THE PRIME MINISTER,

Southland Times, Issue 20044, 4 December 1926, Page 4

THE PRIME MINISTER,

ARRIVAL IN LONDON. A FLATTERING RECEPTION. BUSY’ TIME ON THE VOYAGE. London, October 20, It was a wet and foggy afternoon when Mr. Coates and his party arrived in lam don. He was timed to get to Waterloo Station at 3.45 pun., but some delay oveui 1 red on account of the tide, and when lluwn who went to welcome the Prime MiniHhu’ arrived at the station they found they had an hour and a quarter to wait. To mHiie it was a great disappointment, for other engagements called them away, but (Iw majority either waited until 5 o’clock or returned again at that lime. When at liv»i the train arrived there must have been quite a hundred New Zealanders on the plat form. Sir James and Lady Parr had mot ored down to Southampton, and Sir Frauvip Bell had gone down by train to mwi the party. Mr Baldwin was represrnhHl by Colonel de Satgc, Sir Charles Davin repro sented Mr Amery, and Mr E. J. Harding the Dominions Office. SCORES OF HAND SHAKES. When the train drew up at the platform Mr. Contes was quickly out of his carriage, coat-less and hat.less, though the carriagn had halted outside the station cover and rain was coming down steadily. Three cheers were enthusiastically given by i h<« crowd that surged round the Prime Minis ter, and the familiar welcome “Haero mai” was heard. There were a score of hurried h.wd shakes, and then everyone moved fur ther up the platform under cover of the station dome. Here Mr Coates was introduced* to the British Government representatives and received the messages from Mr Baldwin and Mr Amery. Mrs. Coates carried a beautiful bouquet of flowers. She was met by her father, Mr Walter Coles, and by her sister, Mrs John Gibbs. A flashlight photograph was taken of Mr and Mrs Coates and then the welcomes continued. There were scores of people who wished to shake hands with the visitors, and it was almost half an hour before they were all in their cars and bound for the Hotel CeciL As soon as he arrived in his rooms Mr Coates gave an interview to a number of Press representatives. He spoke of interImperial trade, which, ho said, had been materially adanced, firstly, through the influence of the Wembley Exhibition; and, secondly, through the Empire spirit which is gradually permeating Britain and the Dominions. He believed that the deliberations of the Conference would bo greatly assisted by the mass of material and recommendations which the Imperial Economic Committee had made available. QUICKER SEA TRANSPORT. “We are still in quest of improved sea communications,” said Mr Coates. “Something has been done to speed up connections between New Zealand and the Mother Country, but it is necessarily of the greatest unportance to New Zealand that she should bo brought as close as posable to Britain.” The Prime Minister went on to speak of the repatriation of soldiers and the land settlement schemes, of immigration, and of the subject of British films. New Zealand, he said, was, if anything, more British than any other Dominion, and there was a great future for British films in the country. There was at present a quota of 12.1 per cent, in the country, and they could take many more. Mr. Coates hoped to visit the battle fronts in France with which he was so familiar, and he had many French friends whom he hoped to thank personally, while he had many messages from others who had served in the New Zealand Forces. He

said that all the people of New Zealand were delighted at the idea of a visit from the Duke and Duchess of York, and they would be sure of a hearty welcome. BUSY TIME ON THE TRIP. The voyage across America was naturally a hurried one. but Mr. Coates made time to keep a number of engagements. He visited Kansas City and Chicago, and at the latter city he was taken through the railway works. As an ex-Minister of Railways, the Prime Minister was greatly interested in these. The party arrived at Washington on Thursday, October 7, and went to the New Willard Hotel, where the late Mr Massey stayed when last he came over to England. As a compliment to the New Zealand Prime Minister, the management of the hotel had hoisted the Union Jack over the hotel. Mr Coates was met at the station by the Charge d’Affairs at the Embassy, the British Ambassador being in London. Within an hour of his arrival the Premier had changed his clothes and was at White House for an audience with the President of the United States. Mrs. Coates in the meantime was entertained by Mrs. Coolidge, Mr and Mrs Coates and Mr F. D. Thomson lunched at the British Embassy, and in the afternoon they were driven in the Embassy cars to sec the Capitol, the National Monuments to Washington and to Lincoln, the birthplace of Washington, and the other principal sights of the city. In the evening they were the guests of the Military Attache at the Embassy. Next morning the party- left for New York, where they arrived in the afternoon and stayed at the Pennsylvania Hotel, the largest in the world. Mr. Coates immediately received a number of callers, principally New Zealanders resident in New York, and gave interviews to Pressmen. The following morning at 10 o’clock the party were on the Majestic and setting sail for England. It was a pleasant voyage throughout. The Prime Minister and his staff were hard at work, and by the time they arrived at Southampton all the preparatory work for the Imperial Conference, so far as it was possible, was complete. Every morning before breakfast Mr Coates and his staff spent some time in the gymnasium and afterwards in the swimming pool, and they landed in thoroughly fit condition for the heavy work before them during their stay in England. FIRST DAY IN LONDON. Shortly after the Prime Minister arrived in London at the Hotel Cecil he received a deputation trom the International Press Congress. It was headed by Mr Robert Bell (the recently-elected president), who was accompanied by Dr. W. Williams (Chair of Journalism, Columbia University, Missouri, and president at the recent congress in Geneva), Mr P. Selig (a vice-president of the New Zealand Section), Mr Wallace Odell (secretary and treasurer), Mr James W. Brown (ex-secretary and treasurer and owner of The Editor and Publisher, of New York), and by a number of others. The Hon. J. G. Coates and Mrs. Coates received the visitors. An informal talk took place <»n the likelihood of the next congress assembling in New Zealand in the early autumn of 1929. The speakers were Messrs Bell and Selig and Dean Williams. The Prime Minister, in his reply, stated that he would be happy at any time to welcome to New Zealand any of the members of the congress, either as individuals or as a collective body.