A BRIGHTER BRITAIN

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 59, 25 March 1937, Page 9

A BRIGHTER BRITAIN

Duke oi Gloucester's Tribute toN.Z. MR NASH'S SPEECH "New Zealand is a country of high ideals, but her ideals have had a way of being realised; the visions of her founders have come true," said the Duke of Gloucester when speaking at a New Zealand Day dinner in London. "It is little more than 100 years since she was merely a eort of trading outpost for New South Wales; now she is a Dominion, and thls summer her .delegates will meet as they have met in the past, in conference with the delegates of her sister nations to deliberate upon the affairs of our British nation." The Duke, who received a great ovation on rising to propose "New Zealand," said that it gave him pleasure to be present at a gathering where all were connected in some way with New Zealand. One of the consolations of the tong English winter to him was that he was ablo to go hunting on a horse given to him in that fair land. Somebody had once said that New Zealand was a brighter Britain.- j That had alwayL struck him as a particularly happy phrase, and the clear brightness of the land remained with him as the most •vivid memory of his stay there, whether it was in the towns, or on the shores of the sea, or in the more exhilarating air of the mountains which seemed to form an endless background to their lovely country. Certain events stood out in his recollections of his visit: surfing and pienicking at Piha, with the crimson of the pohutukawa iu the background; fishing in Lake Taupo, with sport that woUld make English anglers envious; life on a sheep station in Canterbury; and meeting the Maori tribes at Boto rua, Record of AcMevement. » f It was just 97 years since the Treaty of Waitangi wa's slgned uy which the Maoris acknowledged the. sovereignty of Queen Victoria. From that date the real history of Britfsh New Zealand began. There had been difficulties since those times. What country could hope for a century without difficulties, including cricketers? "But New Zealand," he added, "has a record of achievement of which New Zealanders may be justly proud. Nothing perhaps is moro noteworthy than the happy rolations established between the pakeha and the Maori, "These are fateful days for the world. New political theories are growing up. and the old ideas of democratie [government are beiug challenged. For the members of tho British Empixe, however, democracy is no outwom creed, but reprgsents the very lifeblood Of tho people. It.is at such times that New Zealand and the other members ot the British Empire can make their greatest contribution to the welfare of the world by showing the value of peaceful co-operation and by keeping alive the torch of liberty and progress. Long may New Zealand flourish, a bulwark of Empire in the Southern «eas." Tribute to the Monarchy. Mr. Walter Nash said that he questioned whether he had ever felt more privileged than on this occasion, wlisn he was asked to reply to the toast of the wonderful little country of New Zealand ' proposed by the Duke of Gloucester. He felt that the country owed a tremendous lot to the Boyal Family, particularly iu view of the general state of world affairs to-day. There was something associated and bound up with the traditions of that Family ic. Great Britain which he hoped would endure in the annals of the world. "I have given, "i said Mr. Nash, "some thought to principles of government and their history, and I know no principle that is more likely to benefit mankind than that of the limited monarchy, associated as it is with a freely-elected assembly. "Thougb we may legitiraately criticise some actions of British Governments in the past, we can affirrn with confidence that there is no country that has donei more to improve the lives of the peoples of the world to-day than that count*y called England.,, Mr. Nash then dealt with the siguing of the Treaty of Waitangi on February 6, 1840, which New Zealand Day commemorates, and told something of the story of the Maoris and great figures of the race like Sir James Carroll, Sir Apirana Ngata, and Te Bangihiroa. He went on to pay tribute to great political leaders of the past — Seddon, Bolleston, Beeves, Ward and Masgey — and to the war sacrifices of the Dominion, which had lost more men in proportion to population than any other country. "Let Us Help Each Other." To-day a new Government was trying to abolish poverty from the land, but could not do so efficiently without tbe support of the Mother Country. "We are one blood and one fraternity. Let us help each other. Let us go forward to better times. We love the Old Country and nothing skall break our connection with it." Mr. Nash concluded by xeferring to some of the New Zealanders who had won world-wide farne and to some of the natuTal wonders of New Zealand, iucluding Waitomo Gaves and the Weat Coast glaciers. The High Commissioner, Mr- W. J. Jordan, proposed the toast of ' ' Tho Guests, ' ' ref erring in happy f ashion to their aehievements in almost every field of human endeavour. He referred incidentally to his own coniiection with St. Luke's Paroehial School, represented at the gathering by its seeretary. To that •school he owed not only his education at the tiiue, but the eiothes he wore — and he was as proud of his old school as others were of schools which used their playing-fields to win battles for England. (Laughter and applause). Mr. Jordan made special reference to Sir Howard d'Egville's astonisliuig knowledge of Emptre Parlinr to Lord Liverpool as Governor-L. ia 'the war days, to Professor Benhtun, ee-

cently retired from Otago University, and to Mr. C. Wreford Brown, who was to take an Assoclation football • team out to New Zealand this year. "Most Enjoyable Country." In responding to the toast, Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, Seeretary of State for the Dominions, said that the recltal of New Zealand 's praises that evening had brought back many vivid and delightful memories to him. He felt something as Hinemoa must have felt when she heard the sweet flutings of her lover across Lake Botorua; he felt the urge to swim back to New Zealand. "I know no country more enjoyable," said Mr. MacDonald. "There is a bond of natural and mutual affection between our two countries. I don't think it would be possible for two countries to be more closely bound together, and the eloquent speeches made to-night by Mr. Nash and Mr. Jordan confirm me in that opinion." The British nations were at present in a very important and critical stage of their growth. In many respects ties had been loosened dn Tecenfc years. The Dominions had attained the status of sovereign nations, and the Dominion Governments were rather inclined to lay stress on their emancipation. They seized on opportunities to demonstrate to all- and sundry that the Dominions were no longer under any eontrol by the Government in London. "Spurred on by a healthy nationalist spirit they took a pride in making it plain that whatever they did they did of their own free will, in their own time, and in their own way. "We in Great Britain did not quarrel with that," said Mr. MacDonald. "We in Great Britain deliberately of our own volition, by an act of our own Parlia-

ment, cut the last strings which bound the Dominions in a position of subordination to us. We were glad partiea to the winning of national sovereignty by the Dominions, and we thought it natural and proper that these young eager partners in the British Common-' wealth of Nations should be anxious to demonstrate »to the whole world that they had got their liberty." But they must remember that nationalism was not the last word in political wisdom. No nation could live in isolation from other nations. Unlfess we could devise machinery for friendly cooperation ■ between nations their contacts sooner or later would become violent internationalism. Nations must learn to co-operate, to acconnnodate tbemselves to each other, and the British Commonwealth was an experiment of vital importance in co-operation between free and equal nations. "If cooperation between us, with so many traditions and ideals in common, broke down, then what chance would there be of su«cessful co-operation between a great variety of foreign nations? concluded Mr. MacDonald. It was for the British Commonwealth to show that co-operation between free nations could work. That was the supreme responBibility which rested upon us to-day. (Applause.^ In proposing the toast of ' ' The Chairman," Mr, MacDonald said: "The more we see of Mr. Jordan the more we like him and the more we respeet his sterling eharacter. " In reply, Mr. Jordan thanked the chairman of the committee of the New Zealand Society, Mr. B. S. Forsyth; the acting-secretary, Mr. C. J. Wray; and the committee for their work in arranging this function. The central decoration of the principal table was the model of a canoe presented by the Arawa tribe to Lord

Banfurly. T! menu included toheroa soup and A!o\v Zealand saddle of lamb, both of which wero the subjecfc of many conipliment»