EMPIRE DAY BANQUET

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23859, 13 July 1939, Page 20

EMPIRE DAY BANQUET

ROYAL GUESTS PRESENT KING’S SPEECH RELAYED - (From Qur Own Correspondent) LONDON, May 25. Two of the most interesting incidents at the Empire Day banquet held by the combined Empire societies were the relaying of the King’s broadcast message from Winnipeg, and the ovation given to the Duke of Kent, Gover-nor-general-designate of Australia, when he rose to reply to a toast by Mr S. M. Bruce, High Commissioner for Australia in London'.

The King’s message was broadcast immediately before the dinner, and the 1200 .guests, the largest Empire gathering since the Coronation, remained standing during the 12 minutes while the King was speaking. Later a message was received by the chairman (the Earl of Athlone) from his Majesty conveying his thanks and those of the Queen for loyal messages and good wishes. When the Duke of Kent rose later to speak he was greeted by a prolonged burst of handclapping and cheers, a tribute to the popularity of both himself and the Duchess of Kent, who was also present. Many references were made both by the Duke and other speakers, to his stay in Australia, and Sir Thomas Inskip, Dominions’ Secretary, declared that New Zealand was looking forward to “ the happy prospect” of welcoming their Royal Highnesses during the centennial celebrations.

Empire’s “ Greatest Asset ”

Mr Bruce, proposing the health of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, asked his Royal Highness to convey to Queen Mary sympathy in the accident in which she had been involved. He referred to the consternation with which the news of the accident had been received, followed by a deep thankfulness that no serious injury had been suffered. Queen Mary, by her long life and devoted service to the people of Britain and the Empire, had made a unique position for herself in the hearts and feelings of all. Mr Bruce said that he had just returned from Australia, and he could tell the Duke and Duchess of Kent that on their arrival they would receive a welcome that would almost stagger them. They would realise that while the loyalty of Great Britain was an admirable thing in itself, it was nothing to the loyalty they would experience in the outer Dominion of the Empire. “The Royal Family," he continued, “ is the greatest asset we have got in the British Empire.” In these times the Empire had got to be united, and the Crown bound them together in indissoluble union. He doubted whether it was realised how much the Royal Family had done in holding the Empire together, and making it a great and united people. As royal ambassadors they had represented the British people in all corners of the earth, and they gave to other countries a conception of what the British people stood for. "My Great Good Fortune" The Duke of Kent, replying, thanked Mr Bruce for the reference to Queen Mary, and said that he would inform her Majesty of it. The significance of the King’s broadcast had touched his family deeply, he continued. “There was not one of us who did not feel a personal thrill when on board the Empress of Australia we said good-bye to the King and Queen. One of the last things the King said to me was how much he and the Queen were looking forward to making personal contact with so many Canadians. , . “It is the King's ambition to make the Empire an. even happier and more prosperous family than it is now. During the anxious times we have gone through we have all been forced by circumstance to think over carefully many principles which normally are taken for granted. We have been obliged to consider in all its details the greatest problem of mankind, how to live in harmony with our fellows. Upon this problem rests the future welfare of civilisation. “ Yet. out of the difficulties and problems of the past 12 months, there has emerged one feature of which we can be extremely proud and that is the solidarity and genuine unity of the British Commonwealth. If we in England have lived anxious moments, these moments have been no less anxious in self-governing dominions and in the colonies. This has made even clearer than ever the unalterable will of the peoples of the British Commonwealth to live in harmony with their fellow men and women. “It is my great good fortune in a

few months’ time to be taking up the office of Governor-General in Australia. My wife and I will be able, we hope, to make personal contact, as the King and Queen are doing now, with many hundreds of thousands of men and women who have turned the ideal of a commonwealth of nations into solid reality. , “We shall be there-for two years. There will be many opportunities for us to see life in the Commonwealth under ordinary everyday conditions, and we shall be able to see from a different angle how solid are the tie? which bind the British Commonwealth of Nations.”

Mr R. B. Bennett, proposing the toast of ‘‘The British Commonwealth,” said that freedom involved sacrifice, and liberty meant restraint, without which there could be no true liberty. The people of the dominions were learning that lesson. They were not, like the old Roman Empire, dominated by a central power; they were free to follow their own desires, but they were bound by the free associations of common ideals, hopes, and aspirations. They were also bound by the tie of the Crown, which always seemed to him to have some mystical meaning. Yet there were great problems if they were to remain an Empire. Let them- take heed of their enormous responsibilities. The greatness of the Empire rested on the single word justice. It was their sense of justice that had enabled them to bring civilisation to the remotest parts of the world. A tremendous responsibility rested on every one of them to maintain the Empire. Mr Malcolm MacDonald, replying, said that the British Commonwealth bore proof that it was possible for people of countless different races and creeds to live in peace and concord together. In some cases for generations, in other cases for centuries, peoples of the colonies had given to Great Britain unstinted support and loyalty. “ Let us give back to them the best that lies in our power to give them,” he said. . “ It is sometimes said that our chief purpose in holding these possessions overseas is to exploit them for our own use. If that was our chief motive it has long ceased to be. It should be our main purpose, and it is, to enable our fellow subjects throughout the colonies and protectorates to partake even in larger measure of the benefits of modern civilisation and economic well being, of health, of education, and of a. full enjoyment of life.” Just as in India and Burma and the dominions, the colonies had been given self.-government. It was Britain’s endeavour to help them to stand a little more maturely on their own feet. One of the most precious things in the world to-day was man's freedom. Throughout the British Commonwealth of Nations there was being created a love and practice of freedom that was so deep and wide that no power on earth would ever again be able to blot Thomas Inskip said that during it.he events of the last year, when anxieties encompassed the paths _of statesmen in ev'ery part of the Empire, the dominions had been kept informed of every single step Britain had proposed to take. They had shown an unfailing interest in the policies that had been pursued, but what was particularly striking was that in the sage comments that had been elicited from them they had displayed qualities which, he believed, no race except our own could show. This quality was due to the men who had made the settlements and built the cities of the Empire and took with them when they went more than the worldly goods. They carried with them the spirit of their forefathers, the spirit of freedom and orderly progress to which they owed those great privileges, justice and peace.