FRENCH GIFT TO MR. CHAMBERLAIN

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 93, 13 January 1939, Page 13

FRENCH GIFT TO MR. CHAMBERLAIN

No Personal Gain To

Himself

In accordance with the wishes ot Mr. Neville Chamiberlain, the sum of 500,OOOf. (£2770) raised by public subscription under the auspices of the newspaper “Parls-Soir” .t~ buy the Prime Minister a property in France as a thanksoffering for his services to peace will be paid over to French ex-service charities. Mr. Chamberlain has addressed the following letter to M. Prouvost, the owner of “Paris-Solr”: — I have been very touched by the initiative of “Paris-Solr” in opening a fund to provide me with a residence in France, and by the magnificent response which this suggestion has evoked. I hope that the very kind subscribers will not take it amiss if I feel compelled to decline this most generous offer. Their action, and the many private letters which Mrs. Chamberlain and I have received, in addition to resolutions from public bodies in France,- are to me the greatest encouragement in pursuing the path of peace to which all my energies will continue to be directed; and they will, I trust, appreciate that I would not wish to derive any personal gain for myself. The wounds of the last war are still with us, and a debt rests on our generation to alleviate these wounds insofar as in us lies. I venture, therefore, to, suggest that the “Paris-Soir” fund might be handed over to the Office National de s Mutiles Andiens Coinbattants, Victimes de la Guerre et Pupilles de la Nation, to be administered as that body thinks best. I understand that this suggestion commends itself to you, and I hope It will be agreeable to those who have been so kind and generous as to associate themselves with this memorial, to one and all of whom I -offer my sincerest thanks. .