PILGRIMS' DINNER.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18898, 13 January 1927, Page 11

PILGRIMS' DINNER.

♦—— DUKE OF YORK'S TOUR. COMMON IDEALS AND COMMON BELIEFS. irr.oii ofr. own coeses-ondent.J LONDON, December -1. J be dinner tendered to the Duke ol by the Pilgrims—''to wish him Godspeed on his tour to Australia and New Zealand"—was si notable gathering. It was probably the first time that the Prince of 'Wales and the Duke of York had together attended a banquet. Rut the Prince is a "Pilgrim. : ' and lie was present to share in the public fxpressiuii of goodwill to his brother. The chairman (the Lord Chancellor) read a message from the King: "It lias been a pleasure to nu: to receive the expressions of loyalty and devotion contained in your message from the Pilgrims of Great- Britain and their guests assembled this evening. I sincerely thank them, and T am glad to think that the Duke of York will take with liiei on his coming journey the good wishes of your distinguished gathering." 'l'he Duke of Cuniiaught (president of the Pilgrims.) is out of England. Eor the lirst time, the Pilgrims met without Lord Desboroiigh (who recently hud suffered bereavement through the death of his onlv surviving sou). -Mr J. (.;. Coatcs oui'ld not attend, as he mis in ilie Midlands. The New Truth. The Marl of Ralfour. proposing the health ot the Duke of York, said the Pilgrims' Society, -which began almost, on a purely Anglo-American basis, had grown to include those who left England's shores on great administrative or_ diplomatic work. The Duke was going on a mission that could not properly be described as either administrative or diplomatic, but it was not on that account- less important either to the liritish Empire or to the whole English-speaking world. His mission was to do what none could do so well as the members of his House —the couiniuuii-atinn of that personal touch which united even part of the Kmpiro: the communication of I hat common bond of loyalty to the Crown which ln:d its effect and its repurcussion in every part of the globe, among races o_f immense diversity and in communities some of which had little else In bind them together. Me doubled if even the King and Prince of Wales, who had already carried out- that siim. Knew the immense and incalculable value of the services they had rendered. (Cheers.) The visit of the. Duke and Duchess to Australia and New Zealand came at a moment of peculiar interest and :inpurtance in the development of Ibe great Empire of

which their House, was the niosl. vital link. He. had heard it. .s;iicl that, in flu; (.'<)ii.siil,i!liuii!il resolutions at. which the Imperial Conference arrived then; was nothing in;\v ; that the self-govern-ing Dominions had lull;.' been selfgoverning, not merely in 11:11110. but. mi obvious li'.cl. That was an acknowledged truth. What new thing was there lliitl, hail come into our eoneeptiun of the British Empire since the Conference first met Y 'l'lierc was no doubt about what i.ho Constitution of tlic Empire was. But what liad not been over deliberately, formally, and explicitly stated in connexion with that Constitution was the moral and emotional basis on which the whole fabric inevitably existed. That had now been stated and accepted with complete unanimity 111 the Conference, and, as far as ho knew, with universal assent outside.

'The new thing i.>." said Lord Bal- | four, 'not that there is im eon I ml by the Mother Country of I ho self-gov- .' erning Dominions. The new truth is \ flint the self-governing portions of the i Knipiro now explicitly regard them- I selves as elements in a great ' unity which r.loes not depend upon control, ■ Iml. does depend upon common ideals and common beliefs. (Cheers.) It is very hard for |>cople to accept without I reserve tin; idea tlniL :t great Umpire ! can without, control. Jn all other j nations' there is control—it may ho completely democratic control; it may. be the control of some absolute monarch, or some ambitious adventurer. (Laughter.) "Greater Than Control." "There is control at tin's moment within each of tlio Dominions ami within the bounds of Great Britain itself—in addition to all the other sentiments which make a unity out of the disparate elements of humanity into which I presume every nation will ultimately be dissolved. But for the first time wo havo announced to all the world that we are an Empire of which the self-governing portions are united by something which is certainly much greater and certainly much more sublimo than control, and, as I believe, can be made ultimately as effective." (Cheers.) "It used to bo prophesied that as soon as the Empire's self-governing communities became mature they would drop off like ripe fruit. The view that found favour at the recent Conl'erenco was of a totally different kind. It was that the Empire did not end with the maturity of the great communities to which it"had given birth; it began at that period. (Cheers.) It is only now that the British Empire is going to be what it was predestined to be. (Cheers.) It is only now brought homo to every citizen of the .self-governing communities that it is their business to manage their own affairs as they please, but never to forget that they are parts of a greater whole, with ideals to which all that whole is committed, and to which they in their turn will be ready to pay frco service whenever a great world necessity should arise. (Cheers.) 'Control' no longer counted as an clement in the cement which bound the Empire together; it must defend upon the persona) feelings and personal traditions which made' great nations one, almost in spite of themselves. There could not be a greater service to that ideal than the kind of service the Duke and | Duchess of York were about to give, the value of their voyago to the Empire j could not be exaggerated. (Loud cheers.) ! "A Great Opportunity." I After expressing his thanks to Lord [ Balfour for his kind remarks, and stat- | ing that during the next six months he i would justify his claim to the title of ' pilgrim, the Duke of York proceeded: ] "I especially appreciate the honour j which you have done me to-night, because the object of the Pilgrims' SoI ciety, if I understand it aright, and the ! object of my journey to Australia and i New Zealand are one and the same, j namely, .the maintenance and furthering j of good feeling between differnt porj tious of the Anglo-Saxon race. Since j your inception in 1902 vou have done • wonderful work. It was at the Pil- ! grinis' dinner that the' Prime Ministers j of the Overseas Dominions made their | first public appearance, when they visited this country for the first Imperial Conference. And the American Officers' Club, which you organised during the war, is gratefully remembered by many who enjoyed its amenities. These are but two expressions of the spirit which animates your activities. - "Vou believe'that the way to pni-

mole mutual goodwill iinil understanding is by bringing people together anil helping llit'iii to know each oilier. I share that belief with you. lam one of those who hold that the main pi'ineinje which should be adopted in finding a solution of the great problems of today, bo they political or industrial, is the principle of the personal touch. By that means we may learn to understand, even if we may not agree with, the other man's point of view, and to look on it without that atmosphere of suspicion which may arise among strangers. Moreover, personal contact cannot fail to broaden the mind. (Cheers.) "That is why the Duchess and I are looking forward so keenly to our tour next. year. Besides the official ceremonies in which -we shall take part, we hope to sec for ourselves in Australia, New Zealand, and other places something of the life of the people; to learn, and, if possible, to share in their successes and their difficulties. AVc arc being given a great opportunity of fakino- a part in the cementing of the Empire, and wc mean to avail ourselves ol that opportunity to the utmost of our power. My brother, the Prince .of Wales, has shown the way, and ivc have before us the example of such men as Mr Bruce, a great Imperialist, whose name will for ever be' recorded in the glorious pages of our Empire history. (Cheers.) "There is one thing that I regret, and that is that circumstances have made it impossible for me to include any portion of American territory ■in my journey, with the ' exception of Panama. V/e' should have been delighted to have made-the acquaintance of the people of,the United States in their own land. Who is there' that does not hold that a genuine and lasting friendship between that great -nation and ourselves is essential if the peace of the world and the progress of humanity are to be ensured? (Cheers.) <;This is a subject upon which I need no! enlarge to an audience such as this, but I am sure you will agree that there arc no two Englishmen who have done more in this great cause than Lord Balfour and Lord Beading, whom we are glad to sec here this evening. No words of mine can describe the invaluable services which Lord Balfour has rendered, not only to his country, but to the whole world, "as statesman, philosopher, writer, and promoter of peace; nor the magnificent worl of Lord Reading in his career as Ambassador, Judge, and Viceroy. It is inv hope that one day I may have the chance of promoting this spirit of amity, and it will be a proud day for me- when, like my brother. I can stand up among you and say, 'Now, indeed, I am a true" Pilgrim.' (Cheer?.) I thank vou once again from the' bottom of'mv'heart for your hospitality and kindness, and assure you that it means a very great deal to my wife and myself to know that we have your good wishes in the long journey we arc about to undertake." (Loud cheers.) The Prime Minister of Australia, proposing the health of the chairman, said that the Dominions recognised that all tliev had to-dav they owed to the sheltering care of" the Motherland, but in the future all that Britain had done in the past would be returned to her many fold. (Cheers.)