THE IMPERIALIST.

New Zealand Graphic, 27 June 1906, Page 34

THE IMPERIALIST.

But we may fairly devote a little space to the more interesting incidents of this famous tour, in so far as they throw light upon the character of our great Premier. On his arrival in London. Mr. Seddon, who was. accompanied by his wife and daughter, was received by the Agent-General and Sir George Grey—for the old statesman had by no means forgotten his faithful friend and follower. At a reception given at the Imperial Institute, the Agents-General welcomed Mr. Seddon, along with I-ord Ranfurly, the n?w Governor, and our Premier was thus formally introduced to the notice of the English official world. Shortly after his arrival he was entertained by the Institute of Mining Engineers, and, in replying to the toast of his health, made a remarkable prediction, that was to be speedily and signally verified. At the time when Liberal statesmen at Home were inclined to depreciate the strength of colonial patriotism, and one eminent Liberal leader had declared his conviction that the colonies would never shed a drop of blood on England's behalf, Mr. Seddon announced to a somewhat sceptical audience that in the hour of peril England would find the colonies rallying round the flag. This was a significant sign of the importance that Imperialism was later to attain in Mr. Seddon’s public policy. But the Premier set himself from the first to disabuse the British mind of the mistaken notion that the colonies do not matter to England. In an interview which he granted soon after his arrival, the Premier announced that the time was coming when it would be found necessary for Imperial affairs to be discussed at a great Council of the Empire, including delegates from all the greater colonies. And at his first meeting with Mr. Chamberlain, then Colonial Secretary, Mr. Seddon received ample proof that his prophetic instincts were as sound as ever. He was informed that a Conference of the Colonial Premiers was to be held after the Jubilee Celebrations were over, at which they would be asked to discuss with Her Majesty’s Ministers, such matters as closer commercial relations between England and the colonies, increase of the Australian Naval Squadron, colonial land defences, exclusion of aliens, and questions bearing upon the administration of affairs in the Pacific, especially in Samoa. The Conference met on June 23rd, and for the first lime in the history of the Empire the representatives of the colonies were consulted by the Colonial Office as to the possibilities and prospects of Imperial administration. At all the sessions of the Conference, Mr. Seddon attended, and took an active part in the debates; and, as we have already indicated, his’ stalwart courage and robust common sense made a deep impression, not only upon his colonial colleagues, but upon the less impressionable and more Conservative British bureaucrats. But Mr. Seddon was not content to preach Imperialism to the Colonial Office. At a banquet given in his honour, presided over by Sir Westby Perceval, once Agent-General, for the eolony, he repudiated with scorn the idea that the colonies had ever thought of separation from the Mother Land. At every public function and ceremonial at which he was present—and their name was legion—he reiterated his conviction of the unquenchable loyalty of the colonies, and the great part they were yet destined to play in the aggrandisement and consolidation of the Empire.