EMPIRE EXHIBITION

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 302, 17 September 1936, Page 11

EMPIRE EXHIBITION

Johannesburg Opening . Ceremony BROADCAST TO BRITAIN / (British Official Wireless.) Rugby, September 15. The opening ceremony of the Empire Exhibition at Johannesburg was broadcast to listeners in England by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The High Commissioner for South Africa in London, Mr. O. te Water, and the Dominions Secretary, Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, were among those who listened to the opening speeches. Lord Clarendon, Governor-General of the Union, read a message of good wishes from the King to 15,000 people who attended the ceremony. These included old pioneers who had not visited the Rand for 20 years. General Hertzog, the South African Premier, welcomed the visitors, and recorded speeches of Mr. Stanley Baldwin, and the Prime Ministers of other Dominions were heard. Some 3,000,000 visitors are expected before the exhibition closes its doors, and arrangements have been made for visits by large numbers of school children from all over the Union. The United Kingdom Government pavilion is dedicated to the people of the Union as a tribute of esteem by the people of the United Kingdom. THE KING’S MESSAGE Promotion of Empire Trade Johannesburg, September 15. A message from the King expressing the conviction that the exhibition would help to promote Empire trade, on which the welfare of Empire peoples largely depended, was read at the opening of the Johannesburg Empire Exhibition. Wireless greetings from the Prime Ministers of New Zealand and Australia were heard clearly. GOOD WISHES FROM NEW ZEALAND Message From Mr. Savage The following message from the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt. Hon. M' J. Savage, was broadcast by the 8.8. C. from a record specially made sotae time ago for use in connection with the opening of the Johannesburg exhibition:— “On behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand, I wish to extend the most cordial congratulations and greetings to the Union of South Africa. The Empire exhibition which you have so carefully planned and energetically promoted is, I am sure, a magnificent tribute to the achievements of your country. The young nations of the British Commonwealth have clearly entered upon a new era of development. They have been forced by economic circumstances to add secondary to primary industries and each is actively engaged in building up a balanced economy to meet its special needs. In this respect South Africa has a record of remarkable vigour and success, and wO in New Zealand note with admiration the phenomenal growth of your industrial enterprise. “I trust that the exhibition will be a means of furthering not only interImperial trade relations but also the welfare and- happiness of the people of South Africa and all the people of the Commonwealth. New Zealand wishes you success beyond your most sanguine expectations.’’