present lines, vice, degradation and suffering will be kept from the land. I have been asked in Australia how New Zealand’s prosperity is accounted for. My reply is that it has been to a large extent promoted by the development of national resources, and by giving equality of opportunity. When I read of the large number of workless people in London I feel that there must be something seriously amiss. It is a terrible reproach to the nation. In these self-governing colonies there should be no one unemployed. This great economic loss should not be permitted. There is no doubt that outside of the colonies capitalists are afraid of the workers. This is not justified. My experience is that when a worker has a cottage of his own and a few pounds in the bank he becomes very conservative. Let want and anxiety for the morrow be removed from the worker’s life and there is nothing to fear. After all, they only want bread and butter, and something to look forward to and up to. It was not very much. Hope must be the paramount feeling in every breast; the moment it dies there is loss of energy.
“There must be educational equipment for the battle of life. In New Zealand the University is within the reach of every man’s child. There are to-day free places and scholarships for three thousand; thus master minds will be at the command of commerce and politics. When the best minds of a nation guide its destinies that nation is bound to hold an exalted position. The country which in the future is going to rule the destinies of the world is that in which primary, technical, and secondary education is within the reach of all.
“There is no mistaking New Zealand’s loyalty and imperialism. We know that we are integral parts of a great Empire, living under a flag which ensures justice and freedom. The self-governing colonies must prove themselves buttresses of the Mother Country. Only the other day there was war in the East. Now we read that the Chinese are arming and training, and there are four hundred millions of them. There are four million people in Australia. The time is coming to be on guard. If trouble comes from the East the battleground will be Australia. If anything happens to Australia what will happen to New Zealand? These dangers will have to be provided against. Then who can say that trouble might not come from the West under changed conditions of the future? The United States is bent on securing the trade of the Pacific. If trouble does come from the West, New Zealand will have to bear the brunt of it. She is well prepared. There are thirty thousand trained men and boys there, a number relative to the population unequalled in the civilized world. I believe that the people in the colonies will be true to their traditions. Their race has fought at Trafalgar, at Alma, Inkermann, and Waterloo, and held Mafeking and Ladysmith. If necessity arises the colonials will prove themselves worthy chips of the ‘old block.’
“The self-governing colonies have a great opportunity to avoid what has taken place in older countries. They are building the foundations of a great nation. At the creation of the world it was never intended by the Divine Master that only a few should have the enjoyment of the good things, and that countless thousands should want for food. The sooner selfishness is thrown aside the better.”
He never struck the imperial note more effectively than whilst on that visit to Australia, and he never spoke more
