THE NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13940, 27 June 1907, Page 6

THE NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER.

From all sections of the community congratulations will be tendered to Sir Joseph Ward, who returned to the colony yesterday, upon tho marked ability with which lie- represented the colony at tho important conferences attended by him in London. The sentiments that were expressed at the public reception accorded to him in "Wellington last night, in which the services the Prime Minister was able to render to the colony during the period of his absence were tho subject of the most appreciative reference, and that are also expressed in tho telegrams addressed to him yesterday by the. mayors of some of the principal cities in the colony, will be endorsed generally throughout tho length and broadth of New Zealand. There may have been more striking figures at tho Imperial Conference than ivas presented by the Prime Minister of our colony. Sir Joseph Ward himself has little hesitation, apparently, in regarding Sir Wilfrid Laurier as the most noteworthy personage who took part in the Conference of 1907. And the charm of manner and the felicity of the oratory of the Prime Minister of tho great Dominion of Canada must have exerted a distinct spell over the minds of thousands of persons besides Sir Joseph Ward. To another very large section of the British public General llotha will probably have been tho most attractive, as well as certainly the most interesting, personality at the Conference. Again, there may have been members of the Conference who, by their public utterances, created a greater impression than Sir Joseph Ward did upon the Englishman of tho kind that judges of a man by his afterdinner speeches. In tho opinion of The Times, for example, Mr Dentin—bv whoso capacity for. work Lord Milner was, as he said at a meeting last month of the National Service League, filled with blank amazement—was undoubtedly the most conspicuous exponent) of the ideas which the colonial Premiers advocated at Home. And no one will be prepared to dispute, the assertion made by Tho Times that Mv Deakin displayed extraordinary intellectual ability during his visit to Great Britain. The Prime Minister of tho Commonwealth is unquestionably a brilliant, if somewhat showy, politician, llut Australians themselves, however highly they may esteem Mr Deakin, will probably be compelled to admit that, when the practical results of the Conference are measured up, Sir Joseph Ward is able to present n record of solid, useful work which is assuredly not inferior to that performed by any of the other colonial representatives. The proposals for strengthening the bonds between the Mother Country and the colonies by the establishment of a system of fiscal preferences were those to which the skilful advocacy of Mr Deakin was most industriously applied. But as they were met by the Imperial

Government, quite naturally and by 110 means unexpectedly, with a "non possumus," the discussions upon this question wore mainly valuable in so far a.s they were educative, Sir Joseph Ward realises fully, however, that there are means, other than of a commercial kind, for knitting the various parts of the Empire more closely together than is at present the case. And if the suggestions brought, by him Beforo tlio Conference, and favourably received by the Homo Government, for the cheapening of postal and cable rates and for the quickening of mail communications should be carried into elfect, at least in a modified form— sinco wo do not think public opinion in the colony is prepared to go the entire length 'contemplated by Sir Joseph "Word in respect of the acceleration of the delivery of mails,—it will be found that by these means a potent influence will be exerted in the direction of the consolidation of national sentiment among the scattered communities benefiting by the facilitation of communication. The achievement of these objects we have mentioned will, it is to be hoped, bo one of the prospective results of tho Conference. Of the actual results the most noteworthy was the establishment of the Conference as a permanent institution with the Imperial Prime Minister as its standing president, and it almost follows from this that the claim now advanced by Mr Dcakin, that the self-governing colonies should be enabled to communicate directly with the official head of the Imperial Government, will, if such a course: will be of any practical value, lie conceded in the near future. It will not be pretended by anyone who-pos-sesses an adequate sense of the extent and variety of the duties that wore imposed upon the members of tho Im-' perial Conference that the colonial Premiers have been enjoying a holiday in Great. Britain. It is, indeed,, quite clear that the few weeks they spent at Home were weeks of strenuous work. It will bo gratifying, however, to the public of this colony to know that Sir Joseph Ward, who seems to thrive upon work) has returned to tho colorty in a condition of physical fitnoss that augurs well for his ability to endure a period of streuuous work in tho colony such as may be expected throughout the session, of which, ho may bo reminded, the severity may be sensibly mitigated by the observance of the wise system of early-closing successfully introduced by the Government last year.