COMMERCE CONGRESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23013, 16 October 1936, Page 6

COMMERCE CONGRESS

OVERSEAS DELEGATES ENTERTAINED DINNER AT WAIN'S HOTEL | IMPERIAL BOND EMPHASISED t The Dunedin Chamber of Commerce acted as hosts to the overseas delegates to the Congress of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire at a dinner held in Wain's Hotel last evening. Mr N. R. Wilson (president of the chamber) was in the chair, and in addition to the guests of honour representatives of local organisations, including the Mayor <the Rev. E. T. Cox), representing the City Council, were present. , Proceedings were punctuated by several outstanding speeches in which the bond of Empire as a unifying and beneficial influence on the welfare of all the countries concerned was eloquently ami feelingly expressed. The gathering was a very 'enthusiastic one, and was described by the Mayor during his response to a loast as one of the most notable occasions in the history of Dunedin. • "THE FEDERATION" {< After the loyal toast had been honoured, the chairman called upon Mr A. H. Allen (past-president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand) to propose the toast of ;"The Federation of the Chambers :of Commerce of the British Empire." Mr Allen termed :it the British Empire Commercial Parliament, for it represented every phase of commerce and industry, not only in the United Kingdom but in every dominion and colony -within the Empire Its primary purpose was the promotion, development, and protection of Imperial trade, and it was one of the strongest of the invisible cords that united the peoles of the Empire in the greatest national family history had ever recorded. It was of the greatest significance in the promotion of improved intra-Empire trade relations, and its triennial conferences afforded a most valuable! medium for representative business men from all parts of the Empire to meet and discuss business problems.

The federation had its headquarters in London, where it was established 50 years ago, so that this present congress marked the celebration of its jubilee. During that long period on only three previous occasions had the congress met outside the United Kingdom, so that the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand had been greatly honoured as host on this im•portant occasion. He felt that the present was a moiit opportune time for the meeting in New Zealand of so many Empire leaders in trade and industry, for it would provide them with the opportunity of studying, first hand, important problems affecting particularly Australia, New Zealand and the South Sea Islands. He referred to such questions as the protection of British shipping interests, immigration, and the increasing trade competition from countries with much lower production costs than those of Empire manufacturers. . • Again. New Zealand's advanced Socialistic legislation, including the State marketing of some of its primary products, would provide them with much food for thought. Of the many outstanding services the federation rendered to commerce, amongst the most important and necessary was the combining of its constituent members into one powerful organisation. Without such a consolidating body there could be no opportunity of arriving at considered opinions and resolutions on matters of Empire importance, nor machinery to give expression to them to the several Governments of the Empire, The only thing they had to remember was that they should not -be discouraged when their achievements appeared disappointing. There were many difficulties to be surmounted, but there was no reason why they should not be overcome. Responding to the toast, Lord Elibank' (president of the federation) said that the subjects and problems with which the federation dealt provided ample opportunity for many speeches and responses, and after a congress of the kind just held they had to come to earth and grapple with the practical and real elements of the difficulties thev had been legislating for. Referring to congress, the speaker said he regretted the absence of Sir Thomas Wilford. the chairman of the council, who had done so much in the organisation and conduct of the proceedings. At the congress the resolutions passed were not the most important things. The essentials of the congress were represented by the unanimity of opinions expressed and the new contacts, social and commercial, that had been established—contacts that were for the welfare of the nation and the Empire. Mr W. B. Darker (Adelaide) expressed thanks for the kindness and hospitality extended to the visitors all through New Zealand, and said that as a representative of one of the dominions he would like simply to mention the wonders of New Zealand and its people and t;he marvellous time they had all had. in all parts of the country. They might wonder what a representative of one of the dominions Would have to say in. answer to what Lord Elibank had said, but he was quite content to talk about the country's various wonders, its climate, its scenery and its roads, and the warmth of their reception. " BRITISH COMMONWEALTH " Proposing the toast of "The British Commonwealth of Nations," Mr W. Downie Stewart said that he had been pleased to note the outspokenness of the remarks made by Lord Elibank and by the delegates at the conference itself. There had been a great change in this respect since the war. There had been a feeling before the war that Britain had applied an attitude of reticence and reluctance in her response to criticism from the dominions, but at Ottawa Britain had spoken frankly, and in effect had said to the dominions, "You are a greedy lot of hounds." Candour of this sort was all to the good. He had had a feeling at one time that statements of this sort might mean the beginning of the disintegration of the Empire, but he had found that they really tended to create friendship. It was better not to hide difficulties from any fear of giving offence. New Zealand was constantly in dispute about trade matters with Canada and Australia, but that did not affect the friendship which existed between these countries. New Zealand's view of Imperial relations, Mr Stewart said, was comparatively simple. It did not have the constitutional problems that occurred in Canada and Australia, and it had no' racial problems. It had a simple, unified Government. Yet it realised the great debt that it owed to .the other dominions. It was in Canada that a solution had been found of the problem of how the dominions could have complete autonomy with loyalty to the Crown. New Zealand had with all the dominions the common bond of companionship in arms during the Great War. In South Africa the New Zealand contingents had had their first opportunity of seeing how they shaped in comparison with the troops of the Old Country and the other parts of the Empire. With Australia, New Zealand had many common interests, and the bonds were still strong and unbreakable. ... New Zealand was well satisfied with the system of Government that Great Britain had created. The Empire rested on a reign of law and not of violence. Disputes were settled by goodwill and common sense The next foundation of the Commonwealth was the immortal idea of individual liberty, which was the most precious of all social rights. Turning to external relations, New Zealancis position differed from that of the larger dominions. New Zealand was remote isolated, and vulnerable, and it way not tempted to magnify its sense of nationalism. It realised that it could carrv little weight in world affairs, but it also realised that the Common-

wealth, in power and influence, could match, if not surpass, any other world State. New Zealand felt that it would be unreasonable to ask that it should be consulted before a decision was made in a grave emergency. "In short," said Mr Stewart, "we count ourselves the most fortunate of men to live under the august prestige and power of this great Commonwealth and under the leadership of Britain, whose sovereign and peculiar virtue is that she has grown grey with centuries of experience and wisdom in the art of governing men and teaching them the most difficult of all arts, that of self-government. An American has said that Britain alone of all great Powers has learned the paradoxical secret that if you wished to bind men to you you must leave them free—free to lead their own lives, to follow their own customs, to develop their own institutions. Thus she harmonises different forms of national-sentiment in free and willing subordination to common ideals of law and government. This is the supreme political achievement in the history of the world. The problem of the ages has been to unite men without crushing them. The transcendent genius of the Empire is that it reconciles apparently incompatible interests and aspirations in the service of humanity. "We believe," he concluded, "that the British Commonwealth of Nations holds the leadership of the world in matters financial, commercial, and spiritual, and that if peace, order, and prosperity are to be restored to a troubled world it will be through the example and leadership of that great Commonwealth." Mr' W. M. Birks (Canada), a vicepresident of tha Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire, responding to the toast, said he would first like to convey to them the greetings of their sister DominionCanada. Someone had said that they had come among friends in Dunedin, but he himself had found more than that—he had found relations as well. He had only one objection to the toast, and it was the word Commonwealth. They had a commonwealth in the time of Cromwell when there was no king. There was the rub. All that the men of tlfe dominions had between them was their King, and he would much prefer to see used the fine old traditional term which meant so much—the British Empire. In a comprehensive survey he traced the boundaries of the Empire, and stressed the outgoing of colonisation and administration from the tiny islands in the North Atlantic which was the centre of Empire. To whom much was given the responsibilites were great, and they must always remember that great possessions called for high hearts and splendid courage to follow great ideals while at the same time retaining the humility of spirit, the lack of which had been the downfall of so many empires.—(Applause.) Mr C. Granville Gibson, M.P. for Leeds, and a vice-president of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, seconding the response, said the British Empire was no spurious democracy, but a true and genuine democracy the like of which the world had neve"r before seen, and there was more than a small hope still that Great Britain might yet save the whole world from the terrible catastrophe of war. Its power was in the amity and concord existing between its members and its firm hatred of the savagery of war. "THE GUESTS" Proposing the toast of " Our Guests " the chairman said that those present would by now have formed an impression of what it had meant to the delegates to have attended the congress. New Zealanders valued the moral example and tradition of the Empire and honoured not only its statesmanship but also the sportsmanship and spirit of fair play that existed among its people. In reply Mr J. E. Emlyn-Jones said that the delegates who had attended the congress were full of hope. Carlyle had said, "Talk that is not followed by action is better suppressed." He was sure that the delegates when they went home would try to translate the talk of the congress into something of real 'and permanent benefit to the British Empire. He was glad there had been almost unanimity on the question of immigration, though the various parts of the Empire might travel different roads. What was required was the spirit and enterprise of a Jean Batten. " You have a veritable paradise in New Zealand," he said. "Don't make a corner in this paradise. Make it possible for others to come in and contribute something for the benefit of the world. We shall go home with imperishable memories of a great congress and of our new friends." ' The Mayor (the Rev. E. T. Cox) said that the city had been happy to cooperate with the Chamber of Commerce in entertaining the guests. This had been one of the great nights in Dunedin's history, but with all the eloquence there had been no bombast. "THE PRESS" Mr J. S. Skinner (vice-president of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce), proposing the toast of "The Press," said it was impossible to gauge the influence of.the newspapers in binding the component carts of the Empire together. New Zealand was fortunate in having a press free and untrammelled, unhampered by political or governmental control, high in news value, and fearless in criticism. Its history was the history of the country, and it had shared all the nation's problems and vicissitudes, and its future was bound up in the unification of the Empire and the prosperity of the country, both of which were its constant concern.

Sir James Hutchison, responding, thanked the gathering for its reception of the toast, and referred to New Zealand as a well-papered country. Newspapers, however, were not afraid of competition from wireless, which could only be a complement to papers. People might hear news over the air, but they would always look for the confirmation of the printed word That was a very generally accepted view among newspaper people, and he thought it a very sound one. As for the press of New Zealand, it was founded on the traditions of the Old Country, which it constantly sought to uphold.—(Applause.)