Proposed Article Club.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7297, 4 June 1895, Page 4

Proposed Article Club.

The special correspondent of the N.Z Times, writing from London on April 20th, Ba ys": — In hia speech at the Article Club, which, by the "way, was exceedingly well received, the Hon. J. G. Ward said he should be glad to sco similar clubs elsewhere, and hoped on hia return to be able to found one m New Zealand. (Cheers.) Such clubs would serve the interests of both England and the colonies. As a commercial man, his sympathies were with the Article Club (cheers)— and he had listened with delight to Sir Albert Roll it. They had great questions to consider. The difficulty before English manufacturers and exporters was how were they to compete with Germany and France, •which countries had lines of subsidised steamers. In the last fortnight he had seen two large orders go to France and Germany after having been sent to this country for years, and all through these cheap freights. The colonies were anxious to "work wita us and (mild up aa empire. Every man whi> bad the welfare of both at heart was desirous of seeing the union between them cemented. (Loud cheers.) The time was coming when Imperial Federation would not be looked upon as a thing for faddists, but as a problem for statesmen. (Applause.) And if we did not see Imperial Federation, we should at least have a reciprocal tariff. The colonies looked to England as the country upon which they might depend for financial and other assistance. But au opposition to our colonial expansion was growing up from both France and Germany, whose Governments did far more for their colonies than did ours. The Government must be compelled to come down from the realms of fancy to deal with the facts of everyday life. They must put exporters on a .better footing, and then expansion would come. (Cheers). New Zealand desired to trade with us ; bub was compelled to go past us because of unfair competition through bonuses and subsidised steamers. He hoped that colonising, as far as Australasia was concerned, would be carried on better than it had been. The Australasian colonies did nob want other than the people of Great Britain, and they were not getting the proportion they should get of Britons. He had never been in England before, but all his sympathies •were with England. The colonials were one and all desirous of co-operating. (Applause.) .In New Zealand they had a population of only 700,000, yet the country could support a population equal . to that of Great Britain. Then they had \ labor troubles in New Zealand, and here he might compliment" the chairman, although he wished to abolish the House of Commons— (laughter) — but their idea in - New Zealand was to put the people on the land. They had carried it out persistently, and that was their solution. They made the laborer his own master, ■ and gave him a stake in the country. (Hear, hear.) In conclusion, he hoped they would not think him egotistical for referring to $ew Zealand, he would beg them to rememolr that New Zealand ; -was really in its infancy. It was unfairly aaid that its financial prospects were not • good. Thac was diametrically opposed to the truth. He had jusb received a cable advising him that the surplus was L 370,000. It the finances in the colonies ■were improving, trade also would improve. (Applause.)