NEW LONDON FREEMEN.

Press, 1 February 1930, Page 18

NEW LONDON FREEMEN.

MR MACDONALD AND MR SNOWDEN.

CHANCELLOR ON THE HAGUE VICTORY.

(FROM OUE OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, December 23. The names of Mr Ramsay Mac Donald and Mr Philip Snowden have been added to the role of Freemen of the City of London. The ceremony took place in the Guildhall last Thursday and was attended by distinguished people of all ranks and types. It was marked by quaint touches of old time ritual, as well as by the colour and dig nitv of ancient pageantry. First there was a procession of the Lord Mayor (Sir William Watcrlow), the Ladv Mayoress, and the Sheriffs up the main aisle of the building to the dais, where, shortlv afterwards, a large number of notable guests, including members of the Cabinet, Freemen ot the City, and leaders of business, were received. Describing his first, visit to a ceremonial function at the Guildhall, Mr Mac Donald remarked that the gorgeous glitter of its pageantry, which he hoped thev would never abandon, dazzled and disturbed him, but there was a curious familiarity about it all, for he knew the books that wero there. "In davs gone bv, when I was a clerk," the Prime Minister continued, "making out invoices—l hope with accuracy—(laughter)—and with the same meticulous care shown in the finances of my emplover that my friend, the Chancellor of "the Exchequer, shows in the finances of the nation—as soon as one o'clock struck, breaking, T believe, the most sacred rules of your library/I, day after day, week after week, month the most sacred rules of your after month, slipped a dry biscuit into my pocket, and within five minutes T was ensconced in one of those shady corners of one oi the alcoves of your library." If he had subsequently done harm in the world, the library must hear a considerable part of the responsibility. But for himself he had only gratitude to the corporation and its library, and would never enter it without reverence and thankfulness. Peace of the World. Mr Philip Snowden, who was given an ovation aomparable with that accorded to the Prime Minister, said he had received the greatest honour that day which could come to any man in recognition of public work. The corporation was representative not only ol London, but ot England. "Nothing ever surprised me more,'' Mr .Snowden declared, "than the universal and generous appreciation of our countrymen at the action of the British delegation at The Hague." He did not regard British interests there as merely national interests, but interests for good relations between nations. The peace of the world can never be secured and maintained except on a foundation of justice, he added. Before the end of The Hague Conference, there was a clearer understanding of the British position and a willingness to recognise our claims. "We parted the very best of lriends, all feeling. 1 believe, the truth of the sentiment expressed in the world: 'lt is astonishing how much you l.ke a fellow after you have fought him." (Laughter and cheers.) In a fortnight's time they would l>e meeting in a friendly atmosphere, to put the coping stone to their work, with the Reparations Agreement as a new starting point on the road to the financial and economic reconstruction of Europe. At the luncheon at the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor, proposing the health of the new Freemen, observed that on the first recorded occasion, in 1757, when two statesmen had been made Freemen together—William Pitt the. elder and Henry Bilson Legge, who had been leader of the House of Commons and Chancellor of the Exchequer respectively—the honour was bestowed in recognition of their conduct during their truly honourable though short administration. One of the ingredients in Ijeggc's Budget in 1757 was a guinea lottery, an expedient which he could not think would commend itself to a financial purist like Mr Snowden (Laughter.) "WTTv was this honour conferred upon Mr Mac Donald and Mr Snowden?" asked the "Daily Express," i» a leading article. "Certainly not on account of their political views or their war record. An immense majority ol the people of these islands had nothing but detestation for the course pursued by both men between 1914 and 1918. A very large majority to-<lay are out of all sympathy with their Socialistic professions. Yet opinion in general is well satisfied that they should be Freemen of flie City. They are men of irreproachable personal honour, the architects of their own careers, courageous, far more concerned with what they take to be the interests of the nation than with their own fortunes, two fine examples of the value ot character in public life. The City has done well to add them to its Roll of Freedom."