EMPIRE AND PRESS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 642, 20 October 1909, Page 8

EMPIRE AND PRESS.

" . —r- »— —- ■' : Mr. lukin on the recent "conference. ' ■■' ■'. -;the cable service.;: ■ . Mr. Gresloy Lukin,. who was the guest of:th< i Cliib at'its luncheotf yesterday/spoko in i terestiugly of the objects and achievements of th ■ lato Imperial Press Conference,, which he at ■ tended aa.qno.pf the Now; Zealand delegates.... 1 The first immediate practical object-sough : said, Was the cheapcnini and expediting of all cable communication be 'tween- the.. .'Old .Country ': and " the; oyersa dominions. ■■_ ln"order to help his ;hearers?b 1 realise, the. importance of such'- a. work," Mr Lukin recalled;to their, minds the. great 'speed in which Lord, Kosebery, addressing' the pres delegates,'..sonudcd : tho : notes of "Welcomi Home"and of. Empire, and.inovcd the,heart of all whoheanl him. "If our cable services,' he continued, ."were.of a nature that woiil( have, enabled, you to read the full .text of ■ tha ■ speech at. your' breakfast-tables, rioxt morning as every Englishman at'HomOjwashable to do think now much that would' mean,, properli understood, ito the cause of Empire.' Such wa our aim and objeofc, and we achieved it. W 1 not: only secured an immediate reduction of. 21 per cent.'in;the cost of transmission, but wi also laid the base lines of projects and plani that,- when: developed,, • will, mean a complete revolution in the system, of communication bj cable between the-oversea, dominions and thi Old Country. .'That; is a practical thing, anc we achieved it; but there was a greater, wori behind. We:made it clear,, in perfectly cour.tebnsand considerate phrases, that we in thesi colonies realise .that the condition ■ of. the. re lations between, the' oversea dominions and th< Mother Country is changing, and must change We mado it; clear that in our view the days of colonialism: are past. (Hear, hear.) " Down ing Street, such ps wo have known it for £ century,' has; passed out of our lives, .' and national colonialism has begun. It was wit! the ~most delighted satisfaction that my colleagues'and I found that, instead of our seeming to obtrude truths that might have beer distasteful—to t the Conservative leaders at. anj rate—they.*mot us half-way, and, when- the; heard us say that the doys'of dependence are no more, and the days of. alliance have, begun, they said to us, 'Well done.' That was, in mj ,view, the greatest service that the Press Conference achieved.- We were as sons,,who had come to years and estates, but maintained all the old regard, admiration, and friendship for their father and mother. ■ Symbolising' out devotion and loyalty to the Empire',; the cry in our. hearts and on our lips. would always be 'God save the King.'" . (Applause.) - Mr; Mark, Cohen,-editor of.' the Dunedin "Star," who was also a delegate to the Press Conference, expressed thanks to' Mr. Lukin— "the, grand old. man of the ' New ..'■. Zealand pi-ess"—for his,efforts;on behalf of■ journalism and the public of' New Zealand while in the Old Country. The m'csdnt! news cable, service was not ,'at all satisfactory. It:was sometimes whethor the matter-sent'.was fact or fiction. '/It was alleged that-it -was coloured by party, feeling, au'dj fli'u't items' ; 'wo.t;c.. .vent 'which should; not>h.(> .sent: ..The ,boxing and prize-fi!;hfin!,',c)\!)les'-slmuld:he'. ; abolished, : They wanted facts',' : on'd facts only—t'riic .reports- of the great -occurrences of! tho.world," and,, they wanted the' people!to':know'that whatthc,nepers ,circ;ulat6d-was';absoluto'truth; so'faras political i'matters w.ere'concerned..-.A change could not be I made, at'once,: as.'the papers-were-tied to, a : coricern..with which they'Ji'ad.'a.contract.. New Zealand wanted a"New. Zealand, cable service, in which .trnthV.would prevail against everything else.,,.'. (Applause.) ; . .;■ ■; ~!■•.•."•