THE PREMIERS AT HOME.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8403, 18 April 1907, Page 5

THE PREMIERS AT HOME.

FREEDOM OF CITY OF LONDON,

Received April 17, 9.14 a.m. LONDON, April 16. The Premiers and their suites drove in a procession of five carriages from the Hotel Cecil to the uuildhall to receive the Freedom of the City of London. The streets were crowded and were decorated with flags. The visitors were accorded enthusiastic welcome. General Botha was especially cheered. Lord Mayor Sir W. P. Treloar's reception of the Premiers in the library at the Guildhall was a picturesque function, witnessed by a crowded assemblage of ladies and gentlemen. General Botha was the hero o£ the occasion. Mr Deakin, Sir Joseph Ward, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Mr Balfour, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, and Field-Marshals Roberts and White were also greatly applauded. After the Premiers had sworn loyalty to the King, and also, like good citizens, to "pay their shot and take their lot," the Freedom of the City was conferred on them. Sir J. C. Dimsdale, City Chamberlain, in an eloquent speech, said there was no parallel in the annals of the City with the present occasion. He was delighted to honour Britons who had devoted their lives to developing and consolidating the Empire's dominions. Mr Deakin, in reply, said they all deeply prized this magnificent token of regard. No welcome was more acceptable or more appropriate. Presiding at the luncheon, the Lord Mayor declared that there was no greater honour than the City's gift. Sir Wilfrid Laurier predicted that the conference would prove a success. It would show what was possible, and what was impossible, and ought to be avoided. He declared that only Britain would have thought of conferring full citizenship on the Transvflal within five years of the war. Sir lleury Campbell-Bannerman, in proposing t»he health of Sir W. P. Treloar, considered the conferring of the Freedom of the City of London was a seasonabb and reasonable attention.