THE PRESS CONGRESS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9470, 12 June 1909, Page 5

THE PRESS CONGRESS.

THE ALLEGED BARBARISM OP EUROPE.! 'United Proas Association. —By Meo-Telegraph.—-Copyright. London, Jnne 11. *Afc the Conference, Yisoount Morley said that mooli had recently been said about the rebarbaiisation of : Europe. He asked to what extent the Press shared in creating the processes which so threaten? Had the influence Of the Home and Colonial ’.Press been systematically and perse* ■veringly used on behalf of the peace of the nations? Mr Winston Churchill 'admitted that we are living in anxious -times, and humorously added ; that after a discussion which opened the moat appalling prospects of an approaching Armageddon he thought the Conference showed great courage to calmly sit down to literature and journalism. Lord Milner described the idea or the rebarbarisation of Europe as -dreadful nonsense. He believed disputes now-a-days were leas frequently settled by war than at any period For one reason the European nations ■were now mostly an organised system of national armies, and citizen

armies make for peace. Mr Douglas,. Auckland, said the Conference had been discussing the supreme question of defence. The . Colonies realised that a catastrophe -.meant the ruin of this great Empire, and they were ready to supply the Motherland with men, ships and money. “Tell us what you want us to do, and we will do it!” (Cheers.) Turning to the subject of discussion, he said the newspapers missed being •literature through want of time. Their primary purpose was not the cultivation of literary style, but the presentation of news, which was never so well and promptly done as to-day. He believed the Press at Home and in the Colonies were honestly striving to maintain the traditions already won, and and if they were maintained the press would remain a great and beneficent force.

Mr Balfour, at a luncheon at the Constitutional Club, in proposing the toast of “The Guests," said that 'the debates of the past week upon Imperial defence must have caused a glow of pride in every man with Imperial instincts. People recognised that the parental stage of Great Britain’s attitude towards the Colonies was over now, and that • they had reached the stage of formal equality. He was unable even to conceive what form the general 'Closer organised unity of the - Empire would take, but the form for pur poses of defence might take shape in ;the ’development of the Defence Committee, *on which the voices of men of Colonial experience had already proved of great value.

Mr J. O. Fairfax, Sydney, in responding, said that the delegates had Iseen struck very forcibly by the way in which party lines, if not obliterated, were yet completely ignored. They bad heard much which would help them to impress Imperial ideas upon the people of their own lands. He hoped that other proconsuls would follow the example of Lords Onrzon and Milner and visit the Dominions. .The Conference appointed a com- , mittee to consider the cheapening and improvement of cable facilities. The committee will report on the resumption on the 35th. GARDEN PARTIES AND DINNERS. The Duke of Wellington’s garden f party at Apsley House to the Press delegates included the Ambassadors, and foreign officers competing at the Olympia. In the evening Mr Balfour, Lords Crewe, Northoot6, Hlndlip, Middleton, and others gave dinner parties to the delegates and their ladies. Later in the evening the Duchess of Sutherland gave a reception at House, at which 2000 people were present.

AS SEEN BY GERMANS. Received June 13, 8.15 a.m. London, June 11. The Berliner Tageblatfc says that the speeches at tjbe Press Conference are intended to frighten the Colonies into making extraordinary sacrifices for the Navy and must not be taken too tragically. | The Vossisohe Zelfcung laments that the Press Conference has been addressed to tbe Colonial gallery, and adds that when Colonial goodwill has been attained another song will be sung in London. The Lokal-Anzeiger says that the speohes at the Conference taken in .connection with the events preceding the Conference suggest that England has gradually reached a state of mind permitting the worst to be ifeared.

SHAM FIGHT AT ALDERSHOT. Mr Buxton, Postmaster-General, 'received the Press delegates at the Post Office. Mr Murray, late of the New Zealand Herald, showed the Murray ■ multiplex. Among other machines was tjha Gell keyboard perforator, the invention of a New Zealander •once in the Telegraph Service at Nelson rpj.o, -jairtaates witnessed a sham ■figl)t of 20,000 men at Aldershot. ■General French and Mr Haldane entertained the delegates at luncheon.