AMERICAN LEGIONARIES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20271, 2 December 1927, Page 12

AMERICAN LEGIONARIES.

VISIT TO LONDON. A FULL PROGRAMME. RECEPTION BY KING AND QUEEN. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, October 19Members of the National Commander’s party of the American Legion have left London with a kindly impression of their English hosts , They had a very busy time during their stay, the Prince of Wales at a luncheon, and the King and Queen at a reception at Buckingham Palace, being their hosts. At the Guildhall the legionaries were re ceived bv the Lord Mayor (Sir Rowland Blades, 6t., M.P.) and the sheriffs in the Art Gallerv. The guests subsequently passed into "the great hall, where they saw on each side of the four walls Stars and Stripes entwined with the city’s flag ami the Union Jack.

In responding to the principal toast at the luncheon, the Hon. Howard P- Savage, who was in charge of the party, remarked that when the walls of that ancient hall were erected there was “ no such thing as America.” Two hundred years after the hall was built. Captain John Smith, who was buried nearby, founded the first permanent settlement of English speaking people in America at Jamestown, Virginia. As he saw festooned upon the walls the American and British flags, he hoped most earnestly that the symbol might be interpreted as evidence of the friendliness existing between the two nations. They echoed the words of the Prime Minister: “War between our two peoples is unthinkable.” If there were—and there surely must be —a basis of understanding between the people of the old and the new worlds, why should it not be at its best and strongest, between those who fought side by side in the World War? Through their international federation of veterans, all of them were working for permanent peace. He devoutly hoped that it mignt be the great honour of the world wav veterans to cement relations between all their countries, so that in the end the slogan under which they entered the war—“ the war to end wars ” —might be justified. AMBASSADORS OF GOODWILL. Tlie reception which the American legionaries had received in the Allied coun tries had convinced him that their pilgrimage—begun as a sentimental journey to the scenes of their participation in the war, and to the cemeteries where slept their revered dead—had culminated in an extraordinary reunion of friendship be tween them all, which would be a lasting memory to those who came from America. The American Legion received a real thrill when they learned that Earl Haig had decided to take 6000 members of the British veteran forces back to revisit old scenes, in the year 1928. “If service should be the index of <. welcome,” said Mr Savage, “yours should be deservedy much greater than thav which so overwhelmed us—for you fought four long bitter years against heavy odds, and left 1,000,000 of your comrades to sleep there for ever. I know that we American Legionaries can feel already a sympathetic heartbeat for the emotions which will overcome you on that pilgrimage, for we have already experienced them on this marvellous journey of ours. Our journey has been an adventure if the spirit.” They had been referred to as ambassadors of goodwill. He could not_ say whether such a characterisation was justified. But, if an understanding of. and a deep sympathy or th e agonies which the war inflicted upon Britain and the nations of the old world made them am bassadors; if an earnest desire for peace and well-being for Britain and the other nations constituted them ambassadors: if the relation upon their return home of the kindly and cordial welcome accorded them and of the strong desire for peace and friendship which animated the hearts of the people of Britain aiid Europe, would elevate them to the position of ambassadors of goodwill—then they must plead guilty to the charge.—(Cheers.)

CONDITIONS IN EUROPE. A dinner was given by the Government to the American visitors in the Royal Gallery of the Houses of Parliament.

Mr Baldwin recalled the day when “ the first American men marched through London, and we knew that, thanks to that magnificent demonstration of unity in ypur nation, a term had been placed to the war, and that it would come to an end in a far, far shorter time than we had hoped.” “I remember,” he said, ‘‘watching the first regiment from America passing between the Admiralty and the Foreign Office. The thought paramount in our minds was the hell into which they were going and from which few of them could ever return. It was no moment for cheering. There was a feeling of profound thankfulness and that wonderful feeling of brotherhood we all felt in the early days of the war, and to recover which in these long years of disillusion we would almost give our very soul.” He bade them not think too hardly ’f an Old World confronted by after-war problems which had had little effect on the New World. “ Take home your honest impressions, he continued, “ and do not depend too much on what is written about the condition of Europe to-day. We have had, of course many disappointments in these years, but you who foughf have some idea of the problems, moral and material, which the statesmen of the Old World have to deal with. BRITISH HOSPITALITY.

“ You will not be impatient with us. Many people are. It is said that we are still of a materialistic mind. That, of course, is nonsense.—(Cheers.) We know too much about war. But remember that in -Europe we have bound round our necks heredity problems that have faced the peoples of Europe since the boundaries of the Roman Empire burst. ‘‘All your peonle, from whatever part of Europe they came, by the mere fact of setting foot in the New World, shook off those problems as Christian :n ‘ Pilgrim’s Progress ” shook off h... burden. That is vour good fortune, but think twice before you blame those who hav e stayed behind in the countries from which your ancestors came, and who are still grapplin’ with the problems from which thev fled.”

The American Ambassador, responding briefly, thanked the British people for their hospitality. “ There may be something more gracious and more cempelling than British hospntality," he said, " but I do not know wljat it is or where to find it.”

RECEPTION AT THE PALACE. “ Astoundingly democratic! ” Tins was the favourite comment if American Legionaries on their reception by the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace. " Vurr-ry gracious,” ran a close second. “ A warm smile and a warm hand clasp,” was how a Legionary from Indiana summarised his views of the King. “ 1 thought he would have been colder. The Kina looked exactly like his pictures, but the Queen was different. She is far more beautiful than her photographs show.” A Connecticut soldier was surprised a the reception being so simple. “It was handled magnificently,” he sa jd “ The works were 100 per cent, right. I had expected there would be far more fuss We have shaken hands with the King if Italy, the King of the Belgians, and now King Ceorge. Comparisons are 'ifficult a? well as odious, but I reckon King George was the most .” He paused for a word. “ Gracious,” he said finally.

A BLIND MAN’S IMPRESSIONS, ” The kindly graciousness of the King and Queen when I had the great honour of shaking hands with them at Buckingham Palac c is the most beautiful impression of my tour with my comrades m this great' pilgrimage.” These words were used by Legionary Frank Schobell,

of Wincote Philadelphia, the blind member of-the American Legion, who was among those received by the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace, describing his visit to a press representative. In receiving me the King and Queen seemed to mo to realise that I represented the disabled of America,” said Mr Schobell. ” They could not have done more than they did to show they sympathised with me and with all my wounded comrades The Queen was particularly Gracious in telling me how sm v she was that I was wounded just be.' the end of the war. The King asked when and where it happened, and talki.i with me just aS if we were friends. ■' kindlier man you could not meet,”