EMPIRE'S NEW ERA.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19172, 1 December 1927, Page 8

EMPIRE'S NEW ERA.

PLEA FOR COOPERATION.

MR AMERY*S SPEECH AT

CITIZENS' LUNCHEON.

The attendance at the citizens' luncheon to Mr and Mrs Amery was thoroughly representative, leading men in every department of the activities of the community being present, and more than a sprinkling of ladies. The function took place at the Art Gallery, and in every way was highly successful. The Mayor (Mr J. K. Archer) presided, and had on his right Mr Amery, and on his left Mrs Amery. Others at the head table included the Mayoress (Mrs Archer), Bishop West-Watson, Mrs and Miss West-Watson, Mr J. A. Flesher (chairman of the Citizens' Beception Committee), and Mrs Flesher, Mr Justice Adams and Mrs Adams, Captain W. Brass, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to Mr Amery, Mr G. Huxley, Secretary for Affairs connected with the Empiro Marketing Board. The toast of "The King," proposed by the chairman, was honoured. Mr J. A. Flesher proposed the toast of "Our Guests," and the toast was enthusiastically honoured. A Hurried Tour. Mr Amery, on rising to respond, was received with applause and cheers. "In an eloquent speech Mr Flesher referred just now to Sir Harry Lauder's third farewell visit," Mr Amery said. "This is my second, and by no means my last acknowledgment of a welcome to Christchurch, coupled with a protest against the brevity of my visit. I wish, indeed, Mr Mayor, that it had been possible for me to stay longer, but without going into a lengthy geographical dissertation, I can assure you that to attempt to get round the whole of the Dominions in less than seven months makes it very difficult to stay many days at any one point, however important it might be." Mr Flesher had welcomed him to Christchurch, not only as a beautiful garden city, but as the most English of cities in the outer Empire. It was a good thing for the down-trodden English sometimes to be able to use that word without a chorus of indignant protests from Scots and others who said that the only word that might be used was "British." Happily they still talked of the "English language." Without fear of disparagement or of censure they could boast of Christchurch being an English City. He was sorry that it was so short a time he was spending here, but that it was possible for him to be in New Zealand at all was due to the fact that the Party he belonged to had sucha large and satisfactory majority. (Applause and renewed laughter.) "And," Mr Amery went on, "given a reasonable measure of failure at the next election on the part of some of your friends, Mr Mayor—(laughter)—l may, when I come back, still find you here to welcome me officially and look after me as courteously and kindly as you have today." (Applause.) Imperial Co-operation. Mr Amery went on to say that he had come round the British Empire to see and learn for himself the conditions of to-day. In past years he had visited every Dominion, but they had now entered on a new era of co-opera-tion in the British Empire. The long task of building up freedom in each of the Dominions had reached its fulfilment, and at the latest Imperial Conference it was laid down that there were, in fact, no limits to the freedom of each of the great British Dominions. It was a freedom that entailed responsibilities and immense opportunities. The responsibilities were to uphold the security of the British Empire, and the fair name of the Empire and all that it stood for. The opportunities were for strengthening the Empire—building it up far beyond anything known in the past, and making it finer and greater than it had ever been. That was a task of immense variety, and one ,that could be better done in co-operation than if attempted single-handed. It seemed to him that it ought to be possible to do far more for Imperial co-operation in the infinite variety of contact and environment in an area so wide, where there was so much individuality, yet so much identity of purpose and singleness of aim. He had thought that it would be of inestimable value at the beginning of this new era to go round and see for himself, not only the economic possibilities of the development of the Empire, and the disposition of the peoples towards co-operation in Empire trade, but also to see what they had attained in each part, and what were the conceptions which animated each part. Encouraged and Inspired.

Wherever lie had been he had been encouraged and inspired and nowhere perhaps, than in this, the youngest, the least in population, and the smallest of the Dominions. He had come to say that if life was pulsing strongly in their veins here, if they were doing great things as a young people with an ancient and great tradition behind them, that ancient and great tradition still existed in the Mother Country which was full of strength and full of a great purpose. (Applause.) If New Zealand followed the idea of Imperial unity, and was willing to co-operate in a policy of Imperial development, so was the Mother Country. The conception that "we live not for ourselves" but as members of a wider partnership, that their patriotism wag not limited to the shores of one island, but extended worldwide, was stronger in Britain to-day than ever before. (Applause.) Searing Experience of War.

Wtth it had come the conception that it was not only in foreign policy or defence that they had Imperial obligations. They realised to-day, in a way that they never did before, the searing experience of war, their duty and responsibility in respect of the development of the Empire. Though they had not entirely departed from old ways—old prejudices his hearers might call them—in fiscal matters they had established a system whereunder higher duties (where any duties were in force) were imposed on foreign goods than on the same goods if produced in any part of the Empire. (Applause.) In the same spirit they had devoted some of the £1,000,000 of the Empire Marketing Board to the promotion of Empire production. In every way where they felt that the producer of the Empire could be helped they were spending the money of the British taxpayer. Question of Migration. Britain's attitude towards migration at one time was that the Dominions could spend money in assisting migrants to their shores, but Britain was not going to do anything to help them. Today their attitude was wholly different and they had shown their practical willingness to spend money freely in cooperation with the Dominions to en-

able men and women selected by the Dominions —men and women likely to succeed —to come to the Dominions. The last thing Britain wanted to do was to get rid of her own unemployed, in order that they might be unemployed in another part of the Empire; the last thing they wanted to do was to shuffle their burden on the shoulders of the Dominion. What they wanted to do was that which would be in the interest of Britain as well as- in the interests of the Dominions by co-operating in the building up the strength of the young community of New Zealand. (Applause). When John Bull Moves! Britain's attitude —England 'b attitude —towards the whole problem of Imperial co-operation was very different from what it was before the Great War. They had not yet gone the length which, personally, he would like to see Britain go; nor, for that matter, had the Dominions gone as far as many would like to see them go. But they were moving and when John Bull moved he had a way of moving slowly at first, but .steadily, and surely, and with increasing velocity as he got on with the work. (Applause.) He would seem almost a false prophet if he did not express the view that they would see with every year that passed increasing interest on the part of Great Britain in the development of the Empire, and an increasing lead taken by her in the policy of Empire development and Empire progress. At any rate he hoped to devote himself to that work, and he knew that he would go back not only encouraged, but far better armed than in the past, by his knowledge of what the conditions were in the Empire to-day, and still more by the knowledge of what was the spirit of the peoples which composed the nations of their common partnership. (Continued Applause.)