The Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 1907. THE PREMIER AND THE CONFERENCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8832, 19 January 1907, Page 4

The Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 1907. THE PREMIER AND THE CONFERENCE.

The citizens of Dunedin are noted for their thoroughgoing hospitality, j When they offer entertainment to a j guest it is with no grudging hand, and •when t_-ey do honour to a public man they invariably take caTe that the honoar -hall be a real one. Their recep- ■ Xxow of the Premier last night was no ■exception, to their well-established rule, fiey. gathered in such numbers _s to fill the largest hall in the city, and they gave t_eir guest a typically puneddn gi<eeting. The Premier in turn { Save his hosts of his abundance m the j shape of an excellent speech. He is , -/about to leave New Zealand to take ! toart in the Imperial Conference, and Jt was appropriate that he should refer to the objects of the Conference in general and lay particular emphasis on the part he himself hopes to play. Sir tfoseph Ward has long been known as ran ardent advocate of an Imperial Council drawn from the Mother. Country and her colonies to watch over the 'affairs of the Empire, and one of the subjects which he- intends to raise at the Conference is the establishment of such a Council. Others ate preferential irade, legal reciprocity, naturalisation, the Australian Squadron, which he rightly contends ought to assume the •wider title of Australasian Squadron,, the reservation of Bills, the legislative power of the colonies to make reciprocal tariff treaties with one another, a universal penny post, and the .right of the colonies to legislate for the control of admission of alien or coloured people. There is much food- for discussion in this list, and we shall Oe surprised if the more important items, such .a* •the setting up of an Imperial Council, tariff, and the question of alien inimi•gration, do not provoke the most interesting debates of the whole .Conference. In view of the importance of the subject it ie worth while noting jwhal the Premier's views on the alien immigration question are. The motion of which he has given notice is as follows:—"That in all future treaties With foreign nations the Imperial Government will make such treaties subject to the right of all < its 'self-govern-ing colonies to pass such laws as they think fit to limit to the fullest degree short of absolute exclusion the immigration into those colonies -of aliens." The most significant part of the motion, to •our mind, is the admission that New •Zealand does not ask to be allowed to isxclude aliens altogether. Sir Joseph realises that the Imperial Government jwould never consent to this, and in the 'face of its relations with Japan he is right. At the same time the colonies have an unquestionable claim to deny ' -aliens unrestricted admission, and we ihave no doubt that the Mother Country •will continue to admit their claim. The colonies are intensely loyal and Imperialistic, bat they are also strongly imbued with a desire to maintain ifcheir racial purity. They will cling ito the Mother Country, and they are ever ready to fight for the Empire, but . they insist tbat they shall be allowed within Tea'son to augment their populations along lines which will check contamination with coloured peoples. Part bf the price they have to pay for their "white" policy is' a sub- * stantial outlay on defence, and New (Zealand for one is ready to pay it. The Premier goes Home armed with authority to increase this colony's subsidy to the Navy on the understanding, ' .we hope, that some improvement is made in the British fleet in Australasian waters. The rest of Sdr Joseph (Ward's programme is as practical and •n as broad an Imperialistic basis as the main itemis. As a whole the programme gives evidence of careful preparation, and as we may be certain that it will be explained ably and tactfully we may bo equally certain that our delegate's part in the Conference will be creditable and beneficial to the country which lie is going to represent.