AFFAIRS OF THE EMPIRE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2083, 18 May 1907, Page 4

AFFAIRS OF THE EMPIRE.

Press Association —Copyright.

LONDON, May 16. At the New Zealand dinner; at the Hotel Cecil, Lord Ranfurly, Sir Gerald Smith, Mr. Fitchet, Mr G. I. Stead, Mr. Jno. Dutlne, Mr. Jas. Mills, Mr. Beetham, and 200 others were present. The Hon. VV • 1 • lleeves. High Commissioner, presitlin<r, said New Zealand had a dozen commercial trading strings to her bow, all tending to her prosperity. The only disadvantage was the distance of the colony from the Homeland. He said Sir Joseph Ward had voiced the policy of Empire of the future when he appealed to the Imperial Conference to put its shoulder to the wheel by quickening and cheapening communication. Extreme individualistic or protectionist doctrinaires may object to co-operating, hut the Empire was built by practical The Bt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward svmpathetically referred to the illness of Mr. Hall-Jones. It had been impossible for himself to subscribe to the principle of devolution in naval defence owing £o the great liabilities the colony would incur. The Premiers did not expect tlieir Mews on preference to be accepted. They were content to lay the principle before the Motherland. They were not egotistical enough to say “you must follow.” A reduction of the distance between England and New Zealand to three] weeks was no dream. It would pay New Zealand over and.over again to I

subsidise to the ovtent of one hun- i drcd thousand pounds to secure such ' an .Australasian-Vancouver- lino. II ( Britain assisted a lino botwoon Bri tain and Canada, thereby cheapening food by bringing the producers closor ; to markets, tho other colonies won , do thoir part. Sir Westbv Poroival, tho Hon. J. S. Jenkins, and Sir Montague Nelson spoke. Sir Joseph Ward, in a speech at Bristol, dwelt op tho influence of colonials in rejuvenating and strengthening the Motherland, and on tlio dcvolopmont of intor-Iniperial trado ns a moans of closer union. Sir W. Lyno gave tlio mail syndicate notice that if they fail to enter into an additional bond within a week tho contract will be. cancelled. Sir It. Bond, Premier of Newfoundland, interviewed, ,stated that ho had received a most respectful hearing from, monitors of the Government, and- most sympathetic support of tho other- Prcmiors. Tho Imperial: Gov-, eminent did not meet Nowfoundland’s reasonable domand, but .“I hope,” lie nddod, “they will use thoir best endeavors to undo tho mischief which tho vivondi has occasioned. I trust the embarrassment and humiliation which the colony lias been, subjected to will not bo repeated by the renewal of the arrangement.” Ho added that tho, vivondi led to disregard of Newfoundland’s constituted authorities. Ho was deeply disappointed at the result of his appeal for justice. Sir W. liyno visited Smithfleld and compared tlio various classes oi frozen mutton. Ho noticed that tho Now Zealand moat appeared fresher and of better color than Australian. He intends to institute enquiries on his return. Mr. Hughes, in an article in tlio Chronicle, assorts that freehold tenure of land is the curse of Australia and the ruin of England.; Ho urgpri State ownership, tlio leasehold at economic rentals with periodical reappraisement, and a tax on unimproved land values. The Daily Chronicle says the Conference was unusually fruitful compared with its predecessors. The Westminster Gazette comments on Mr. Dea’kin and Dr. Jameson’s remarks very severely. It asks whether it is fair that forty millions in the United Kingdom should be coerced by appeals to patriotism and Empire into submitting to taxation for the benefit of colonial farmers, already prosperous. Do the colonies wish Democratic statesmen to make cause with the Conservative anti-democratic parties to further a policy which would raise the price of necessaries of life. Freedom is greater than freetrade. England has never atttempted to thrust her policy upon the self-gov-erning colonies. Mr. Churchill, in reply to Mr. Lehmann, emphatically contradicted the newspaper report that Sir R. Bond was complaining of gross humiliation inflicted on him and his colony, and that he quitted tho Conference in indignation. Replying to Earl Russell’s question, Lord Loreburn admitted thatthe great antipathies to naturalisation were fatal to the idea of unity of citizenship within the British dominions. No more thorny question was imaginable, but a subsidiary conference would try to ascertain whether it was possible to do anything in the direction of unifying tlio laws of naturalisation and common citizenship in tho Empire.