New U.S. Consular Agent

Press, 2 April 1979, Page 2

New U.S. Consular Agent

The retiring United States Ambassador, Mr Armistead Selden, junior, administered the oath on Saturday establishing Mr Malcolm Ott (left in photograph) as Consular Agent for the United States in Christchurch. Mr Ott, a chartered accountant in Lawrence, Godfrey and Company, will deal with American passport and citizenship matters in the South Island. His pre-; decessor, Mr W. G. Quirk, had held the post since 1956. In a letter accepting Mr Quirk’s resignation and thanking him for his “long and distinguished service,'’ Mr Selden said: “During! those years, you have served with loyalty, dedication, and courage. While relations between the United States and New Zealand have always been excellent, you personally have suffered from admittedly infrequent but dangerous displays of anti-American feeling on the part of small protest groups. You bore those uncharacteristic incidents with a composure and good humour.” Mr Quirk said yesterday that perhaps as many as 3000 persons in the South Island held United States passports and the tasks of dealing with passport renewals and citizenship matters, as well as many misdirected inquiries about the United States, travel details, and other callers, had kept him regularly busy on consular affairs. Mr Quirk will travel to Britain this year and may then make his first visit to the United States.