General. The Common Sergeant read the address of welcome in the library. The luncheon followed. Mr. Lloyd George, -in proposing the health of the Prince of Wales, said that the Empire was the most remarkable in the world's history. It was loosely knitted. There was no domination, but all Dominions were equal. There was no centre from which dominion was exercised. The Empire was a partnership, but ,of free nations, controlling themselves, free to choose their own path, free to choose their own population, free to make their own history. Such a combination was very weak if not cemented by friendship, but very strong if influenced by mutual attachment and goodwill. Everything depended on the existence of the invisible attachment of the Empire. The great services of the Prince of Wales consisted in the fact that he had strength ened those invisible ties by qualities which the Empire now knew, as we knew before, by " his charm, the remarkable charm, the winning charm, the joyous charm of his personality." (Cheers.)

Two Great Nations of the South. Mr. Lloyd' George hinted that the reaction following the war created a vital necessity to find some method of keeping Britain and the Dominions together. The occasion demanded a man for the emergency, and the Prince of Wales was such a man. (Cheers.) He was just as much at home in the cities of the Dominions as in London, and just as much at home in the wildernesses of the Dominions as in the cities, which latter was a good omen, because the future of the Empire might well depend on the development of those vast regions. ,<. The Prince, replying, said: "We meet in happier circumstances than at the time of the coal strike, which necessitated a postponement. You addressed me in the name of the whole City of London, which •I, in '.ominon with all my -Londoners, regard as the greatest city in the world. Distant travel gives me ever-in-creasing appreciation of its influence and charm. I find I love it better every time I come back." The Prince thanked Mr. Lloyd George for his presence and his speech. Though he was sorry that he was not visiting India until 1921, he was delighted at the prospect of an undisturbed year in the Old Country, a treat he had not had for six years. The Prince raised a laugh by saying : " When a man is handsomely entertained-it is usually because his hosts wanted to get something out of him. I know you want to get ( some account of my latest -Empire tour out of me. My impressions are still lather kaleidoscopic, but I will do my best " He detailed his reception in the West Indies, and the achievement in getting the Renown through the Panama Canal, whence she went to Honolulu and Fiji. Crossing two oceans, where every group of. islands rang with the names of British sea captains _ and explorers, made one realise the spirit of those men of old, who faced uncharted seas in ships not onesixtieth the tonnage of a modern battlecruiser. When he reached New Zealand and Australia he felt that he had come to the culminating point of the untiring work of the early pioneers, for there were two great nations settled and developing in the very furtherest . quarter. of the globe from their original home.

At Home is' New Zealand. When he landed in Auckland the New Zealand.jrs made him feel at home it once. Within' a few days he visited the Maori people at Rotoiua. a. gallant, remarkable race, who were not unknown in London. He was grateful to them for gathering in such large numbers to greet him. " I worked my way down the North Island to Wellington, the capital city,' he continued, " •where I was specially entertained by Mr. Massey and bis Government. I spent a week in the South Island touring, and finally crossed the Otirii Gorge to the Canterbury Plains and Christchurch, and thence went to Dunedin and Invercamill, where I almost felt that I was back in Scotland. Auckland".' kindness and enthusiasm was carried or. everywhere. What impressed me was the intensely Old Country character of the people. You have a nretty sound and powerful patriotism here in the City of London, my Lord Mayor, but I assure you you have your work cut out to show it more thorbughlv than they do in New Zealand. It was with regret that I sailed from Lvttelton ; a month in New Zealand was far too short."

The Prince continued : " I landed in Melbourne on the Queen's birthday. I had to spare you details of my New Zealand travels, but must be still more sparing in regard to Australia. I had a wonderful time in Victoria, but no better than in New South ales. Comparison is odious, ' and both States together hold well over half the population of the Commonwealth. Sydney, as 1 told them myself, is indeed a London of the southern hemisphere. If any Sydney men are present I wish to tell them not only din I pee their harbour, but I appreciated it. (Great laughter.) I only wish you could see the kind, enthusiastic crowds in those two great cities. I was welcomed by similar enthusiastic crowds in those two other great States. I was able to .visit several goldfields and get some idea of life in the backblocks on sheep and cattle stations. It would take a. man at least, a year to see Australia properly. I was sorry to leave, having missed so much. Australia is a land of great spaces, of immense resources, and vast possibilities. Its history is only a century old, and the continent, as large as Europe, has a population much less than London."

Australia's Sslf-Confidence.

A striking indication of Australia's i power and character, continued the Prince. j vas the size and beautv of the capita] I cities, which held one-third to one-lnlf ! of the population of their States. H> ' thought thuse rities an impressive sign of I the quality of the people "who were build- ! intr tT>et>. The developed are"v was also & splendid testimony to Australian worth,

although the area population bore but a small proportion of the size of the country as a whole, and of its cities. This was a situation which involved great responsibility, but the courage and 'self-confidence of Australians were amazing, and he assured his hearers that it required both assets out there to succeed.

| The Prince went on to describe the return journey, and then recalled two features of his visit to Australia and New Zealand, which, he said, he had very closely at heart. In both Dominions he j was very much struck by the appearance and bearing of the children, and the wonderful way the Government was carry- ! ing on their education. One could truly ; say. of their systems that they instilled | discipline and patriotism into their youth j without militarism. Gatherings of thousj ands of school children were organised for him everywhere, and he never saw a single child which did not reflect, on its healthy, ! happy face, that widespread well-being ! which was the pride of those Dominions. , This was indeed a happv augury for the I future.

'• You will guess the other feature I have very closely at heart," continued the Prince, " the Australians and New Zealanders who fought and won in the Great War. I felt I was a comrade to the •Diggers.' I need not explain what Diggers are. I first met them in Egypt and France, but T had not landed one moment "before I was hailed as a Digger, and by the time I sailed from Sydnev in August I hardly knew how to answer to any other name. Now I take that as a very great compliment, and hope they will always regard me in the same way. as I want all ex-service men in the Empire to look upon me as a comrade. I _ "You will not be surprised to hear that in both Dominions I found ex-service men the backbone of the country. (Cheers.) Think what they did, volunteering in thousands to face the great adventure of J a war for the Empire thousands of miles ! away. Can anyone dare to say in the face of that fact that the same spirit which took the old sea captains and explorers across the world is not onlv alive today, but thriving in the young British nations? (Cheers.) But then all exservice men are the backbone of their peoples, whether in the Old Country or the Dominions. A Plea to British Nations. " I have only one plea to make in this connection. All the British nations must work together in a spirit of comradeship if the Empire is to endure. The Dominions are putting their shoulders into the work of nation-building and development, but they need our help and sympathy. We must do our utmost to appreciate their point of view. Here is a Poetical example of what I mean. All the Dominions want population from us We have spare population, but the purely business method of emigration is no good nowadays. Flaming prospectuses will not aw emigration steadily from the Old Country. What, is wanted is just plain human co-operation. (Loud cheers.) They on their side should welcome our emigrants as friends and comrades th" moment they arrive, and make them feel at homo as they made me—(cheers)— make them feel that they are really wanted. (Cheers.) There is no worse check to emigration than emigrants who fail, and no better advertisement than emigrants who succeed. British population is very valuable nowadays, but we must see that it remains British. (Loud cheers.) Closer human intercourse will make ihe movement oi men and, capital within the Empire easier." The Prince concluded a 40 minutes' speech, delivered in a clear, strong and resonant voice without hesitation,' and easily heard in the remotest parts of the Guildhall, by saying " The lesson I have learnt in 15 months' travel is that if we are to restore our well-being and credit it is necessary that every nation of the Empire should pull together with a true spirit of comradeship and co-operation in all our affairs. This can only be done by maintaining here the same spirit which links the nations of the Empire to us. It is due _tc our ancestors who overcame difficulties in their time, as well as the present generation who have fought and won a great victory,' that their work shall not be in vain. It can be done." (Great cheering.)