SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2117, 27 June 1907, Page 4

SIR JOSEPH WARD.

A WELCOME HOME. Pross Association. 4 WELLINGTON, ycstorday. Sir Joseph’Ward' and Lady Ward arrived by tho.s.s. Mahono at noon td-day, and were wolcomod by tlio mombors of tli o Ministry, and a ,numbor of personal friends. A public recoption.will be hold to-night. The weather, i'or tho rocoption; ol Sir Joseph Ward, to-day was doprossing A drizzling,, ram was falling, but these conditions .did not dimmish the heartiness of tho welcomo accordcd Sir Josopli and Lady W ard. . Sir Joseph' in the. course.of an lntorvipw, . shidi lie Svas iii excellent health, tie had, in fact,.come through the ordeal, scatliloss. He had not booh indisposed half an hour, and ho .was the only one of tho Prime Ministers who could say that ho had fulfilled every engagement ho had accoptcd, and that Mono was a great performance. At the Town Hall this evening Mi. Mislop, tho Mayor, presided. Aai bu* Joseph AA’nrd, Lady Ward, and. Miss Ward entered tlio hall the strains of “Homo, Sweot Homo’ '\' 01 ' 0 l ) n - v . o< , bv the garrison band, lho Ircnucr looked tho picture ol health as ho walked to tho front of tho platform, Ho was heartily received by tho audiCll Tho Mayor referred to Sir Joseph Ward’s services to the colony ant wolcomod him on behalf ,of the edizons of Wellington. (Applause.) Sir Joseph Ward, on rising:; to sneak, was met with voederous apnlause tho audience- gning tlue cheers Ho prefaced Ins remarks bv returning thanks for the on tin.s?»ctfc reception, and quoted the 1C bur’s message to Now Zealand, ei messing deep interest in tlio welfare tho eolony, and pleasure. at the ?!r>id strides N T ew Zealand was ma'ksocial progress Tim message wished New. Zealand and its people all prosperity, and , hanP • ness He.referred to the Hon. & - Tones’ indisposition and said it had been decided that lie should-take, six InoMhs holiday and houed.kc woidd return with rostored health,, &jr Joseph referred to EM. Smith, Hon. W. M. B°t> ft P ,. transacting small business until Timsdav to enable members to attend c;,. Tobn Hall s funeral. Sn Josopli onlv briefly touched upon Contpijoiicc matters, much upon « 1 ?. 1, ' l es l*!' already boon published, rto ox nlaiiu-d that it was generally undoif~ j Hi-it. no resolution was of ariul unless it was unanimous and that wis wliv, wlien there was any °PP timt resolutions were not pressed to resoiu R r (taln being oppos- • i Tii conclusion,,,, bir J Ol Ward mentioned that Parliament opened to-morrow. They could not touch on political matters at that gathering, but he Would say that one item in the Governor’s speech they would find to bb a matter for great pleasure to every political class m New Zealand.

(Special to Times). _ "“““"WELLINGTON, yesterday. The flags on the shipping and the public buildings in the . capital this morning were an indication an event of more than ordinary impo alee. There was a great display of bunting, which hung, limply in the thick, grey fog, and by way of contrast the flag at Parliament House drooped half-mast high, a token ol respect for the departed statesmanSir John Hall. , There was some mistako made oy the reception committee as to the probable hour of arrival, and members of the Ministry some members of both houses of Parliament, a number of officials, and a few ladies, lett in tho Tutauaeliai about 7 a.m., for the purpose of meeting the turbine steamer Maheno, in which Sir Joseph Ward was a passenger. They had a long wait, for it was not till naif-past 10 that the two ships got together. Sir J. Ward, Lady ’Ward, and Miss Afleen Ward, with Mr. Belcher, of tho Seamen’s wore On the navigating bridge waving, handkerchiefs in response to the greetings of those on tho Government steamer. The Tutanaekai flew the signal, “Welcome Waj-d,” and a number of ships’ rockets were fired. After the Health Officer’s inspection the visitors boarded the Maheno, and Sir Joseph and Lady Ward roceived a hearty welcome. The Premier was duly photographed and interviewed, and in the rain the Maheno steamed up the harbor, and berthed at the main wharf at midday. - There was, of course, a call for a speech, and Sir Joseph said a few words, thanking tho people for thou welcome. A considerable crowd had gathered in spite of the unusually damp and depressing weather. The. Premier’s party drove away amid tho cheers of the onlookers. h Sir Joseph is looking remarkably well, and, thanks no doubt to his • abstemiousness, the round of social gaiety and banquets, and tho work of tli6 Imperial Conference have left no sinister mark on his features. Indeed ,he looks better than when lie wont away. On his hurried return from the last Conference he landed ill Wellington under somewhat sad circumstances, owing to the recent, death, of Mr. Beddon On this occasion his liomacomingr has also been somewhat hurried. There is a sad note in it ow.ing to the somewhat serious illness of Mr Hall-Jones, whom Sir Joseph left on his departure for England. in good health, in the position of Acting Premier.

One of Sir Joseph’s first acts was to drive straight to the. residence of Mr. Hall-Jones and express his delight at finding hi 3 colleague so far on the way towards recovery. - Sir Joseph has already;had a very busy day. There has been a long Cabinet meeting this • afternoon, which occupied most of his time, but lie was able to spare time for a few brief interviews to the ever-present pressmen. TIo had not, however, anything specially new to say regarding his Home experiences,, and, of course, it is too near the opening of the session for him to. give away. any political secrets. Ho managed to see a good deal of England during the two months lie was there,-and several of the sights of London. Amongst the latter was “ ’Appy ’Ampstead” on Bank Holiday. This year some seventy thousand costers, with their “ ’Arriots” and other friends, thronged the Heath and made merry. Girls and men changed hats and danced along the adjoining roads, stopping at times all vehicular traffic. They stopjjed even the motor car of the New Zealand Premier without even an apology. This, however, was all in the day’s outing, and any such little inconveniences were cheerfully accepted. On the Heath there were all sorts of amusements for the gala crowd. Ono of tlio most amusing entertainments provided was that afforded by a number of men-o’-wars-men, who had gone there to spend the day and had been accommodated by the costers with horses at a penny a ride. They indulged ill racing, to the amusement of the crowd, and spills, which wore not uncommon, added to the pleasure of the onlookers, who seemed to look upon this as quite a natural thing for Jack to do. Sir Joseph met the Prime Minister of England on several occasions, and always found him in the best of health atuj spirits, notwithstanding tli; heavy responsibilities of his ofhco. The Campbeil-Jlannerinan Administration, however, ba.d been passing through a. period of considerable anxiety. Sir Joseph says iiip British Government was nob able to support everything that the Prime Ministers wanted at the Imperial Conference, but Sir Henry had the very kindliest feelings for the colonies. and was much interested in New Zealand, where so many of his countrymen, a great many of whom were personal friends, had made their homes. Sir Joseph Ward urged the Prime Minister to mako a visit to New Zealand in the near future, where he was quite sure all classes would welcome him. Sir Henry stated that it would give him great'pleasure to come to the colony, although he was afraid there was no immediate prospect of his being able to do so.

Amongst other notables Sir Joseph found “Hr. Jim” a most interesting man, deeply interested ill knitting together the bonds of Empire. Though a strong-looking man, Dr. Jamieson for his health’s sake eschewed banquets and functions generally, delegating the duty of attending them to his colleague. He was, however, assiduous in looking after the interests of his colony at tho Conference.

Sir Joseph, of course, .met many other notabilities. Amongst these was Prince Fusliima, a distinguished member of the Royal family of Japan. He is exceedingly well informed about all parts of the British Empire and expresses grveafc cordiality towards Great Britain. There can be no doubt- that .the attachment between Great- Britain and Japan has been the means of bringing about a re-; markable friendship between these' two-nations and the characteristics

that have been so noted in tlio Japanese' of recent years by being wellinformed in all quarters is, in Sir than ovor. To-dny thbir representatives aro to, bo , foundx Upon a. previous visit to London Sir Josopli wont over Nobel’s dynamite factory. He. there'.found a', number of Japanese ,’going'over the premises tlio same day., . Silica tliat'.ditto,No-, .lull’s dynamite factory has beep erected in Japan. On his present visit at the launching of the New Zealand sto timer, Mfiori; at Dumbarton, oir Josopli again mot tho representatives of the .InpailesoCGovernment,, who wore engaged to supervise tlio con■struotioii of mon-o’-wiiEJ alia kiothor •steamers. Later on in the day on ;journeying by; stonmoy down. f ,Loch Long! lie met ‘another party Ot Japanese, who woro travelling by;tlio 'same’ stonmbr for! the piirposti of pb- : tnining iiiforniatSpn for tho'ir Goyoniniont. Theattachment' toour ;Em-. piro of such aii E, bxcoptionnily . j pro- : gressivo and . poworful, Jarpan is, in tlio’ opiiiidly of 1 the; popple of Groat Britain,;'hr iii'dstim.alne, -value . to them. ' : _ . Sir Josopli r also mot Earl Roberts (who was looking remarkably .well), . and Sir Goorgci lWliytb, vr pho of the most intorosting of soldiers, lo seo him in uniform -with liis niouals, all won for distinguished service, is sonifr; thing to ho fomdin.G.bred. Probably there is no officer attached to tlio British army who is so loaded with decorations for brilliant service clone for his Kiiig and country as Sir Leo. Whyte. ‘ Sir Joseph has already been piunped pretty dry in regard, to the Con-, ference. He however expressed the opinion that it would do a great- deal of good for successive Conferences. Ho'said they would take, up the threads which have been given and make for the strengthening and upholding of the 1 British interests .Sr "Joseph Ward, was .'impressed bj tie extraordinary interest taken by all sections of till© community in their desire to bring the oversea dominion into closer touch with tho Old Land ■■ He was of opinion that this feeling would grow. The most sangunip .advocate of preferential .trade mould not expect! that matter to ho brought into existence except by an educative force which Would be a ceaseless method. One. of the .great. questions discussed was the means ot speedier communication between the dif eye t parts of the Empire. At. piesopt great ignorance generally prevailed in tho Home Land respecting these States, and by having more frequent ami rapid communication this would soon disappear. A permnnee -and a status had been given to the ence and that was a most important thino- Tlie reception of the delegates in tho various cities was remarkable for warmth and spontaneity, and without egotism ho said New Zealand seemed to bo regarded with special affection everywhere he went. In his speech to-night Sir Joseph Ward excited but did not satisfy the , curiosity of his audience, by stating I that there was m the. Speech which the Governor would deliver to-mor-row one item that would giyo great pleasure to all classes in the coimtrv It was an item that would shoiv the people that we were moving forward, and in some respects doing real good. It would please every political class in New Zealand.