THE CORONATION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 249, 27 February 1911, Page 5

THE CORONATION

NEW ZEALAND PARLIAMENT 1 INVITATION. EIGHT MEMBERS PROVIDED FOR. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The Prime Minister has received the following cablegram through the Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated London, February 24th:—The committee of both Houses of Parliament, representative of all parties, wish to convey to you a formal invitation to eight members of the Dominion Parliament to be their guests in London at the Walsdorf Hotel from Saturday, 17tu June, to Saturday, July Ist inclusive. This period includes the week in which the coronation is fixed to take place. Applications have been made for the Earl Marshal to assign them places in Westminster Abbey. As it is anticU ■ pated that those accepting this invito* tion may desire to prolong -their visit in order to see something of this country, the committee hope to be able later on to extend the invitation (for one I week in order to enable visits to be 'paid to the more important EnglWH 1 towns. It is not possible to epeak with certainty on this point at present. Owing to the exigencies of space, it ie not possible to include in the formal in» vitation to the coronation and subse* quent festivities the wives and daughters of the membera invited. At the same time, the committee will be glad to provide hotel accommodation for one, lady, being the wife or daughter, in respect of each member. That information is to be sent to reach here by the 4th March, giving full particulars as to the expected number of ladies coming, and whether wife or daughter in each case. In order to avoid misunderstand' ing and disappointment, the committee wish to state this clearly—that though they can only recognise members themselves as their formal guests, they will do their utmost to make the visit not only of the members but also of the ladies accompanying them as pleasant and agreeable as possible."

j THE PREMIER INTERVIEWED. Interviewed to-night by a Times' reporter in regard to the invitation, Sir Joseph Ward said: "I am sending a copy of this message to all the members lof the House of Representatives, and asking them to telegraph their replies. I recognise that the time in which the replies have to be in London is short, and that it does not give much time for consideration by those to whom the message is being sent. It is proposed, in the event of acceptance by members of the House, to extend it to fire Government members and three Opposition members. It ■will be noticed from toe cable that the invitation extends to the time named during the visit to London, and does not, of course, include the cost of passage either way. Personally, I shall be exceedingly glad to see members of the House avail themselves of the invitation, and that the full number invited may he able to go to London."