MR AMERY'S TOUR

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19164, 22 November 1927, Page 10

MR AMERY'S TOUR

ARRIVAL AT AUCKLAND. EMPIRE CO-OPERATION IMPERATIVE. [THE PRESS Special Serfie«.] AUCKLAND, November 21. Mr L. S. Amery and Mrs Amery spent a busy day in Aucklaud after their arrival by the Niagara this morning. A civic reception was held at the Town Hall at noon, and Mr Amery was afterwards the guest of the Auckland Rotary Club at luncheon. After he and Mrs Amery were taken for a motor drive to Mount Eden and other points of interest. They were entertained at afternoon tea at the EllersHe racecourse kiosk by the Auckland branches of the Victoria League, Overseas Club, Royal Colonial Institute, and Navy League. To-night a civic at home was held at the Town Hall. The Prime Minister, Mr Coates, Mrs Coates, and Sir Francis Bell came from from Wellington to meet the visitors. The Mayor, Mr G. Baildon, in speaking at the civic reception, said he had been informed that to-ny>rrow would be Mr Amery's birthday, the announcement being" greeted with loud applause. He assured the visitors that they would find the quality of sincerity in the receptions to be accorded them in all parts of New Zealand. • Prime Minister's Welcome. The Prime Minister, on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand, extended a very hearty welcome to the visitors. He stressed the supreme importance of conversations and negotiations, and the exchange of ideas such as were possible as a result of these visits. He trusted this present tour would be the forerunner of many lore. "There is a great a;»d wonderful future for our Empire," said Mr Coates, "provided we get to understand one another and pull together and trade together." (Loud applause.) The three outstanding points in connexion with Mr Amery's visit were the question of political and constitutional relations, the problem of the immigration, and the further problem of Empire trade. Mr Amery's Previous Visit. Mr Amery, on rising to respond, was accorded prolonged applause. He referred to his visit to New Zealand in 1913, saying the weeks he spent here were weeks of unalloyed, pleasure. In the interval since he was last here something more than merely material development had happened to New Zealand. She had gone through a groat experience, had made great sacrifices, and had mado history. One hundred thousand and more of her splendid youth went right round the world to fight for a just cause and for the unity and safety of that commonwealth of which wo were all so proud. It was a wonderful effort. He had seen the New Zealanders in France, on Gallipoli, and in Palestine, and on every field there was none who could claim to be in front of them. By her effort New Zealand had made for herself a new .place among the nations, and while recognition of hex national existence from the outside world meant much, it did not mean in any way the diminution of the the bonds that united her to the rest of the parts of the British Empire. (Cheers.) Eeferring to the new status since the last Imperial Conference, Mr Amery said it merely meant that each part of the Empire had a greater share in the joint and several trusteeships which all the nations of the Empire held for the welfare and development of the whole. (Cheers.) It was in the new sense of trusteeship that New Zealand had undertaken the mandate for Samoa, and he was sure she would be prepared to take a progressively common part in th 9 councils of the Empire. Now Zealand had been through a new birth and she was now starting on a career of future greatness to which her past record was only the introductory chapter. Britain's Soundness. The Mayor had asked if Britain were still sound at the core. Unhesitatingly Mr Amery said, "More than that." (Cheers.) The trials and experiences and suffering of the great struggle which had broughl the new birth of New Zealand and the other Dominions had brought new birth to Britain. To-day "Britain was younger than she was 20 years ago. Her confidence in her own capacity was greater than ever. Her fibre was hardened and her initiative quickened by the great experience, just as after the Napoleonic struggle, Britain would, after the immediate after effects of the war had disappeared, emerge stronger, more purposeful and more resolute in action than ever before. (Cheers.) Much as might be achieved by working singly, much more could be achieved if the different parts of the Empire worked in co-oper-ation. Britain and her Dominions had gone through the Great War because they had stood shoulder to shoulder and speaking from an Empire point of view, we would achieve greater things than any of us had ever dreamed of if we could pull together, work together, and trade together. (Cheers.) By standing shoulder to shoulder the different parts of the Empire could put their resources together, use those resources and progress more rapidly than when working singly. The development that would ensue if the Empire pooled its resources, united and pulled together, would be, not in mere arithmetical ratio, but in geometrical ratio, multiplying year by year, and reaching a point undreamed of in the past. (Cheers.) The co-operation of which he had been speaking included Imperial policy and defence. As a member of the British Cabinet and as originator of the Singapore scheme, he would like to thank New Zealand for the way in which she had shown her sense of solidarity with Britain in the common problem of freedom of the seas. (Cheers.) Distribution of Population. Another thing in which they must work together was in securing better distribution of the white population of the Empire. It was not with the idea of merely getting rid of her own surplus that Britain was interested in emigration. Her point of view was that if, in. the development of the whole, some of her best transferred their homes to a wider home beyond the seas, then she was ready to co-oper-ate in finance and other ways with each Dominion that wished to bring in men and women who would make good. Mr Amery reiterated his belief in the quickening power on Imperial life of Imperial Trade. They appreciated what New Zealand was doing in the matter of Imperial preference. Since the war Britain had done more for the trade of the Empire than ever she had done before. Fiscal preference, which had affected some parts of the Empire, might not have done much good for New Zealand, but the Empire Marketing Board, with a million a year to help the better marketing of Empire products in Britain was an earnest of Britain's resolve to work together with the Dominions. (Cheers.) It was because they believed in cooperation that his colleagues had asked him to go round the Dominions the better to learn the possibilities in trade,

migration, and, in fact, to acquire information over the whole field of cooperation and also to get into personal touch with the Governments and people. Above all he .hoped he'would return to England with a better understanding, not only of the latent possibilities of the British Empire, but of the spirit, ideals, and outlook of the people in New Zealand, and of the peoples in the other great Dominions which made up the British Commonwealth. (Cheers.) ENTHUSIASM AND GOOD HUMOUR. [TEE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, November 21. Beyond doubt New Zealand will take Mr Amcry to its heart, if it has not already done so. It would be hard to imagine a better ambassador of goodwill from the Motherland to this remotest of the British Dominions. Much has been written about his determination, his organising power, and his notable record of achievement in many fields, but what will impress New Zealanders most are his human qualities, his happy combination of personality, intellectual power, and abundant good humour. He is emphatically not of that dwindling band of Englishmen who on first acquaintance put the colonial out of ease by "a certain condescension" of which Americans have often been heard to complain. He has a pleasantly informal way with him that inspires confidence in all who meet him. After many strenuous weeks in South Africa and Australia, he looks fresh and well. There is such an air of physical fitness about him that presumably New Zealand and Canada will be no tax on his endurance. • As far as places were concerned, said Mr Amery, he meant to see several which he had not visited before, such as Napier, Hastings, arid Nelson. He would go to Eotorua only on his way north to catch the Vancouver mail steamer, as he had already seen it. He looked forward very keenly to his nine davs at Mount Cook, and he would do some climbing on Mount Egmont if all went well. "A. good deal depends on the weather and what condition I find I am in," he explained. Mr Amery stated the object of his visit very simply. "It is to inform myself, "he said." "We need to understand each other—understanding based on knowledge. I want to meet your statesmen and your people as well." He has hopes that visits of the kind will become a regular practice, and a complement to Imperial Conferences. "We cannot expect Dominion Ministers to do all the travelling," he explained. "The idea would be to fill in gaps be- \ tween Conferences. Of course, I or my successors could not go in for these seven months' tours every year or two. Probably Canada would be visited one year, Australia the next, and bo on." I