IMPERIAL AFFAIRS

Southland Times, Issue 19823, 20 March 1926, Page 6

IMPERIAL AFFAIRS

SIR JOSEPH WARD’S WARNING. SALVATION LIES IN STRENGTH. In the course of an interesting response to the toast of his health at the Invercargill Rotary Club’s luncheon yesterday Sir Joseph Ward M.P., who was one of the visitors present, added a word of praise to the other remarks made concerning the manner in which Sir James Parr had carried out his duties as Minister'of Education. “But” said Sir Joseph Ward, “there is one bit of advice that I should like to give him before he takes up his new position in London and that is to keep the post of High Commissioner clear of the political world. A High Commissioner, in my opinion, should be friendly to every section of the community ’that may visit his office, which should be kept as the representative place for the whole of the people of this Dominion visiting Great Britain. We have to remember that whether the new High Commissioner likes it or not there is going to be a great agitation in future Imperial development calling for the individual voice of the people in deciding how its government is going to maintain its position in the new order of things. The recent upheaval has brought about absolutely new conditions and not a day goes by without the Home Government is calling upon the representatives of the overseas dominions to confer upon matters of material moment, not only to the present but to the future of this country. lam certain, therefore, you will find before many years have passed that it will be impossible for the Motherland as the heart of the Empire and for the other parts to carry on under existing conditions without co-operation in some form and you will find some organisation being set up for the purpose of dealing with these great Imperial issues which at present only appear on the surface. You must, therefore, keep the High Commissioner clear of all political aspirations. Our future lies in the strength of the Empire and upon the solidity of the thought of the people if we are going to steer clear of troubles in the future long after the Locarno Pact has been in operation.”