CIVIC RECEPTION

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2353, 8 January 1915, Page 6

CIVIC RECEPTION

TO HON. D. R. HALL A ONE AND INDIVISIBLE PEOPLE The civio reoeption accorded yastefday at noon to the Hon. D. R. Hall, / Attorney-Goneral for New South Wales, v proved to be quite an interesting gather-V ing. Among those present,' apart from the Mayor and several councillors, were,' the Prime Minister (Right Hon. W. F. -■ Massey), the Minister "of Internal Affairs' (Hon. H. D. Bell), the Postmae- : ter-General (Hon. R. H. Rhodes), thai Minister in charge of the Cook Islands •' (Hon. Dr. Pomare), and ex-Mayors T.'<\ W. Hislop and D. M'Laren. , His Worship the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) extendod a very- hearty welcome to the visitor on behalf of the City; Council and City, and referred to the services that had been rendered by Aus. I, tralia in naval defence since the war • broke out. It had been said that there! .was a feeling la New Zealand against; Australia, but he assured Mr. Half that 1 the only feeling that existed was one • . of the deepest comradeship and admira-. . tion. : (Applause.) Mr. Luke added a ' welcoming note for Mrs. Hall, who was; unable to-be present. > Mr. R. A. Wright, M P., in express-/ ing a welcome, referred to the benefits : to be derived from interchange of visits between New Zealand and Australian ■ politicians, as bringing about a solid mutual regard for one another, as their'' countries were largely linked together' not only in matters of defence. Had. 1 it not been for the of the', Australian; Navy, Wellington would probably have heard the sound of German guns. (Hear, hear.) He ''hoped that .;, whilst the Australian statesmen were >■ with them that the Ministry would be* , able to fix up a reciprocal agreement oftmutual benefit. ' ' Camp-Mates Under the Pyramids, r The Right Hon. the Prime Ministei 1 ' . weloomed Mr.. and Mrs. Hall rightheartily,, and hoped, that their stay'here would be as profitable and enjoyable as possible. The visits of statesmen to each other's countries, the visits of ! the statesmen of one Dominion to another, would result jn closer relationships from every point of view. The . relations between . Australia and New-.. Zealand were, never so satisfactory as they were to-day. And why should they. \ not be so, since their interests were indivisible, their race and language one,' and with one duty—the defence of the Empire ? The soldiers of Australia and New Zealand were to-day camping under the shadow cf the pyramids, where, in the language of Napoleon, forty centuries looked down upon them. Hey crossed the seas together, they camped together, and when the l call, came tney - would fight together for the Empire, their common heritage, and he hopeil at the end of the war they would see the men responsible for the outbreak put in ' a position that' vould be a lesson to them and' their descendants for - centuries to come. (Applause.) In conclusion, the Prime 'Minister'said that 'the Government would do : all in its power to make the stay of the party in New Zealand as pleasant as possible. The Hon. H. D. Bell also extended : a welcome to Mr. Hall, incorporating a reference to the legal profession to which they both'belonged. Mr. D. M'Laren spoke of the Australian invasion—a peaceful penetration by. V neighbouring statesmen. He rejoiced in the movement by which the democracy was advancing to its own. The Hon, T. W. Hislop" (ex-Mayor) Epoke of the feeling of comradeship between Australia and New Zealand as not the growth of a day.' Twenty-five years ago Mr. Alfred Deakin had come to .New Zealand, and had made one o£ the most eloquent appeals he had ever. - heard for Australasian unity. Forward. The Hon. Mr. Hall thanked one and all for the. cordiality of the welcome accorded him. In' Australia they felt a Very keen interest in the work that was going on in the Dominion, and felt that the two countries were indeed one, What brought it home to him inore was r " the cablegram ho had received from Mr. Massey asking for 100,000 bushels of wheat. ' Mr. Massey: Which you agreed to send. , (Applause.) ' Mr. Hall: "And very glad to do so." v He hoped that the connection would be closer still. Speaking on the naval question, Mr. Hall said ne was glad when the resolution taken five years ago when he was a member of the Federal Parliament had turned out to be .the right one, and ho . was glad that the opinion in New Zealand appeared! to agree with that riew. . Five, years ago it was very difficult to say what the future would bring foith, and it was gratifying when the arguments on both sides were so strong,' and it was at least an open question, to find that they had done the right thing. (Applause.) "One Together!" Mr. Hall said that it was fine to > know that the peoples of Australia and ; New Zealand were one together with the Empire in the great struggle, on the. result of which depended so largely the fate of the Empire. If the ttruggle , had to come, he was glad it had cr-me dow, when, all our' Allies wers uiiit<iu and the whole of our people urited, rather than at a time when te n-ijiht have been disunited -among oirselves and with the Allies.' There nw no war on record in which the people of the whole British nation in eery qucrter of the globe were 60 unanimous, eo wholly resolved to see it through, crroe what might. The democracy of the Empire knew that the continuance of-its... ' existence would be Incompatible with the triumph of German militarism. They were one to see-this. thing thrown to the end, and whatever th.j sacrifice might , be it must, and would be, met ■until the menace of militarism was Removed. (Applause.) "Leir stlcliers would fight' together, and he supposed I they would bo buried together, .'"'•me of them, unless there was an vfoteseea end to the war, on the soil or Ecjcpe, and may it be, 2 our men do fall on the. soil of Germany, rn the way to .Jb'ljti, -but they all hoped that tho time would come -when the ships vftiild sail Kck home again with' vjr men, and A nstr.v lians and New Zealanders ses together from the the first tfhiM ™ of the Southern Cross m the - sky, and know that thev were appicar.hins the Commonwealth or the JJoir.mlon thev loved so veil. For those wnc remained, their dnty was to make the Empiro worth living for, worth dying for. (Applause.) . . ~ . Concluding, Mr. Hall sa.d he vculd take back to Australia the meii.crv of - a warm welcomo, and lie M*t*t at somo time in the future it would fall to his lot to bo able to forward the u teres* of/the Dominion./ nw After the ceremonies at the town Hall, Mr. Hall was entertained at luncheon by members of the Cabinet.