THE COLONIAL SECRETARY

Otago Witness, Issue 3596, 13 February 1923, Page 21

THE COLONIAL SECRETARY

ENTERTAINED BY AUSTRALIANS AND NEW ZEALANDERS. (From Oub Own Correspondent.) LONDON, December 20. Members of the Australian and New Zealand Luncheon Club yesterday entertained the Duke of Devonshire (Secretary of State to the Colonies) at the Hotel Cecil. Sir Joseph Cook presided, and, in introducing the chief guest, referred to his experience in matters relating to the Empire, and assured him of the loyalty of the dominions in. any matters that might arise in the discharge of his high office. It was an unchallengeable fact, said Sir Joseph Cook, that the. best customers in the world, so far as Paying Went, for Great Britain ’were the dominions. Australia, during the past nine months, had purchased more than any other nation in the world—more than the United States—from the Motherland. Uiey liked trading with .Great Britain because it paid in the long run, and he believed that betore many months were gone people here would find that there was better business to be done within the Empire than without. TIIF DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. The Duke of Devonshire, in responding to his toast, said that when he returned fiorn Canada 18 months ago lie was disappointed with the conditions which he found hero, 'they were passing, it was true, through a very anxious and critical time, but he missed the optimism and confidence he was accustomed to in Canada. It was evident, too, that in another great dominion in tile south there was an atmosphere of confidence. He often wondered, when we, as a people, were disposed to take a gloomy view of the future, whether we fully remembered the courkge and pluck of the niT/p 116 ’ n cr * t ical years that followed 4914, and realised that things to-day might have been* much worse than they were. It would be folly to attempt to paint too hig’nly-coloijired. a picture of conditions to-. da y : It was evident they had some very anxious times before them. But he was equally confident that if they faced the future with those qualities which had made the Empire what it was, both in peace and in war, they would in the long run prevail One of the best ways of getting through these difficulties was by the close association of all parts of the Empire. DOMINIONS IN WAR. As it was the first occasion he had had an opportunity of addressing representatives of Australia and New* Zealand he would like to express his humble admiration for the splendid services rendered by those two countries. During the war he was in Canada, and he was naturally proud of the part the Canadians had taken, but he was also fil ed with admiration for the splendid part played by the representatives of the other dominions. They would ‘ remember ? ne ° f tho ] nost ' confident anticipations helti by those who were prepared to depreciate this country was that at the signal of war the Empire would fall to pieces. Certainly this was the greatest mistake made by the German High Command. He did not wish to rate the efforts of the Empire higher than they should be, but he thought that one was justified in claiming at the conclusion of the war that the Empire as a whole was the greatest organisation ever devised for the purposes of war. They could claim that they were a great tactor in the determination of the war, and they could claim they were one of the greatest factors, in the world to-day in preserving the peace of the world. If they were to ensure a prosperous future they haa to work hard, to work together, and to work for a common end. They had resources within the Empire which they must turn to the best service of mankind. They had not only resources, but they had skill, knowledge, brains, and muscle, which were required to turn these resources to the best advantage. After all, what, was it that permitted of those qualities which had made the Empire? It was that firm foundation of liberty and justice. It was that capacity which our predecessors had for devising a constitution which was elastic and flexible and which, undoubtedly, developed liberty in the truest sense of the word. FULLEST LIBERTY. ’ They had to work together for the one common object. The surest way this could he done was by giving the fullest liberty. “I trust,” continued the Duke of Devonshire, “that as long as I am the Secretary State for the Colonies, it will be my privilege to work with you on these lines. We wish to work with you, alongside you, keeping the closest touch with you concerning matters of material development and in defence, at the same time recognising that you have the fullest liberty to take what course you like.” Sometimes foreign nations had difficulty in understanding whether we were one nation or six. Sometimes we were one for one purpose, and sometimes we were six for other purposes; but it was probable that the truth lay in the fact that we were both one arid six, according as the occasion arose for acting separately or working together.

UNEMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION. Among the problems in regard to which we might usefully co-operate was that of unemployment. He was confident that one of the surest ways of dealing with that question was by bringing about a restoration of confidence, and enabling honest work to be done for just and proper remuneration. So with the burdens of taxation and debt, the only way in which we could secure relief was by steady vyork and persistent economy. Without being too Sanguine he believed we were going to have better times. He trusted that the proceedings at Lausanne and the proceedings which would take place in Paris in the early part of next month might help to restore distracted Europe, and he thought we might look forward with some confidence to a satisfactory solution of our different problems. Another matter in which both the Mother Country and the dominions were concerned was the better distribution of the population within the Empire. This small country, with its forty millions and more of inhabitants, was suffering from the existence of many congested areas within its circumscribed limits, and there was a definite movement to relieve that congestion by a better distribution of the people. Already successful progress had been made, and would continue to be made, in that direction. Many strong and capable men and women would, by arrangement with and by our respgotive Governments, be able to mako new and happy homes in our

overseas dominions. He preferred not to call it either emigration or immigration, but just migration. ’ Those men and women who went from ns to the overseas dominions were simply leaving the Old Country! for the new in the full confidence and knowledge that they would find in the dominions the same system of government as ;that under which they lived here, a system resting on the sure foundation of the will of the people. They would find the security of a British community and conditions vvhich should give them confidence i tint their work would meet with due reward.