A LINK OF EMPIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20519, 21 March 1930, Page 12

A LINK OF EMPIRE.

In . acknowledging ,the cordial greeting extended to him and Lady Bledisloe, the Governor-General has made reference to his ambition as representative of His Majesty the King, to foster harmony and cooperation between the Motherland and New Zealand. Those who are conversant with the pronouncement of the last Imperial Conference on the equality of status existing among the members of the British commonwealth of peoples will remember that this pronouncement included a statement concerning the position of Governors-General. In earlier times, the Governor-General was appointed solely on the advice of His Majesty's Ministers in London and acted also as their representative. Now, as.the pronouncement states the position, he is "the representative of the Crown, holding in all essential respects the same position in relation to the administration of public affairs in the Dominion as is held by His Majesty the King in Great Britain, and is not the representative or agent of His Majesty's Government in Great Britain or of any department of that Government." This pronouncement was doubtless in Lord Bledisloe's mind, and it carries important implications, among them that the Governor-General is no longer the channel of communication between the Dominion's Government and the Government in Britain. Henceforth, communication is to be between j Government and Government direct. ' But it is another implication that is of major interest. The status to •-'which Lord Bledisloe succeeds is that of a living link of Empire, the manifold chain centring in the Throne, and consequently he occupies a post that gives him the opportunity of cementing Imperial harmony and promoting Imperial co-operation of which he has so well spoken.- That he will fulfil this function with a

good deal of personal ardour is evident, for he has lons been deeply and practically interested in the wider affairs of the Empire as a whole. From this point of view, his appointment has been ideal, and the welcome accorded him has been all the more hearty because of general knowledge of this deeply personal interest, in the business of Greater Britain.