EMPIRE CONSOLIDATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3085, 30 April 1913, Page 81

EMPIRE CONSOLIDATION.

MR ALLEN’S WEEK. OXFORD AND THE EMPIRE. (Fbom Oub Own Cobbesfondknt.) LONDON, March 7. Not the least memorable feature of his visit to England will be the two days which Mr Allen, with his wife and daughter, spent in Oxford. They were the guests of Dr Spooner, the celebrated warden of New College, for Monday and Tuesday, but in a subsidiary manner they were the guests of the New Zealand Rhodes scholars at Oxford and of the Ralegh Club. Mr Sisam, who went up to Oxford in 1910. is now the senior New Zealand scholar in residence, and he accordingly was the host in entertaining Mr and Mrs Allen and Miss Allen at lunch in his rooms at Merton. Mr Marshall and Mr Wallace, the two other Rhodes scholars from the dominion, were also present, and the luncheon was a most enjoyable one. Mr Sisam, by the way, has recently been appointed lecturer to the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. Another interesting incident of the Oxford visit was the inaugural dinner of the Ralegh Club, which has been formed quite recently, with a maximum membership of 25, to encourage the study of Empire problems. The Ralegh Club is an evidence of Oxford’s intention to take a proper part in Imperial concerns. This determination was well expressed to Mr Allen by a gentleman he met during his visit. Discussing the possible removal of the centre of the Empire from London to Canada, this gentleman said: “ No, Oxford and Cambridge will always be the centre of the Empire.” Mr J. G. Lockhart, a brilliant young student of Trinity, is the president, and the club, which is quite non-party, includes members of the United Kingdom and of all the dominions. Mr Allen and Mr E. D. Morel (the secretary of the Congo Reform Association) replied to the toast of “ The Empire.” Lord Milner proposed “ The Club,” and the toast of the visitors was responded to by a Canadian visitor. It is evidence of the nonparty nature of the club that while Lord Milner supports it Mr E. D. Morel is the accepted Liberal candidate for Birkenhead. On Wednesday Mr Allen lunched with Mr Gwynne, editor of the “ Morning Post. ’ ’ A COMPLIMENT TO NEW ZEALAND. The livery dinner of the Leather-sellers’ Company on Wednesday was quite a compliment to the Dominion of New Zealand. The guests for the evening included Mr Allen and Mr Mackenzie, both of whom spoke, and Sir Joseph Ward was present as an honorary member of the company. The Master (Mr H. Hylton Foster) presided, and there were also present the Earl of Verulam, Dr Herringham (Vicechancellor of the University of London), Sir J. Henniker Heaton, and other distinguished gentlemen. Replying to the toast of “ The Dominion of New Zealand,” proposed by Dr Herringham, Mr Allen said he believed the bond which bound New Zealand to the Mother Country was growing stronger every day.—(Cheers.) New Zealand wished to give to the people of the Mother Country every advantage in trade and commerce.—(Applause.) The people of New Zealand wanted to see the peoples of the British Empire trading as far as possible among themselves, and they wished this quite unreservedly, without making any demand for any preference in respect of food supplies.—(Applause.) All that New Zealand asked was that the Mother Country should sympathise with the most distant of its dominions, and aid in developing its resources as a new country. The day would come when any assistance given to New Zealand would result in an abundant harvest in the strengthening of the Empire.—(Applause.) THE RESIDENT MINISTER. Discussing with me to-d'ay the matter of the Resident Minister in London, Mr Allen said he had not had an opportunity of talking this over with his colleagues, hut in his own opinion the proposal was not quite as feasible in New Zealand’s rase as it was for Canada. Canada was so near to England that if they had a Minister resident here to take part in the proceedings of the Imperial Committee of Defence he could easily and constantly keep in touch with the feelings of his colleagues.by personal interviews. A New Zealand representative, of course, could not hope to do that owing to the distance. “ At the same time,” added Mr Allen, “ I do not see -why whenever we have a Minister on a visit to London he should not accept an invitation that has been extended, to us—and quite rightly extended, I think —to attend.the Committee of Imperial Defence. I have, as you know, attended a .meeting of the committee since I came to London. Ministers coming to London for a short time would at anyrate have .come from their colleagues , with a knowledge of what was in their mind on certain important questions, and they would go back to communicate to them what they had learned here. With us it could hardly be a regular thing, as it could be in’Canada’s case; hut it is distinctly a step forward. 1 am firmly of opinion, however, that it can he only a step and not a permanent arrangement. An advisory council may be a very good thing as a' beginning, but before many years it will have to he something more than that if we are to have any Empire consolidation at all.”