MR. FORBES IN ENGLAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20767, 9 January 1931, Page 13

MR. FORBES IN ENGLAND

THE FAREWELL LUNCHEON.

EXCHANGES OF HUMOUR.

MR. THOMAS' AMUSING SPEECH

[from our own correspondent.] LONDON, Dec. 4

Organised by the New Zealand Society, the farewell luncheon in honour of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, was attended by 232 guests The High Commissioner, Sir Thomas Wilford, was in the chair. On his right were Mr. Forbes and Mr. J. H. Thomas, Secretary for the Dominions. On his left were Mr. J. Ramsay MacDonald. British Prime Minister, and Sir Thomas Sidey. Others at the principal table included Earl Jeliicoe, Admiral Sir Frederick Field, Sir Granville Ryrie, Sir James Parr, Lord Strathspey and Sir James Mills

Sir Thomas Wilford, before calling on Mr. Mac Donald to speak, mentioned that there was only one apology for absence. This had come from General Sir Charles Fergusson, who had suffered a very sad bereavement in his family during the past few days. He regretted his inability to be present "to say farewell and God speed to the Prime Minister whose utterances at the Imperial Conference had so admirably illustrated the loyalty and marked Imperialism of the Dominion." Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald's Remarks. Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald was not down on the programme to speak, as he anticipated he would have to return earlv to the Indian Conference. There was a little time to spare, however, and at the chairman's request he preceded Mr. Thomas with a few remarks. The British Prime Minister thereupon returned thanks for being permitted to associate himself with everything Mr. Thomas was about to say. (Laughter.) "I say that," explained Mi. Mac Donald, "because Mr. Thomas is a very good colleague, and because since I have said it he will be very careful about what he is going to say. Otherwise, with the licence of a libertine, I do not know what he may have said."

Mr. Mac Donald said he was sorry Mr. Forbes was leaving in a week. They [iad not always agreed, but Mr. Forbes was one of those delightful fellows who had no side; he was as clear as noonday and a jolly good companion. Both Mr. Forbes and he were getting apparently a little bit old-fashioned, because they both believed in the sentimental bond of Empire. They believed there was something in that intangible mystic unity which bound them all together. He hoped they would never come to the end of the day when, because they were British, they felt a kinship for each other which they did not feel for anybody else. These sentimental things, these things of the heart, of the soul, and of the imagination belonged to the most essential make-up of humanity; and so long as he was on this earth he hoped he would appreciate their value. "Believe me," added Mr. Mac Donald, "we are very sorry Mr. Forbes is going. When ho came first he looked as worried as Sir Thomas Sidey. Now look at him—placid, prosperous, and with an abiding sense of security. He loves his country and loves his kindred of this land. He has been very well looked after by us, and he is, I believe, taking away with him many happy memories. We hope we shall see him again. For himself and his wife, Sir Thomas Sidey, and the other members of the delegation, we wish a very pleasant and placid voyage out to New Zealand, and a very prosperous and happy time when they Ret home again." " Now, Jim, No Humbug."

Mr. Thomas, amid much laughter, then gave his version of the reason for the Prime Minister's intervention. "The real object," Mr. Thomas remarked, "was that, knowing I had to make just on<s more of a thousand speeches on the Imperial Conference, he wanted publicly to say—and he said it in the diplomatic and refined language that only a Scotsman, disguising his real object, can accomplish—'Now, Jim, no humbug to-day. (Laughter.) "That, Mr. Prime Minister, was your instruction, and I make no further comment on the subject. But when you ray that you are sorry, dismayed, and disheartened because these Dominion Premiers are going away, I could summarise your speech in a word I used last night. (Laughter.) No one knows better than you that we have been making inquiry when their boats were sailing (Renewed laughter.) I refused in my last speech to be a hypocrite. Mr. Forbeg, wo were delighted to meet you, but, thank God, you are going." (Further laughter.) Mr. Thomas remarked that when he was called upon to compare Sir Thomas Sidey and Air. Forbes, he merely said, "Look at Forbes, you would think wool were a 'bob' a pound. Look at Sidey, he looks as if it were twopence a pound." That summarised the characteristics of the two, said Mr. Thomes, the explanation being that "Sidey doesn't care whether it is sixpence a pound, and that is the only thing that worries Forbes. (Laughter.) T hope this is my last speech about you, Forbes," added Mr. Thomas, "because unless you get clear away I don't know what I am going to say next." Mr. Thomas afterwards went on to say that he yielded to no one in love of and anxiejy to preserve intact the British Commonwealth of Nations. If it was 10 be preserved and developed it must not be made the monopoly of any class or of any school of political thought. Just as in the realm of foreign policy, so in Dominion matters and Empire problems they ought to be above mere party differences. New Zealand's Reputation. Mr. Forbes, in replying, said it was a great responsibility to represent New Zealand at the Imperial Conference, for the Dominion had always been represented by distinguished men from the days of Richard Seddon. "Now that we are going," said Mr. Forbes, "T cannot say how I have ful filled my trust, but by your attendance here to-day I may assume, at least, that I have not lost your respect." No mar. at the conference had done more than Mr. Mac Donald to preserve the good feeling existing between the Dominions and the Mother • Country. As chairman, he exercised the greatest tact, patience, and diplomacy at what was, more or less, a. difficult meeting. It was only right to acknowledge how much they were indebted to Mr. Mac Donald for the way in which he handled the situation. Tn the long association lie had bad with Mr. Mac Donald and Mr. Thomas he had found they both had a very kindly feeling ;oward New Zealand. New Zealanders enjoyed a little chaff, and all he could say in reply to Mr. Thomas was, that the British Cabinet evidently expressed their feelings in the words of the old song: " We don't want to lose you, but we think you ought to go." (Laughter.)