EMPIRE DELEGATES

Southland Times, Issue 20012, 28 October 1926, Page 8

EMPIRE DELEGATES

TOUR IN AUSTRALIA. CEREMONIES AT CANBERRA. Sydney, October 15. Australia is sure to benefit greatly by the tour of the Empire Parliamentary delegation now in progress in Australia. After they arrived in Sydney by the Aorangi last month the delegates spent a few days in Sydney and then hurried north to Queensland. In the northern State they had a most comprehensive tour, going as far north as Cairns. That tropical region of the Commonwealth amazed the delegates by its fertility and beauty and opened theneyes to the enormous potentialities of the sparsely-populated northern regions. From the north the delegates returned to Brisbane, and there spent two or three interesting days in ’observing the results of 12 years of Labour regimes in Queensland. One thing did impress them, and that was the sincerity, frankness and wide vision of the present Premier, Mr McCormack, who, in spite of his variance of views with the majority of the delegates, showed himself far from being a narrow, party bigot. Returning to New South Wales at the beginning of last week the delegates spent a few days travelling to Sydney through the rich north district of this State, and left Sydney during the week-end for the Federal capital, Canberra. There ensued the historic ceremony of handing over to the Federal Parliament for the new’ House of Representatives at Canberra a replica of the Speaker’s chair in the House of Commons, London. The gift is a magnificent example of the carver’s art. Part of the chair is made of oak from Nelson’s flagship, the Victory, and another part of timber from the historic Westminster Hall. An inscription on it reads: “Replica of the Chair in the House of Commons at Westminster, presented to the House of Representatives at Canberra by the United Kingdom branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association, comprising members of both Houses of Parliament, as a fitting symbol of the great Parliamentary tradition which binds together the free nations of the British Commonwealth, A.D. 1926.” A SYMBOL OF PARLIAMENT. The chair was handed over to Sir Littleton Groom, Speaker of the House of Representatives, by the head of the delegation, the Marquess of Salisbury, and the speech of this graceful orator in doing so will long be remembered by those who had the privilege of listening to him. A notable feaure of his speech was a remarkably convincing defence of British Parliamentary methods and traditions, evinced by the following passage: “I believe in parties, but alongside the party spirit there must as an essential to its success a spirit of responsibility and determination to make the institution work with a high regard for what the Parliament of a country demands. If we work in that spirit, then the symbol which I am here to unveil will stand for all time as the symbol of the ordered Government of a great people, and as an example to the rest of the world of political tradition and the genius of the British people. Our conceptions of Government fit us as the skin fits the human body. They have grown with the growth of Britain, and adapt themselves to British successes. I am never surprised to hear that foreigners cannot manage them; indeed, they are splendid examples of the genius of the British race.” On Monday and Tuesday nights important conferences were held with Australian Federal Parliamentarians. At the first, debate was opened on Australia’s position as a mandatory Power in New Guinea by a statement by the. Minister for Home and Territories, Sir William Glasgow. He explained the Commonwealth’s government of the territory, especially emphasising the manner in which the natives were being eftred for and improved. The inquisitorial nature of the questionnaire issued recently by the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations was also discussed. In the general discussion that followed Mr Arthur Henderson (Britain), Sir Thomas Smartt (South Africa) and Mr J. S. Dickson (New Zealand) took part. The general tendency of the debate was an expression of approval that a matter of such first-class importance had been brought up. DEBATE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS. But even more important was a second conference at which the Dominions’ relations to foreign affairs was discussed. Sir Evelyn Cecil opened the debate, dwelling upon Dominion representation in Britain and foreign countries, and on British representation in the Dominions. He emphasised that weakness might develop if hard and fast conditions were attached to negotiations, because, despite rapid methods of communication it was still sometimes, necessary for Britain to speak for the whole Empire without consulting the various parts. A sensation was caused at this conference by Mr J. West, a New South Wales member of the House of Representatives, moving a motion of criticism of the British Government for its handling of the coal strike. The chairman of the conference, Sir Littleton Groom, smoothed matters over by declaring the motion out of order. The delegates continued their tour on Wednesday by leaving for Melbourne and .Tasmania.