THE CITY'S GREETINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18387, 1 May 1923, Page 8

THE CITY'S GREETINGS.

ENTH US 1 AST i C WELCOME. / 1 TO AMERICA!* NAVY. The "civlo reception .to Captain Pollock: in. the City Council chamber at' ; noon yesterday was. brief but/ roost : enthusiastic, tho room ..being crowded. .: - : v ,- On behalf of 'the citizens .of Auckland the Mayor, Mr. J. 11. Qianson, , extended a very cordial welcome to tho. distinguished visitor and the officers accompanying him. Tho visit, he said, afforded the : ; 'opportunity of paying a warm:, tribute to the officers and men of the United : States Navy, which it was realised was, like the / British Navy, an engine of peace rather than an instrument of war. The British Navy ' -had ' been • .'intimately; associated in the development of . New Zealand, . the first : Governor, Captain Hobson, - having been, an officer in the navy, and the representative ;■ of • tho. : Crow . at. the present time, was one of the Empire's, most dis- ' tinguished , sailors. Mr. - Gunson recalled • :the troublesome days in. 1899, ..when the : .United States ■and Britain . were associated ;• in making ; for peace in the Pacific Is- . : lands. The main objective; in the islands • was not .commerce but to see that the native people received, the greatest care and oversight. , The co-operation between the two nations in the islands was doing a great . 'toward cementing the . close relations' that had . existed -for so many years. ' My. Gunson added that Captain Pollock came with a long and honourable record in- the United States Navy, and was not a/ stranger to Auckland, for he paid a visit here 23 years ago. Welcome > on Behalf ;of Government. The Hon.' C. J. Parr said it gave .him great pleasure .on • behalf of tho Government to welcome Captain Pollock not only as a worthy representative of the great . 'American naval service but also as our nearest American neighbour. *' May I • at once express," ho said, '" the thanks . and. gratitude of the. Government to the American officials at 1 Tutuila _ for their' never-failing courtesy and : assistance in the government of Samoa." (Applause.) •He recalled : the help and kindness of the Americans at Tutuila on the occasion of the influenza epidemic in 1918, . and said they rushed to our aid' when we sadly needed aid. To-day peace in. the world and, indeed, our Christian civilisation, de- , pended on; concord and • goodwill between the United States and Great Britain. The trend of the. times was. for closer co-opera-tion between them. . Their problems in the Pacific were the same. On . one. side of the Pacific Ocean there were Canada, V the United States and South America, and ...on the other side there were , the yellow races in their ; teeming millions, and the other- divers races in Asia. God grant that. the problems : would bo. faced and solved on sound lines, with reasonableness ■' and justice, and with Great Britain, and tho United States working hand in hand. Never before in the last 150 yei\rs had there been such a feeling of cordiality between the two " nations. The Minister mentioned tho Disarmament Conference i at Washington and said America raised . herself , to the highest pinacle of statesmanship at the conference by the great lead she gave for the reduction of armaments. •* -, Reply by Captain Pollock. On. rising/, to reply, Captain Pollock was enthusiastically cheered. Naval officeis,. he said, were proverbially poor speakers (laughter/—and ho was no exception. 'A lot of nice things had been said and he hardly knew what to say in reply, but he thought the best thing was to borrow from Shakespeare and say "I am no orator." (Laughter.) On behalf, not only of the officers and men of the navy, but also, the United States Government,, he desired to express thanks for the wel- ' come given. There was no doubt" thetwo English-speaking races had a great, common bond, and ho referred to the.interests of the two nations in the. Pacific. What the New Zealanders • did in Gallipoli, France, Sinai and Palestine was a matter of history, but the taking over oi Samoa seemed to have brought them into even closer.touch with the United. States. It was a great pleasure to have been associated with the New Zealanders in Western Samoa and the relations, as had been said, had always been most cordial. Resorting, to" Shakespeare again he used the quotation "I will tell the world," and said it might be thought to be American j slang, but it' was not. " When we leave here, said Captain Pollock, " I will tell the world we have had a fine time."' (Laughter and applause.) .A tribute to the work of Mr. K. de G. McVitty, - American Consul in Auckland, was paid by the Mayor. The American and British National. 'Anthems were played at the commencement and conclusion of the function by jiiy 3, Maughaa Burnett*