PRIME MINISTERS HONOURED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21216, 23 December 1930, Page 12

PRIME MINISTERS HONOURED

FREEDOM OF LONDON. / ... MR G. W. FORBES A RECIPIENT. AN ANCIENT CEREMONY. (From Oxjb Own Correspondent.) LONDON, November 6. Three Prime Ministers on Tuesday received the Freedom of the City of London. The function took place with picturesque civic ceremonial in the Guildhall, and matny other delegates to the Imperial Conference were also guests of the Court of Common Council. Mr R- B. Bennett (Canada), Mr J. H, SculHn (Australia), and Mr Forbes (New Zealand) were the recipients. The new Freemen were heartily cheered as they walked slowly through the centre of the hall escorted by the members, of the. City Lands Committee wearing mazarine gowns and carrying their wands of office. Having been duly declared by the compurgators to be ,®f “good name and fame,” undeeirous of defrauding the King',” and anxious to' pay scot and lot,” With the rest of fellow-burgesses, the three visitors were' addressed in terms of eloquent appreciaturn by the City Chamberlain (Sir Adrian Pollock). , Mr Forbes, said the* City Chamberlain, was paying hie first visit to England. addition to his political reputation, which any man might well be proud, Mr Forbes was also here on accoimt'Of bis reputation of being, as indeed he was, a great farmer. The conjunction of fanning and politics was one to which we this country naturally were not so . accustomed as were the people of New Zealand, and yet we, too, quite recently, had had a Prime Minister whose leanings in that direction were well known.—(Laughter.)’ As Prime Minister 6f New Zealand, and % in all his .future activities; Mr Forbes would retain the warn interest and the good wishes of his fellow-citizens London. LONDON AND THE EMPIRE. ' The New Zealand Prime Minister, in , , replying, said that the. people of hie Dominion would value v as highly as he did the_honour they had placed upon f.™* R would serve, as yet another nnk between this ancient city and New Zealand. _Mr Forbes mentioned .the names of nig distingu.isb.ed predecessors who .had received a like honour. Like’ the apostle of old, proud of his Roman citizenship, he could say, • with equal or even greater, pride; “ I am a citizen of no mean city.” ~ A London,” continued Mr Forbes,. can claim civic aneeistry t dating back to far distant time. What i?° appeals to me, and to 1 ~~ Uritish citizens from overseas, 'is the part which the City of Loidon has Pf a yed in the foundation and expansion of the . Empire, In London, colonising enterprises had their birth, and it wai here that they were financed;.it was in this city, also, that the dominions and colonies chiefly laid the foundations of tneir present great trade' with Britain; 5®..™. awistance of your financiers thatv trade haa been built up. Throughout the whole history of London, indeed, runs; the atory of the growth and expansion of the British Empire. Above aU, patnoiasm is a tradition of . your city.* It is equally a tradition of my ; country—New Zealand—a tradition not so ancient m- its foundations, but I venture to say, -as deeply implanted there , ashore. ■■■ . FAMILY TRADING. fast Imperial Conference’ . sat in London there was trade depression iw there is to-day. Probably to- : day it. is more world-wide. Since 1926 thought has more generally been in the direction of finding a remedy in greater intenmpenal trading, and I think that - f one of the results bf the preaant conference will be to show, by the data that •has been submitted, that a fuller development of this family, trading will u help the prosperity of ns all.-What we have yet to do is to l agree upon _ a system mutually satisfactdry by , which this trade can be speedily' fostered. I recognise that any system *• Ft• -must be mutually satisfactory if it is. to last, and if Empire goodwill and stability are not to be impaired. We of New Zealand have, for .some years given the Mother' Country very considerable preferences, but we have not given them with any suggestion of a quid pro quo, ' ; We realise that Britain, in any advances or adjustments she may make, has her own internal problems to' consider, and they must stand paramount with her. If we have-made suggestions it is only because we want to help you—to increase our purchases from you, and we can only do that as we extend ‘our markets and. develop our Dominion and our purchasing power. I have no doubt that even in the discussions that eoiar have taken place there has been progress, and that with patience and the teaching of further experience, a formula will ultimately be found. We have theunique advantage that ‘ we are all British, alike in temperament and en- , dowed with the same facial attributes, and we possess, above all, the one common ideal of a prosperous and strength- - ened Empire. “We also must not forget that we hold in trust the well-being of onequarter of the human race. We have great responsibilities. Present troubles must hot cause us to forget those reWith a strict adherence to the principles that have made the British nation great in the past we can, I feel sure, look forward to the future with confidence. “I thank you my Lord Mayor, and the Corporation of London for the great honour you have conferred upon me and my country to-day in making me a Freeman of the City of London.” MANSION HOUSE LUNCHEON. . The Prime Ministers and the Dominion. delegates were afterwards the guests I of the Lord Mayor and. Lady Mayoress at lunch at the Mansion House. The Lord Mayor proposed the toast of “Health and Prosperity to the Three * New and Distinguished Freemen.” Mr Bennett, Mr Scullin, and Mr Forbes each acknowledged the toast. Mr J. H. Thomas, Secretary for the - Dominions, proposed the health of the Lord Mayor, who replied. The caskets presented with the freedom are made of 18-carat gold. In each case the lid is surmounted by a finelymodelled figure symbolical of Empire, and on the front are the arms of the city in coloured enamels. At either end are the civic emblems, the sword and the mace, in relief. The caskets, which rest on plinths of green marble, were specially designed and made by the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company. “HATED HIS MORNING COAT.” t “ Dragoman,” of the Daily Express, gives his impression of the New Zealand Prime Minister at the ceremony. He says: “Mr Forbes—a jolly, red-faced farmer —was at first rather ill at ease when he spoke, although he soon gained confidence. He gave me the impression that he hated his morning coat, and would have liked to plunge his hands in his pockets and have a real heart-to-heart talk with the assembly—which no doubt they would have appreciated.”