PUBLIC RECEPTION

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 169, 13 April 1935, Page 8

PUBLIC RECEPTION

Warm-hearted Welcome to Their Excellencies ILLUMINATED ADDRESS Lord Galway’s Appreciation A warm and sincere welcome to Wellington was given their Excellencies, Lord and Lady Galway, by citizens in the Town Hall last evening. Every part of the big hall was occupied, and those present were not slow to seize every opportunity of demonstrating the cordiality of their feelings. On behalf of the city the Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, who presided, presented his Excellency with an illuminated address and a water-colour which, as he expressed it, depicted a local scene which tlie weather probably had prevented their Excellencies from seeing as yet. Those on tlie platform, in addition to Hie party from Government House, included the Acting-Prime Minister, Hon. E. A. Ransom, and. Mrs. Ransom, the Chief Justice, Rt. lion. Sir Michael Myers, and Lady Myer?, the Mayoress, Mrs. T. C. A. Hislop, the Hon. R. Masters, and Mr. I*. Fraser. M.P. City councillors and members of other local bodies had places at the rear of the platform, which was beautifully decorated with flowers, palms and potplants. During the evening musical items were given by Miss Myra Sawyer, Mr. Claude Tanner, Mr. AV. Marshall. The organist, Mr. Maxwell Fernie, and Mr. Temple White acted as accompanists. Upon the arrival of their Excellencies the huge audience rose as one as the strains of the National Anthem came from the organ. The Mayor, in presenting the address and water-colour to his Excellency, mentioned that the engrossment and illuminations were the work of returned soldiers. Minister’s Speech. In welcoming Lord and Lady Galway on behalf of the Government, Mr. Ransom said New Zealand had been fortunate in the past in having as his Majesty’s representative distinguished men who had been well endowed with all tlie qualities peculiar to that high and honourable position. New Zealand might well feel grateful to Ins Majesty for the wise selections he had made from time to time. Air. Ransom said lie felt confident thlit he had the support of all New Zealand in saying that Lord Galway would prove a worthy successor to the able and distinguished men who had gone before. He would discharge his high office with distinction and with benefit: to New Zealand and her people. Viscount Galway was a descendant of an old English family, and had had a long and honourable military career, which began 35 years ago. In addition he had taken a keen interest in local government matters. He was a lover of country life, and shared with Lord Bledisioe an enthusiasm for agricultural farming. In the field of sport there was probably no greater enthusiast than Lord Galway, but probably hunting and riding took foremost place, while he was also a keen fisherman. In both latter sports he had a keen ally in Lady Galway. “But there are other activities through which her Excellency will make a strong appeal to the people of New Zealand,” Mr. Ransom continued. “Nor the least of these is her keen interest in nursing and in child welfare movement's. 'Through their family alone their Excellencies will find direct access to the hearts of our people, and I know you will all join me in extending a most hearty welcome to them and in expressing the hope that their sojourn with us during the next five years will be a most happy one.” “Haeremai, Haeremai, Kia Ora.” In concluding his speech, Mr. Ransom turned to their Excellencies, and said: “We fully appreciate the great sacrifice you are making in severing your home connections for such a long term, and we can only express the hope that the affection of our people and the interest you will find as his Majesty’s representative in this young and developing country will be some compensation for that sacrifice. I desire to convey to you both a special welcome from our Maori people. You will find in them a high standard of culture; you will find them intensely loyal to the Crown; vou will find them to he excellent citizens; and you will be interested in their language and iu their legends, arts, and crafts. They are working in the utmost harmony with their pakeha brothers, and I am pleased to sav are increasing in numbers and taking their place in agriculture, in the professions, and. in fact, in all walks of life. “Both Maori and pakeha extend to your Excellencies a most hearty welcome to, God’s Own Country, and we pray that His blessing may rest upon you. Haeremai, Haeremai, Kia Ora.” . . Tlie City’s Address. .At the conclusion of Hie ActingPrime Minister’s speech, the Mayor presented his Excellency with the city’s address, which was in the following terms:— To the Right Honourable Viscount Galway, G.C.M.G., D. 5.0., 0.8. E., Governor-General and Comnsander-in-Chief of tlie Dominion of New Zealand and its Dependencies: May it please your Excellency,— We, the Mayor and councillors on behalf of the citizens of Wellington, dutiful subjects of his Most Gracious Majesty King George the Fifth, offer to your Excellency and Lady Galway a very cordial welcome on your arrival in Wellington to assume the responsibilities of your high office. We desire to assure you of the sincere loyalty of the people of Wellington to our beloved Sovereign and to yourself as his representative. New Zealand lias been particularly fortunate in the choice by his Majesty of men of outstanding ability and character to represent him in this Dominion, and from our knowledge of your past achievements we look forward with confidence to your help and guidance in the difficult years which are jtill with us. The development of the resources and the trade of this country, together with the advancement of its social conditions, now more than ever require all the skill, patience and spirit of co-operation of which we arc possessed, as well as the goodwill of the people of the Motherland. ' , , , We trust that both you and Lady Galway will regard Wellington as your home for' the next live years as well as your place of residence, and that your stay among us may be an enjoyable one. Welcome By Mayor. “I desire to take the opportunity for a few brief moments,” said the Mayor, “of saying just a little which cannot In the ordinary way, or indeed in any way, be incorporated in a strictly fornrn'l address. I should like first to accept entirely, so far as it be possible for one to accept it, the responsibility of the climatic conditions that charac-

terised your Excellency’s arrival at Wellington. But sometimes I think, and possibly you may agree with me, that it is better to see the worst to begin with, because, after all, if one does know that one has met with the worst ami overcome it and can look to the future with confidence, and so perhaps I may be allowed to embark on that extremely dangerous course, the course of anyone who predicts the future — particularly the weather—that in the course of at least a few more days you will be able to look upon Wellington basking beneath the warm sun, beneath a cloudless sky, with the reflections of the water in its translucent depths and around -you our waterfront. Up to the very tops of the hills you will see tlie smiling and contented faces ot the residents of this, the capital city.

"But if, your Excellencies, I should be by any possible chance a mere optimist, then at least I can tell you that that vision is the desire of everybody in this city. It is our common experience that- when we are subjected to these blasts of Nature we say that they will last three days, and then brightness will break through, and our experience is that such is Hie case. So I can with a full sense of my responsibility assure you that, you have already been subjected to the worst that the south can do. Yet, perhaps one should at least warn yon that there are also northern winds that blow. It is the desire and feeling of all of us that those winds in tlie years to come, whether they blow from the north or from the south, will blow carrying with them a. paeon of praise from tlie people of New Zealand. That, at least, would be their justification. Strong Personal Affection. “Now, your Excellencies, it lias been the practice t'Sr many years past for those who have occupied the office of Governor-General of New Zealand to spend a considerable part of their time iu residence in this city. I know that it may be thought by anybody who arrives in conditions such as I have described, unusual, and at least altruistic, that people should reside for a length of time here. But people have done so, your Excellencies, and the result has been that through that close feeling, resulting from personal contact and the very close interest which has been taken in all our local activities has been a development of such a feeling of strong personal affection for those who have represented his Majesty in our midst. , “No one, I think, could have been more truly loved and respected in this city than your predecessor. Lord Bledisloe, and Lady ’Bledisioe. to whom we lately said good-bye. But: when the time did come for us to know we were saying good-bye to them, it was with feelings of gratification that we learned that your Excellencies were to be the successors to those for whom we had such great feelings of respect, affection, admiration and regard. I say this, if you will, sir. permit me to say it—l say it in no spirit of fulsome praise and iu no spirit of empty words —but I say it because we know the distinguished record of your Excellency in the Old Country, and what to my mind is infinitely more important than that, we know, or feel that we know, tlie spirit that has been behind those achievements and feeling that we look forward with complete confidence to that help, to that guidance, and to that encouragement in our affairs, and in our everyday activities which have in the past characterised his Majesty's representative in this country. A Loyal People. “We, sir, are a loyal people. I say it'in no spirit of boastfulness, but I say it in a spirit of pride, we are a loyal people. We are in sentiment as we are in hereditary, an intensely British people. I believe that in no part of the world is there a people who in blood are more purely British. Therefore, we hope that you will feel among us that subtle feeling of kinship which will make this small, virile land seem to you, her Excellency, and your family, another home. In coming to this country we realise that you have severed for many years ties that you would dearly love to keep intact. But we know this, that in coming here you follow that great tradition of public service which has characterised your family and many similar families for generations past and which to my mind is one of tlie great glories of Britain. “We join with you in the hope—and for us the confident hope—that when in due course you come to the end of your term of office you will have satisfaction at least from the knowledge that you have successfully helped in drawing still closer between us and the Mother Country the ties of mutual affection. . “And now, your Excellencies. may I just say a word, a short and but simple word, but a word which I do know, if I know my fellow citizens at all, reflects the feeling of each and every one of them, and that word is the simple word ‘Welcome.’ ” His Excellency’s Reply. His Excellency, on rising to respond, was received with cheers and applause. “Your Worship. Mr. Ransom, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “it is with a very full heart I arise to say thank you for'the warmth of your welcome and to accept this delightful souvenir which your Worship has given to Lady Galway and myself, in remembrance of an unforgettable day and an unforgettable occasion. The arrival in your capital city, the taking over formally of this high office, are bound to be very impressive to anyone, and the warmth of the welcome which we have received on ail sides has touched us very deeply indeed. You have indeed made us feel that we are at home. Very many kind things have been said about Lady Galway and myself this evening. I can assure you we will do our utmost while we are here to merit the opinion which has been formed of us and to live up to the high tradition of this important office. “First I must say a word, as everybody else has said a word, about the weather. I think it was really very remarkable weather for tlie two days when we arrived here —yesterday and to-day—particularly as we had come through a storm at sea, that tlie weather here was really calm compared with what it was some hundred miles away from here. It was an unforgettable experience as we came into the harbour yesterday evening with brilliant sunshine lighting up tlie bill sides and making tlie countryside look very beautiful indeed. And of. the much abused weather to-day, it might have been a great deal worse It began by pouring with rain early in the morning, but it had the good sense to brighten up even though there was a wind which compelled me to hold my hat somewhat (irmly We arrived in very pleasant conditions and the wonderful welcome which we have been given has made us forget all our little troubles and high winds, and made us think that our reception here was more than we could have possibly anticipated. “And now. ladies and gentlemen, kind things have been said about myself, and yon have been informed tli.il I was in the army for many years, that I had Hie honour of commanding the Life Guards, and so I suppose you will rea-

lise that soldiers arie proverbially brief in their speech. Therefore, following the example of many of my illustrious predecessors, my speeches I hope will not be lengthy, but, even if they are short, they will not, I trust, lack cordiality, and if I omit to say things or do not say things at sufficient length, I hope you will realise that it is not that I do not feel most strongly the kind things that have been said about us. Future Plans. "And now for our plans for the future. We hope not only to live in ■Wellington, but definitely to take a very active part in everything to do with Wellington and the interests of Wellington, combined with, of course, visiting other centres and taking a vast interest, as we are certain to do, in all the other portions of the Dominion. Wellington is going to be our home, and we shall not forget all your kindness to us and all your sympathy and encouragement in starting us off on our career in this great and important Dominion. “Before I left Home I receive message after message from various bodies, city companies and various institutions and gatherings of friends begging me to give their warmest regards to New Zealand, and I take this opportunity of doing so. I can assure you New Zealand has a great many and very good friends in Great Britain, and they watch New Zealand’s progress with the greatest interest and the greatest sympathy. One reason why, is that New Zealand is known to be the most loyal, the most patriotic of all the Dominions. We shall never forget what New Zealand did in the Great War, not only for the number of men as regards population who joined the colours, but for the quality of the New Zealand Division, who earned undying fame at Gallipoli and afterward in France, as being one of the finest divisions who ever went to take part in the Great War. That will not be forgotten so long as anybody reads the histories that have been written of the valour and gallant conduct of tlie New Zealand troops during the Great War. Interest in the Maoris.

"Mr. Ransom made mention of the Maori people. We are looking forward with the greatest interest to going to that part of the Dominion and meeting the Maori people, of whom we have heard so much, and in whom we take such a very deep interest. I have read their histories of the past, and I realise what gallant men they have been in support of this country, and we feel sure there is a great future for a race so loyal and such very good friends and brothers of the other members of the community. We are looking forward with the greatest interest to mectir.C them, and I am certain that we shall receive from them as warm a welcome as our predecessors have been given.

“Kind tilings were said about our leaving home—the wrench it is to pull up the roots and go far away. It was a wrench, yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was. But we hardly feel that now. Because of all the kindness shown to us we are beginning, I think, already to put. down new roots in this most hospitable soil, and I feel sure before long that those roots will have got so deep that they will begin to produce a crop of the flowers of friendship. “On behalf of Lady Galway and myself—and may I add of our family, who were thrilled with excitement at arriving here—may I once more offer to you our most grateful thanks for the warmth of your welcome. I hope that in tlie course of tlie next few weeks or so we shall become more and more closely in touch with the various activities of this great Dominion and that in those different capacities we shall meet many of you individually, with whom we are not able to shake hands to-night, and so shall have many happy meetings together. I am certain our stay in this Dominion will be one which will certainly bring great happiness to ourselves, and I only hope it will bring great happiness to you also.”

At the call of the Mayor, three rousing cheers were given for their Excellencies. The function concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.