THE ROYAL FAMILY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23810, 17 May 1939, Page 9

THE ROYAL FAMILY

CANADIAN PRESS TRIBUTE EXAMPLE TO THE NATION WARM WELCOME ASSURED (United Press Association) (Bv Electric Telegraph—Copyright) QUEBEC, May 16. (Received May 16, at 10 p.m.) The special correspondent of the Australian Associated Press says:— "Nearly 3,000,000 French-speak-ing subjects will give their Majesties the first welcome to the new world. They comprise five-sixths of the population of Quebec province, which is Canada's largest province, comprising territory four times greater than the United Kingdom. Thousands are pouring into towns which their Majesties will visit during the first days of the tour and 250,000 are expected to flock into the 301-year-old walled city of Quebec on Wednesday to shout, 'Dieu Sauve les Majesties.' These are the first words their Majesties will read in Canada. They will glow from a huge electric sign ashore as the Empress of Australia moves to her anchorage downstream from Gaunt Bluff, on which stands Quebec, to await a daylight landing. " Tradition is jealously guarded in this territory, where a white man founded the first settlement on the American continent north of Mexico. Thus the French Tricolour mingles everywhere with the Union Jack. There is a brave show of bunting even in the lower town, with its narrow, winding '.reets and alleys. Union Jacks outnumber Tricolours but it is noticeable that when the Tricolour and the Canadian flag are flown together the Tricolour is uppermost. A Political Truce "By tacit consent a truce has been called on domestic political questions during their Majesties visit. "Typical editorial comment of the French language press is the following from the Montreal Le Canada: 'Whatever may be our political dissensions and whatever may be our opinion of our system of Government, the King's person does not enter into our quarrels. He is above our conflicts. He is neither the cause nor the judge of them and should not be a witness of them. Our sole duty on this occasion, unique in history, is to render to our sovereigns without reserve all the honour that is their due. Rarely hasi a royal couple more truly deserved to be called their gracious Majesties. They are the finest example of public and private life excellently led. The perfect union in which the Royal Family is living is a living symbol of the unity which should reign in the internal life of a nation.'" KING'S POSITION IN CANADA

ADVICE OF MINISTERS QUEBEC, May 15. "The King's presence in Canada will throw into bold relief the positions of the nations of the British Commonwealth in relation to one another, particularly their equality status." says the special correspondent of the Australian Associated Press. All State acts during the royal visit will disclose that the King holds exactly the same relationship to the dominion Parliaments and dominion Ministers as he holds to the Parliament and Ministers of the United Kingdom. This is in accordance with the Statute of Westminster, under which Great Britain and the dominions'are denned as autonomous communities within the Empire, in no way subordinate to one another, though united by common allegiance to the Crown and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. From the moment his Majesty sets foot on Canadian soil to be met by the entire Cabinet his position as King of Canada acting with respect to Canadian affairs upon the advice of his responsible Canadian Ministers, will be made apparent. His Majesty has not brought a Minister from the United Kingdom. He will be accompanied throughout the tour by the Prime Minister (Mr Mackenzie King), who will act as Minister in attendance in the full constitutional sense. The proposal that the Canadian Cabinet should share this honour was dropped because in the Canadian Government the Prime Minister is also Secretary for External Affairs, and in view of the international situation it is essential that the King be kept in closest contact with developments abroad from. Whitehall. It will be Mr Mackenzie King's duty to see that important despatches are communicated to his Majesty, and that an opportunity is given to discuss them. Parliament is unable to complete its business in time to allow his Majesty to prorogue it. This would have been the first time the King had performed this royal function outside Westminster. However, while at Ottawa his Majesty may attend a sitting of the Senate and give royal assent to certain Bills.

The payment of " rent" in the form of two elk heads and two black beaver skins by the Hudson's Bay Company will be made in an interesting and novel ceremony during the visit of their Majesties to Winnipeg. This payment was stipulated in the Royal Charter granted to the company in 1670. which stated that in return for grants made by the Crown to the company the latter should pay to the King, his heirs, or successors, in the event of their visiting Canada, " two elk heads and two black beaver skins."

The Hudson's Bay Company has prepared and mounted two magnificent elk heads weighing 200 pounds each mounted, from animals selected from the famous Government herd in Wainwright Park. The two beaver skins were chosen from the company's collection of 16,000 pells, and the skins will be presented dressed, but unplucked. A silver plate beneath each mounted elk head will read as follows:—" Yielded and paid to his Majesty King George VI by the Governor and Companv of A'lventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay, under the terms of their charter, granted by King Charles 11, and to their first Governor, Prince Rupert, M».y 2. 1670 Winnipeg, Canada, May 24, 1939." The presentation to his Maiestv will be made in the small park in Winnipeg where stands the original stone gate of Upper Fort Garry, once the great fur trade centre around which grew up the settlement that was eventually to become known as the City of Winnipeg.