EMPIRE VISITORS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22963, 15 February 1938, Page 13

EMPIRE VISITORS

PARLIAMENTARY PARTI DELEGATES OF ASSOCIATION WELCOME BY THE MAYOR Four members of various branches of the Empire Parliamentary Association who have been attending a conference of the association held in conjunction with the sesquiccntenary celebrations in Sydney arrived from Australia by the 'Awntea yesterday.

They were Sir Howard d Egville, organiser and secretary of the association, Dr. Hugh Dalton, Labour M.P. for Bishop Auckland, Durham, and chairman of the British Labour Party national executive in 1936-37, Lieu-tenant-Colonel A. R. Gordon, M.P. for East Down, Northern Ireland, ami financial secretary to the Northern Ireland Government, and Sir. G. P. Stevn, M.P. for Willowmorc, Union of South Africa Parliament.

During their stay in the Dominion the visitors will he the guests of the New Zealand Government and the New Zealand branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association. They were met on their arrival by Mr. C. M. Bothamley, Clerk of Parliaments, and honorary secretary of tho New Zealand branch, and Mr. F. R. Dwyer, of the Internal Affairs Department. In the afternoon they were present at an informal gathering in the City Council chambers, and were welcomed by the Mayor, Sir Ernest Davis, who said the Empire Parliamentary Association was one of the worth-while bodies of Parliamentary thought and initiative.

Sir Ernest handed to Dr. Dalton an autographed photograph of Auckland City, because of the association which the city has with the county of Durham, in which Bishop Auckland, Dr. Dalton's constituency, is situated. Auckland, he said, was a name associated almost entirely with Durham. At the conclusion of the Mayor's brief speech, to which Dr. Dalton replied with equal brevity, the guests were entertained at afternoon tea, and they met city professional men and representatives of local bodies. The partv will leave on a visit to Rotorua, Wairakei and Waitomo to-day and will join the limited express tomorrow night for Wellington. On Thursday they will be the guests of the New Zealand branch of the Parliamentary Association at a luncheon at Parliament House. Wellington. Later they will spend varying periods touring New Zealand before returning to their respective countries. The visitors are at Hotdl Cargen.