• On Tuesday the Colonial Premiers were the guests of
the City Corporation at the Guildhall, and received the freedom of the City. As they drove through thedecorated streets they were loudly cheered, General Botha obviously being the favourite of the crowd. Sir J. Dimsdale delivered an address of welcome before each Premier received a copy of the freedom in a gold box. After luncheon, Sir Wilfrid Laurier made an important speech in acknowledging the toast pro- posed by the Lord Mayor, from which we have quoted at large elsewhere. It is clear that this most experienced of Premiers has no shadow of fear that the Conference will fail because it is presided over by a Free-trade Government. ILi the evening a banquet was given by the Eighty Club. On Wednesday evening the Premiers dined with the Prince and Princess of Wales at Marlborough House, and on Thursday night a banquet of gigantic proportions took place at the Albert Hall under the auspices of the 1900 Club. It is very pleasant to observe the genuine note of satisfaction that prevails at all the gatherings which the Premiers have honoured with their presence. The ordinary Englishman who is obliged, or fancies himself obliged, to attend a public banquet as a rule deplores his fate in unmeasured tones. The most jaded and discontented of public diners-out are however, to be found going to the Conference social functions, not merely without grumbling, but with enthusiasm. The reality of the interest awakened by the Conference is a very signifi- cant fact.
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