CIVIC RECEPTION

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 197, 17 May 1941, Page 7

CIVIC RECEPTION

Noted Trade Unionist

WELCOME TO MR. HOLMES

A civic reception was tendered by the mayor of Wellington, Mr. Hislop, in tlie Town Hall Concert Chamber yesterday to Mr. W. I-lolmeis, a past president of the British Trades Union Congress, who has beeu visiting New Zealand as a fraternal delegate from tlie general council of the congress. The Acting-Prime Minister, Mr, Nash, represented the Government, other memlwrs of Cabiuet present being the Minister of Defence, Mr. Jones, the Minister of Public Works, Mr. Arm strong and rhe Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Barclay. Also on the platform were the Speaker of the Legislative Council, Mr. Fagan, the national president of the Labour Party, Mr. J. Heberts, members of the city council and of tl>e trade union movement. Exteudiug a cordial welcome to Mr. Holmes, the mayor said that he had come to New Zealand as a representative of those heroic workers of Britain who were united iu putting forth every effort to catch up ali that bad been lost in the years before and to turn out aeroplanes and munitions iu ever-increasing numbers. The heart and soul of the people of New Zealand were behind them in their struggle, and the Dominion was determined to do everything in its power to help the Old Country. Government’s Welcome. Welcoming Mr. Holmes on behalf of the Government, Mr. Nash said that New Zealand had been fortunate in having visits from such men as Mr. Bevin, Mr. Grenfell and Mr. Holmes. The response from the workers of Britain when war broke out had been the result as much as anything of the amazing lead given them by Mr. Bevin, who came from the same organization as Mr. Holmes. It was a great achievement to become president of the Trades Union Congress as Mr. Holmes had done and to assume the leadership of 5,000,000 workers. In the front line of the hardest conflict in which the English-speaking people had ever been engaged stood the T.U.C. Mr. Holmes and his colleagues had inspired the people, when bombs were falling and factories being smashed, to go back unflinching to production. The morale of the people was unbroken and their fortitude even greater than before because they realized what was at stake. Mr. Nash asked Mr. Holmes to take back from New Zealand the message that whatever could be sent to aid England was hers even without the asking. Happy Recollections. He would take away with him. very happy recollections and a stirring message of goodwill from the people of New Zealand, said Mr. Holmes in reply. Referring to the part which the Trades Union Congress was playing in helping to increase production, Mr. Holmes said that when war broke out and difficulties arose, workers and employers sat down together in harmony and tried to find a way to please everybody and help the country. Since the war started, there had been no official dispute by the great trades unions. England was not muddling through. There were no better machines or finer craftsmen than the British; every day production was increasing, and soon they would be masters of the air at night time as already they were of the air over Britain in the daytime. Mr. Holmes Entertained.

Mr. AV. Holmes was the guest of the New Zealand Federation of Labour at a dinner in Wellington last night. The Minister of Labour, Mr. Webb, some of his colleagues and executive members of the Wellington Trades Council and the New Zealand Labour Party, were also present. Mr. Holmes will leave Wellington for the north on Monday.