THE CORONATION

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3163, 8 March 1911, Page 4

THE CORONATION

OVERSEA REPRESENTATION.

■DECLINED WITH THANKS.”

rPEB PRESS ASSOCIATION.! CHRISTCHURCH, March 7 There will be no delegation from tho New Zealand Parliament at the Coronation. Only teo WKr. tJpM affirmatively to Sn J G. Maid ni milrv and their acceptance was conditional on -a vote being provided for their passages, a request wlnca Cabinet declined to entertain. . Regarding the invitation received for members of the New Zealand Parliament to visit England to witness the Coronation, Mr. G. W. Russell, .LI ~ yesterday received the following telegram from the Prime Minister:— Lp to the last .moment I find that only one member has accented the invitation of the Committee of both Houses of the British Parliament to lie their guests at the Coronation. This being so, and as eight were asked for, I have informed the Committee that it is regretted that members are not aide to avail themselves of their courteous invitation. PORTION OF N Z- CONTINGENT SELECTED.

On the recommendation of the officer commanding the Canterbury district, the following officers and _ men have been selected to form portion of the Coronation contingent from New Zea]:ind: —Captain Johnson, C Squadron, Regiment: Contain G. E. Rhodes, A Squadron, Ist Regiment : Sergeant-Ma-jor G. McMahon (Wakatu Mounted Rifles), B Squadron, 10th Regiment; Sergeant Z. Parkinson. Sergeant L. Blunders Corporal McFarlane, Troopers Bassett, D. Chapman, J. Chapman, Olney, Alien (all of A Squadron, Ist Regiment), Sergeant T. S. J. Doherty and Trooper W. Eustace, B Squadron; Lance-Corporal H. M. hosier (Highland Rifles. H Company, Ist Infantry; Private G. C. O’Callaghan (City Rifles), C Company, Ist Regiment. VIEWS OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER. It is suggested by tlie '‘Observer” that at the Coronation some part in the actual ceremonial might fitly' be allotted tcT the Dominions through their representatives. The colonial representatives in London have expressed cordial approval of the idea. The New Zealand High Commissioner, for instance, when interviewed on the subject, said: “To be given some share in the Coronation ceremony would afford cverv colonist supreme delight. In New' Zealand, I know, it would be a source of great satisfaction. In effect, it would mean the forging of yet another link in the chain of the Empire, making firmer than ever the ties of j kinship. Applied science lias helped to j annihilate the distance between the i Homeland and the Overseas Dominions. The dread of Downing Street interfering in local affairs has passed, and in its place has grown a knowledge of what Empire means and what loyalty to the Crown stands for. In almost every direction one finds a growing disposition on the part of the people of the Mother Country 'to cultivate the acquaintance of colonials and to try and gauge the measure of their ambiThe Lord Mayor of London, for instance, for some years now, has made a point of inviting to official functions some of the distinguished colonial visitors who happen to be in Great Britain at the time. That- is iust as it should be. because the Lord hi ay or of tho capital of the Empire is really the Empire’s Lord Mayor, and that is how we elect to regard him. I cannot think of anything so admirably calculated to fire the enthusiasm of eve:y colonist in the Empire as to permit the colonial representatives to perform some office at the Coronation. If His Majesty his way to give effect to considerations which are very near his heart, unbounded joy would prevail throughout the Oversea Dominions. - ’