PRIME MINISTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24070, 15 September 1941, Page 9

PRIME MINISTER

arrival home WAR MISSION ENDS FOUR months abroad SIfI)ME EAST AND BRITAIN After a four months' tour of the Middle East, Great Britain, the United gtates and Canada, during which he fa t in the British War Cabinet and had consultations with .Mr. Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt, the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. P. prase l "' arrived back at, Auckland on Saturday afternoon by the Anznc Clipper from Sail- Francisco. Ho was accompanied by Mr. C. A. Berendsen, head of the Prime Minister's Department. and Mr. B. Turner, of the Ministry of Finance. The first to greet him at the airport s s he stepped ashore wore Mrs. Fraser, fl"ing-Connnander H. C. Bevan, repre6entins the Governor-General. Sir Cvril New.il 1. and the Hon. W. Nash, r j lo has been acting-Prime Minister. As he stepped from the landing Mrs. Fraser's small grand-daughter, Alice Jvemp, ran through the barrier, and Air. Fraser picked her up and carried her into the administration building ,ritb him to go through the landing formalities.

Official Greetings goon as these wore completed he ffent outside to greet the party which had assembled at: the airport to meet him- Those present included the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom, Sir Harry Battcrbee; the Rt. Hon. J. q Coates, a member of War Cabinet; the Minister of Education, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason; Captain E. Rotherham. naval officer in charge at Auckland; Messrs. W. T. Anderton, C. t Barrel!, C. W. Boswell, P. Carr, W. f. Endean, A. G. Osborne, C. R. Petrie, A. S. Richards and F. W. Schramm. M.P.'s; the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. J- A. C. Allum, and the town clerk. Mr. J. Meiling; the chairman of the Harbour Board, Mr. Hendry Luke, and the superintendent, Mr. D. Holderness. and members of local bodies and organisations . Over 100 people had assembled in the road outside the airport, and they gave }lr. Fraser a hearty cheer as he walked to his car. Departure lor South Soon after landing Mr. Fraser went to the site of the tomb of the late Mr. Savage at Bastion Point, where he nlanted a totara tree. He was the guest of the Mayor, Mr. J. A. C. Allum, at a private dinner at the Grand Hotel, and in the evening was accorded a civic reception in the Town Hall. The Prime Minister had no public engagements yesterday, and left for Wellington by* last night's express. He Tras accorded* a hearty send-off at the railway station. Among those accompanying him were Mrs. Fraser, the Hon. W. Nash, the Hon. H. G. R. Jlason, Sir Harry Batterbee and WingCommander Bevan.

BRITAIN'S THANKS

MR. CHURCHILL'S MESSAGE

NEW ZEALAND'S ASSISTANCE A message from the Prime Minister of Britain, Mr. Winston Churchill, to the people of New Zealand, was brought back by Mr. Fraser. It was as follows :

"We in the United Kingdom have been greatly pleased to have you among us in recent weeks, and have welcomed the opportunity for full discussion with you on all aspects of the war. During your stay you have travelled throughout these islands and lave seen our shattered cities, but you Lave seen also that every blow only Eerves to strengthen the determination of our people. "I hope you will take back to the people of New Zealand a message of good cheer from this country, and let them know how much all of us here are heartened, not only by the valiant aid of your sailors, soldiers and airmen, bue also by the generous and warm sympathy which has shown in many ways by all in New Zealand." Messages were also received by Mr. Fraser from the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Mackenzie King, and the acting-Prime Minister, Mr. E. Lapointe. Mr. Mackenzie King regretted he was unable to be in Ottawa to welcome him, and asked him to take back to New Zealand the warmest greetings from, Canada. Mr. Lapointe said: "Your visit has demonstrated the solidarity of our world-wide Commonwealth, and is an event which has been a source of pleasure and value to the Government and people of our Dominion."

Mr. Sol Bloom, chairman of the United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, in a farewell message, said: "You have endeared yourself to all of the people of this country who have had the {pleasure of meeting you, and we are looking forward with a great deal of pleasure to having you visit us again."

EMPIRE COUNCILS

THE DOMINIONS' PART PROBLEMS OF CO-OPERATION "New Zealand is prepared to cooperate in any suitable plan for Dominion representation in the Empire's war councils, whether by the holding of a Commonwealth war conference or by more adequate representation," said the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, in an interview. "The attitude 1 take up is rather different from those of some other Dominion Prime Ministers," Mr. Fraser continued. "There are limitations on the present method by which overseas Prime Ministers sit as members of the War Cabinet at different periods. In the British Commonwealth, collaboration and the interchange of opinions is most desirable, and, as I have said, we are prepared to join in any suitable arrangement. "However, there are two important considerations affecting this country. Firstly, although we are ready to collaborate at all times, the place of the Prime Minister of New Zealand is in New Zealand, especially in a situation such as that which now exists. Secondly, no one Prime Minister can possibly represent any other Dominion than his own."

BASTION POINT VISIT TOTARA TREE PLANTED The first act of Mr. Fraser after his arrival on Saturday was to visit the site of the tomb which is being P re " for his predecessor, the late Mr. Savage, at Bastion Point, and to plant a commemorative tree. Mr. Fraser J*as accompanied by Mrs. Fraser, the Hon. W. Nash, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, the Mayor, Mr. J. A. C. Allum, several members of Parliament and officials of t lie Labour Party. On Arrival ]ie was taken to a point overlooking the sunken garden and the scheme for the memorial park was explained to him. Mr. Fraser and Mr. j*ash each planted a totara tree, and | £""• M. Moohan, secretary of the New Zealand Labour Party, planted a pohutukawa.

CIVIC WELCOME PACIFIC CRISIS CONFIDENCE IN AMERICA BRITAIN'S HIGH SPIRIT "After discussing the problems of the Pacific with President Roosevelt I came away feeling that whatever the future may hold in store for us that great people will not stand idly and complacently by if the younger Dominions of New Zealand and Australia are attacked or are in danger of destruction,'' said Mr. Eraser at the civic reception on Saturday night. The Mayor, .Mr. J. A. C. Alhim, presided over a gathering of about 2000, who loudly applauded Mr. Fraser as he entered the hall. On the platform were representatives of the legislature, the fighting services, the judiciary, the Churches, local bodies, and Labour and business organisations. City and State Welcomes On behalf of the corporation and citizens, the Mayor offered Mr. Fraser "an open-handed Auckland welcome" and assured him that they appreciated the outstanding personal contribution lie had made to the Empire's war effort.

In welcoming the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government and Parliament. the Hon. W. Nash said he was more than glad to see Mr. Fraser back again. He recalled that it had been arranged originally that Mr. Fraser was to go to Britain by way of the United States, but that when he knew the New Zealand Division was about to enter the conflict he decided at once that if the boys were going into trouble he would go where the trouble was.

"Many of our boys to-day are free because of him," Mr. Nash continued. "It was due to his urge that extra boats were sent for them. You may have heard of the 'suicide ship' which went from Alexandria when it seemed impossible that it could get through and back. We owe a tremendous lot to Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham and the Navy for undertaking the task when they did not know whether it could be accomplished, and for bringing 1500 of our boys back to safety. (Loud applause.) 1 do not question either the courage or the goodwill of the Navy or the British Government, but 1 believe it is largely due to tho Prime Minister's drive that those 1500 men are in the fighting ranks to-day." Spirit o! Britain

Mr. Fraser said he couid best sum up the attitude of Britain to New Zealand in the words with which Mr. Churchill bade him good-bye, "God bless you and God bless New Zealand." Throughout Britain there was a high feeling of appreciation of New Zealand's war effort.

Describing his tours of the bombed areas the Prime Minister said the devastation could be compared to Napier and Hastings after the earthquake but multiplied many times. But the people were facing the dangers of the front line trenches unflinchingly. Never in the history of mankind had a nation risen to such heights as the people of Britain at the present time. He had seen something of the naval and coastal defences, the military plans, the Home Guard, and he felt that if the enemy attacked they would get even worse than they were getting in Russia. Talks in America There had been talk of absenteeism, delinquencies, slackness and deficiences in industry but his tours of factories, dockyards and agricultural districts had shown him this was not the true picture. The emphasis should bo on the miracle of transformation from a peacetime to a war economy;* on the way men, women, boys and girls who a few weeks ago knew nothing of tools were working to build machines to overthrow the enemy; on the enthusiasm with which the job was being tackled. He came away feeling that every one of us would fall short of our-duty if we did not do our best to co-operaite with them. In America he found that Mr. Coates and Mr. Langstone had already done much for New Zealand.

His brief acquaintance with Mr. Roosevelt had more than borne out his already high opinion of him. His knowledge of the Pacific and his intimate knowledge of the economic problems of other countries, including our own. was surprising and gratifying.

Basis for Pacific Peace The situation in the Pacific was extremely critical, Mr. Fraser added. Conversations between Japan and the United States began while he was in Washington. He did not know how successful they had been but he believed there could be a basis for peace in the Pacific, but only in the recognition that every country in the Pacific had a right of self-determination and self-government, that there would be no appeasement at the cost of any nation and that none would be sacrificed for fear, of any aggressor whatsoever. He felt that if Japan would show good sense an opportunity might arise of applying the principles enunciated by Mr. 'Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill of making the raw materials of the Pacific available for peaceful purposes to all nations of the Pacific on an equal footing. He sincerely hoped that reason would prevail. Mr. Fraser said he had sat with the British War Cabinet and its defence committee and he eonld see no alternative in Britain. Members were drawn from "all parties and nothing could give greater confidence than the manner in which, under the great statesman who led them, they addressed themselves to the problems * before them.