MR. DUFF COOPER IMPRESSED

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 53, 26 November 1941, Page 10

MR. DUFF COOPER IMPRESSED

Enthusiasm For Allied Cause ARRIVAL AT AUCKLAND (By Telegraph—Press Association.; AUCKLAND, November 26. “I have been very much impressed by the enthusiasm everywhere for the Allied cause,” said Mr. Alfred Duff Cooper, Chancellor of the Duchy ot Lancaster, when he returned to Auckland late tonight, after conferring with the Government in continuation of his mission to the Far East. "My stay here has been so brief that I have been able to see little of the Dominion’s war effort, but what I have heard impresses me as very considerable.” he said. “I have been greatly touched by the welcome 1 have received from large crowds here and in Wellington and Christchurch. I regret that I cannot stay longer and see more of the country and its people.” Mr. Duff Cooper said he had found New Zealanders keenly interested in how Britain was faring. Everywhere he had been plied with questions about conditions in Britain and it was obvious that a large number of people had friends or relatives there. While unwilling to state whether his visit to New Zealand would affect his report to the British Government on centralizing authority in the Far East, Mr. Duff Cooper said he had had full and complete discussions with Cabinet and the War Cabinet and that he aud the Government had been in full agreement. The Minister, who was accompanied by Lady Diana Cooper aud LieutenantColonel Robertson, a member of his staff, concluded one of the most rapid tours of the Dominion on record with a one-day car trip from Wellington via Rotorua. The party left Wellington at 7 o’clock yesterday morning and reached Auckland after 10.30 at night. The visitors arrived only on Friday afternoon.