THE PREMIER IN THE SOUTH.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1058, 22 February 1911, Page 6

THE PREMIER IN THE SOUTH.

fr_ —• . ... SPEECH AT THE BLUFF. . IBj Tcleeraph-Press Association.) . • Bluff, February 21. Sir Joseph Ward, to-day, on arriving at tho Bluff, was welcomed home by tho Mayor and ' councillors.' In the evening he was'entertained at a public conversazione and presented with an autograph album containing tho names of all present. His reception was enthusiastic and speeches wero made expressing confidence in tho Administration led by him and in his ability to worthily uphold the honour of tho Dominion at the Imperial Conference. •■ ■■•<•'•' '■.' '■-; In tho course of his address Sir Joseph Ward said ho would nat discuss tho resolutions of which ho somo time ago gave notice to move at the Imperial Conference as it would scarcely bo fair tu tho other members of tho Conference. /He sincerely hoped tho press would bo admitted to tho Conference, and his first resolution was in that direction because he believed that it was tho only way to get public opinion in the different interested countries of tho Empire focussed on tho matters discussed. That was the only way to (jet public attention fixed on tho particular matters, and the only way to get a practical issuo from the discussions of tho Conference." 1 The'question would doubtless po decided by the majority vote. Of course , thero were Somo matter?, such as defence, on which the Conference would go into committee, and discussion would bo regarded as, confidential. The groat advance by other nations, as well as our own, and the keen commercial rivalry, and in somo cases envy, had to be met by changed conditions in our vastly scattered Empire, so that whilo each part existed as a separate entity the whole would bo bound together on matters of Empire importance. Thero ■was a great deal for tho -Conference to do in the way. of providing machinery for Imperial organisation in times of difficulty or of peace that would work effectually. Referring to New Zealand's Dreadnought contribution Sir Joseph Ward said that a sinking . fund was provided so that the cost of the vessel would be completely repaid in fifteen years, and the annual cost meantime of interest and sinking fund was under i^O.OOtf.. In reply to critics he emphasised tho great moral effect of the contribution, and pointed out that the only. , alternative 'to bearing a sharo of tho cost of the British Navy and ensuring its protection ; was to build a navy of our own, ot a cost that would be ruinous. Wo would havo to provido right from the jump ten millions in one act, and then havo to pay a million a year for maintenance. Further, in fifteen to twenty years the vessels would be obsolete and wo would have to begin de novo. lit dwelt on the uniquo position of Now Zealand as a country purely of European population and'on tho. question of the preservation of race purity, which would to one of particular importance at tho Imperial Conference. In this 'conferenco and tho next one (four years hence) valuable work / could , bo dono in the direction of preserving European countries (outside parts.of tho Empire such as India) from invasion by Eastern races. Sir Joseph Ward touched also on the necessity of tho new system of defence in consequencs of the altered world conditions, and claimed that it was merely a necessary measure to make tho men of tho country as efficient as tho men of any other country in caso of a raid. At the closo of the address a motion of unabated confidence in Sir Joseph Ward as Awarua's representative and as head of the Government was uuanimously and enthusiastically carried.