THE PRESS CONFERENCE

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 15

THE PRESS CONFERENCE

'ARRIVAL OF THE DELEGATES IN ENGLAND. SOME IMPRESSIONS. (Fbom Otra Own Correspondent.) LONDON, June A. The Empress -of Britain, with about a dozen of the delegates to the Imperial Press Conference 1 on board, reached Liverpool about midnight on Friday. A special train with the passengers left early in the morning for London, and arrived at Euston just before 12 o'clock. The fatigue of the Canadian festivities and travel had somewhat worn off, but some of the delegates .were f.till suffering from the effects of colds contracted in Canada-. Mr H. Brett 'was unable to take part in the later Canadian ceremonies on account of his ccld, and he is now taking advantage of the week's respite at the Waldorf to recoup his strength. Mr Lukin, who also suffered from a cold in Canada, is now in the pink of condition, and is thoroughly enjoying his first experiences of the) Old LaJid and of London, Mr and Mrs ~W r S. Douglas, of Auckland, who arrived by the Papai'oa last week, are at present staying -with friends at Westeliff, but are generally in town during the day. Mr Fenwick iias positively thriven on his Canadian experiences, and Mrs Fenwick, too, came through scatheless. They have been joined by their son, who is studying in London, and by Miss Linda Fenwick, •who arrived by the Medic a few days ago. Mrs and Miss Fanwick are now busy chopping and seeing London, while Mr Fenwick is up to his eyes in business. and Mrs Mark Cohen are quietly enjoying the attractions of the JLiondon season. Mr R. M. M'Donald, of Christchurch, is also busy with his family in and about London PREPARING FOR THE CONFERENCE. The New Zealand delegates decided thai it would be wise to have some general understanding on the course to be followed at the conference, and they met on Wednesday to discuss things. Mr George Fenwick was unanimously elected chairman of the Dominion delegates, and Mr W. S. Douglas secretary. Already a good deal of random hospitality has been thrust upon the delegates, {hough the conference programme does not commence until to-morrpw. Thence onward the«-e will be almost three weeks of uninterrupted activity and gaiety. A conference "Who's Who" has been published containing biographical sketches and portraits of most of the delegates. ENTERTAINING THE, LADIES. It was not originally intended to include ladies in the conference arrangements, but it has been found necessary to do go. Already some 30 or 40 wives and daughters of delegates are being provided for, and a ladies' sub-committee has been formed as follows : — Miss Balfour, Mrs Godfrey Baring, Mrs Moberly Bell, Lady Brassey, Mrs Harry Brittain, Mrs Austen Chamberlain, the Countess of Crewe, Mrs Robert Donald, Mrs Herbert Gladstone, Mrs H. A. Gwynne, Mrs Kennedy Jones, Lady Constance Hatch, Lady St. Eelier, the Marchioness of Lansdowne, the Hon. Mrs Harry Lawson the Hon. Mrs Alfred Lyttelton, Viscountess Midleton, Lady Northclifie, Lady Northcote, Mrs C. Arthur Pearson, Mrs A. F. Bobbins, the Marchioness of Salisbury, Mrs J. A. Spender, Mrs St. Leo Strachy, the Hon. Lady Talbot, Lady Clementine Waring. The secretary is Miss Broo>r« Hunt." * SOME NEW ZEALAND REFLECTIONS. The London papers have been getting a good deal of copy during the last few days from the press delegates. A few extiacts from the remarks of the New Zealand men are interesting. On the defence question our delegates will apparently pronounce solidly for the Imperial subsidy." Mr G. Fenwick told a Telegraph *reporter that the Cabinet of the Dominion was absolutely unanimous in the desire that New Zealand's offer of a Dreadnonght should be made to the Home Government, and that the offer had met with the approval of the vast "majority of the people. Mr Brett was more pronounced : " I believe the whole of the press {with one or two exceptions), and fully nine-tentKs of the. people of the Dominion heartily commend the prompt action taken by th« New Zealand Ministry. There are, of course, a few dissentients among a very small section of extreme .Socialists. New Zealand recognises that its defence against external foes must, in the main, depend upon the efficiency of the British navy. Whatever possibility there may be of setting up a local navy for the protection of the Australian coast, the long seaboard of New Zealand and its many excellent harbours, where a hostile force could effect a landing, renders such a scheme absolutely futile; as Sir Joseph Ward said lately, one can only regard any proposal of the 6ort as simply silly. Forts, more or less -efficient and well-armed, have been erected at the entrance to the harbours of the four chief cities, and these, with submarine mines and torpedoes, would probably be sufficient to cope with stray cruisers. Tfte Prime Minister hesitated to enforce any compulsory system of military training, but thero is a strong body of public opinion in favour of the compulsory military training of all young men between the ages of 18 and 21, for a certain number of days in «ach year, and I believe that this will yet become the law of the land. There is a pretty general feeling that a considerable amount of the time, energy, and money which are- now devoted to football and other sports might be applied to milii tary exercises with advantage to the nation ana equal benefit physically to those who are now such ardent supporters of these games. During the Maori war the entire male population capable of bearing arms was enrolled in the Militia or the Volunteer forces for active service, so that New Zealand has already had an experience of conscription, which many of the older settlers still jamembei^"

' Mr Douglas said :—": — " The majority of the people in New Zealand are against having a home navy, but they are prepared to make as large a contribution as they can afford to the upkeep of the Imperial navy. In Australia the" feeling in favour of -a" home navy is very strong. There are, however, many very serious objections. For one thing, so long as a man can earn eight or ten shillings a day on land he is not going on board a warship for less. Another objection is that a number of navies would tend to disunite the Empire." LONDONERS TOO SLOW— " GET A MOVE ON.' Mr Douglas, himself an Englishman, is not altogether pleased with some things in London, and he tells the people so iri plain terms. He considers the physical inferiority of the Londoners very marked. He says: — "The deterioration k to be attributed to the habit of living in large towns. To the colonial your ttieets sf-om cramped. People cannot got enough fresh air living crowded together. In New Zealand we have- no streets less than 60ft wide. Then there is the question of physical training for children. In your public schools, I know, you go in greatly for sport, but from all accounts you do not give the children in the elementary schools enough physical exercise. In our State schools military drill and exercises are compulsory, and the youngsters derive enormous benefit from. them. One result is that the New Zealand youth is talle?, broader, and has a deeper chest than the Londoner of the same age." And you think we are rather slowgoing ? " Well, I think you want to get a move on you. You are all right — don't for a moment think I am disparaging the Londoner — but I think you have got into the habit of going a bit too slow. You are a systematic people, and your love of system has sunk deep into your. daily life. Take, for instance, the way you get on to motor'buses and trams when there are some 20 or 26 of you And only about half-a-dozen vacant seats. You get on in what we would regard' as an exceedingly orderly manner, sometimes even waiting in queues. - Yo'i should see the way we hustle on trams; why, sometimes we fight like wild beasts. Your traffic is orderliness itself; with us there is but little regulation, each driver cutting along at his own sweet will. I like your ideas of system and order ; but they may become dangerous if carried too far, and. I think you would do well to hustle a little- more." IMPERIAL NEWS AGENCY. MR FFNWICK'S VIEWS. Mr Fenwick is not at all lukewarm in his attitude on the cable question. Speaking to an interviewer to-day he said hregaxds it as a question to be tackled on both patriotic and business grounds. "The delegates from New Zealand will be greatly disappointed if this conference ends without something practical being done. Among the questions demanding ouv attention I know of none moie impcr« tsr»l tlian that of the cable arrangements of the Empire, and cne of the first considerations vi connection therewith is that of the rates charged. "Cheap cable communication promotes business, helps the interchange of news, and binds the different parts of the Empire closer together. One shilling a word is much tco high a rate for the transmission of news. The charge is so high beCtuea the Atlantic cabie companies charge &d a word for their part in the transmission, aud refuse to lower it. Last year Sir Joseph Ward caused the .Atlantic companies to be -approached and pressed for a reduction of their rates. Had they done go, other concessions would have brought the rate dowi to Bid, but the Atlantic companies refused. "In New Zealand we are served, and on the whols admirably seived, by a combination of the leading Australian papers, v.'ho supply us with their daily cable news by special arrangen-ent. But more than this is required. We want fuller rewi, of all aspects of Imperial affairs, and such fuller news cannot be had until tb/e rates aie 'reduced. " What can the conference do in the matter? It can, first, clearly show to all interested that in the opinion of the representatives of the press of the whole Empire the rates now in force are excessive. It can, if reduction is refused, urge on the various Governments of the Empire directly interested the early 'laying down of a Biitish cable to Canada. This is indeed, in my opinion, a step that should be taken in any circumstances, in order to secure an All-red cable line throughout the King's doninion.=. I have no desire to minimise the difficulties, but difficulties can almost invariably be surmounted."