BRITAIN’S "THANK YOU” FOR FOOD GIFTS AT LONDON BANQUET

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23211, 24 March 1950, Page 5

BRITAIN’S "THANK YOU” FOR FOOD GIFTS AT LONDON BANQUET

LONDON, March 22.

Princess Elizabeth, tlie Prime Minister, Mr. C. It. Attlee, and the Opposition leader, Mr. Winston Churchill, were among the 650 who attended the Lord Mayor’s banquet in London’s historic warbattered Guildhall tonight to say “Thank you” to the Commonwealth and the United States for food gifts.

In a scene of splendour and pageantry, they backed up their thanks by appealing for support for the £2,000,000 national “thanksgiving” fund launched by the Lord Mayor of London to ■ build a residential centre for Commonwealth and American students. It was one of the most glittering occasions since the war. The guests included the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Geoffrey Fisher, the Duchess of Kent, foreign ambassadors, Commonwealth High Commissioners, the Liberal leader, Mr. Clement Davies and the Mayors of the main British towns and cities. Princess Elizabeth disclosed that the food sent to her from overseas aswedding gifts alone totalled over £2,000,000, from which she was able to make up 140,000 food parcels for people in Britain. She said: “It is in our power to take part in the creation of a monument in remembrance of the astonishing flood of generosity which will not be forgotten for many generations. Thanks Hard To Express

in thes islands to show gratitude to our kinsmen and friends overseas who have given us such generous help in gifts of food during our years of trial. “The fulfilment ol your plans would be a means of expressing our thanks to them in a way that is both practical .and Inspiring. My warmest good wishes go with . you in the work you have undertaken.”

Wide Appreciation

Sir Frederick said that appreciative messages had come from the United States Ambassador, Mr. Lewis Douglas, the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia. New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Southern Rhodesia. Sir Frederick continued: “The fund should reach the hearts and purses of everyone throughout the country just as the gifts for which we are expressing thanks have come from people in all walks of life. I already have received donations amounting to over one-fifth of the sum required. This is an encouraging beginning.” Sir Frederick added: “If the fund should exceed the amount required to meet the main projects it will be possible to consider further provision for overseas students, possibly at other centres.” Mr. Attlee declared: “In the difficult years since the war the people of these islands have been sustained firstly by their own good courage and energy, secondly by the help given to this country by other countries of the Commonwealth and the United States and thirdly by the kindness and sympathy of many thousands of individual citizens of those countries. Recognising with warm-hearted sympathy that conditions over here were hard, pur friends spontaneously sent practical tokens of their fellow feeling for us.’ Mr. Churchill, who was given a rousing reception when he rose to speak, declared: “We are determined tonight to set up a monument in the form of a living institution which will not only proclaim to future generations our gratitude, but will stir into self-reviving life the sources of brotherhood and nobility which united us in wartime and which will grow stronger as the centuries roll by.”

“When this centre is built the children and grandchildren, descendants of those who gave so openly, will have a home In which to live when they come here as students,” continued the Princess. “It is never easy to thank you, even, or perhaps most, when the heart is full. Words fail to give a true meaning and substance to our feelings and unless they are really memorable ones are soon forgotten. , “I am certain that many thousands who benefited from the kindness of the hearts of our friends overseas will welcome this opportunity of giving tangible proof of their gratitude.” . The Lord Mayor, Sir Frederick Rowland, read a message from the King, stating: “The Guildhall has seen many historic gatherings. Few can have had a better purpose than this one when you invito our countrymen