THE EMPIRE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19171, 30 November 1927, Page 8

THE EMPIRE.

NEW ZEALAND'S WISH. TO LIVE, TRADE, AND GROW WITHIN IT. MESSAGE FOR MR AMERY. [THE PBESS Special Service.] WELLINGTON, November 29. The Secretary of State for the Dominions, Mr L. S. Amery, and Mrs Amery were the guests of honour at a State luncheon held in the Town Hall to-day. There were nearly 600 guests present. The Prime Minister presided and on his right hand was the chief guest, Mr Amery, with Mrs Amery on his immediate left. Seated next to Mr Amery was Mrs Coates, and seated next to' Mrs Amery was Sir Francis Bell. Others at the top table were the Chief Justice (Sir Charles Skerrett), and Miss Skorrett, Lady Bell, Mr W. Downie Stewart and Miss Stewart, the Speaker of the Legislative Council (Sir William Carncrosß) and Lady Carncross, the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Sir Charles Statham), and Lady Statham, Lady Augusta Inskip, members of the Cabinet and their wives, the Leader of the Opposition (Mr H. E. Holland), and Mrs Holland, and others. Guests Welcomed. In proposing the toast of "The Guests," the Prime Minister,said the occasion offered a unique opportunity to express delight at having amongst them Mr Amery and Mrs Amery. Periodically an Imperial Conference was held at the heart of the Empire to discuss affairs which had a bearing en the welfare of the Empire. It gave representatives of the Empire an opportunity to keep in touch with the problems of the Empire. Nothing could compare with the personal touch. The Empire's strength depended on understanding and good will, and they welcomed the opportunity of receiving the first Secretary of State for the Dominions. They had confidence in the judgment of Mr Amery, who was the connecting link between New Zealand and the Mother of Parliaments. (Cheers.) He also extended a hearty welcome to Mrs Amery, who was a Canadian. (Applause.) The Prime Minister reviewed the career of Mr Amery as a journalist, politician, and statesman. Mr Amery had had particularly wide experience, and was a linguist of great accomplishments. It must be of great value to the British Government to have a Secretary of State for the Dominions who could speak so many languages. (Applause.) Referring to the last Imperial Conference, Mr Coates said the atmosphere had been very doubtful, and it had been necessary to seek for a means of bringing about an understanding. In spite of many difficulties the representatives had left the conference determined to strengthen still further the bonds which bound the peoples of the Empire together. Mr Amery recognised that it was for the people of the Empire to make the best of the advantages which the Empire possessed, and he had the determination and will to know his Empire. They in New Zealand would meet more than half way any proposal that was likely to bring success. They had a fine country with strong, purposeful people, and. no matter what their political feelings might be they were all determined to endeavour to raise the standard of living of the people in New Zealand. They adopted the attitudo of giving preference to the Empire. (Applause.) The formation of the Empire Marketing Board was an indication to the Dominions that there was an earnest endeavour on the part of Britain to do her best in the interests of the Empire as a whole. Great Britain bought from us and wo should do our part by buying from Great Britain. The co-ordination and co-operation between the Research Councils of the Empire was of the greatest possible value. New Zealand asked Mr and Mrs Amery. to take back the following message.

"New Zealand wishes to live within the Empire, to trade with the Empire, and to grow by means of Empire migration." Tho toast of the guests was drunk with musical honours. The Bonds of Empire. Mr Amery expressed his great pleasure at the opportunity of meeting the leading men of the Government and Wellington. It was with the desire to do his part to strengthen tho bonds of Empire that he had set forth on, his present tour. Personal contact and very often informal discussions could achieve more than communication by cable. Imperial Conferences, after-all, brought only a few Ministers together, but such a tour as he was now making L.ade it possible to meet.' many, and all classes, and to learn the hopes, the desifes, and tho ideals of one's fellowcitizens of the Empire. The last Imperial Conference marked the end of one era and the beginning of the next, the beginning of an era which took the freedom of each part of the Empire for granted, and would be devoted to the development of great and wide co-opera-tion. It was agreed, also, that tho equality of status should be one of unity under a common Crown, with a common loyalty, common political aspirations, and comomn interests. Each member was organised as a separate community, each free to act according to its own judgment, but each was also bound to do the thing that made for the unity and the welfare of the whole. It was an equality in unity, not an equality in separation. Each played its part according to its capacity, its genius for the common good, and New Zealand had certainly never failed. She had shown herself willing to share in all Imperial matters, in the maintenance of forces of defence not only about her oir shores, but in the establishment of the Singapore base. It was essential that the navies of the Empire should be able to work together. The Singapore base was an act of co-operation, and n't an act of menace. What New Zealand had done in regard to the base was deeply appreciated by the people of Great Britain. Lead in Foreign Affairs. Great Britain possessed a wide experience of foreign affairs, and was willing to conduct those affairs not as a British obligation, but as an obligation of the Empire as a whole. (Applause.) Britain was only qualified to exercise that leadership if she exercised it in a truly Imperial manner. Was Britain qualified to carry on that leadership? H ventured to suggest that the evidence of the last few years, at any rate, ought not to condemn her in the eyes of her partners. The old hard, stub-

born temper brought her triumphant through the war years. Those years dissipated any doubts that may have been entertained. Britain was the mainstay of the Allies. From the very first day that she entered the war Germany's fate was sealed. Her unbreakable Navy sealed the seas to Germany, but it "was not in her Navy alone that Great Britain threw her weight. In the early days round her tiny Army was built the Empire Army that carried on the struggle. Certainly during the war years she had not shown herself unworthy to Be trusted with Empire leadership. A Retrospect. ' What amazed him when he looked back over the years that followed the war waß the way that Britain had carried on. She had met her debts and had never weakened the fabric of her credit. Britain had unflinchingly faced industrial problems, but she had found means of coping with them. There might be individual cases where men were willing to live on the dole, but the great mass of the people were anxious and willing to work. The great bulk of tho men wanted to get rid of the dole as soon aB it was possible. In spite of all the difficulties of the great war, Britain had gone on more boldly with Bocial reforms than ever before. The reaction of the war upon the temper of the people had been to give them a greater sense of their social responsibilities and of social welfare. Wide reaching social legislation had been introduced and the next generation of Great Britain was growing Up under better health, social, and educational conditions than any generation previously. At the same time Britain had shirked no part of her duties in European and world politics. Economic Issues. In the Colonial Empire a new conception of trusteeship had been adopted, aimed at helping the backward races. Wo had always recognised our obligations for the security of the Empire, but' in the past had regarded economic isues as the concern of the individual parts of the Empire. Since the war, however, it had been realised that dafence and foreign affairs and economic matters could not bo separated into watertight compartments. It was thought in the past that it was unimportant where people went who left Britain, but to-day money was being spent freely in co-operation with other parts of the Empire- to assist migrants with their transport and their establishment overseas. This was being done in the spirit of Empire building, and not as a mere device to shift the burden of unemployment on to othor shoulders. Before the war it would have been thought an unheard of thing to spend a million a year merely to foster Empire trade, but that money was now being freely spent in a score of ways to teach people that trade within the Empire was in the interests of its people. The education results had been impressive. Money was being spent with the same object in research into productivity and development of industry, and every year a richer and richer harvest would be gained from this expenditure. Fiscal preference also had been changed from a theoretical matter to a practical one and a new aspect of Imperial responsibility. There were many parts of the Empire whose whole prosperity was dependent upon the operation of'the fiscal system. No Limit to Development. Mr Amory said he could not doubt that there was no limit to the prosperity and development we could create in a generation or two. The immense development of the United States in the last fifty years on a far smaller basis and area and with far smaller resources gave some idea of what could be achieved. We had a larger area and more recent science to aid us, and as far as they had gone we could go much further. The speaker concluded amidst hearty applause, and the gathering broke up after the singing of the National them.