QUEEN VICTORIA’S MEMORY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18584, 19 December 1934, Page 14

QUEEN VICTORIA’S MEMORY

WELCOME TO HER GREATGRANDSON s •• V f Iv. : if : - - v . ■■ . . . ‘ ' ' ROYAL THANKS ■ TWICE RECEIVED,. 1 , 7 VICTORIA LEAGUE OF P.B. (Contributed) No monarch in the world’s history ever rivalled ths influence of tlie late Queen Victoria. Continuously through her long reign— unbrokenly since her death—the /“Great White; Queen” , is ! the type of all that makes England the Si test power in the world to-day. plicity, candor, courage, goodwill, ability to command joined with readiness to serve, in short, the characteristics of our Royal family, are foundation stones on which the Kingdom of God can be built on earth. Every day provides almost incredible proofs that our Empire, in its faulty human groping after these ideals, is working out practical Christianity. Having been faithful in a few things it is being made ruler over many. Some years ago a visitor from Calcutta, asked about Gandhi’s influence, upset local ideas by declaring it was extremely limited. His name was unknown to the vast masses of India. The one name held in almost religions veneration by all castes and all creeds was that of Queen Victoria! The speaker, as head for many years of the S.P.C.A., waging incessant war on behalf of dumb creatures against bigoted fanaticism and still crueller vested interests, knew every side of Hindu opinion and spoke with authority.

“Monument” To Queen Victoria’s Memory When Queen Victoria died, a few men and women in London decided that the best monument to her memory would be a living non-party society to bring British subjects all over the world into closer union by very intimate and personal intercourse. Education and hospitality are the main features of a society now world-wide, which one gratified visitor to London declared should have for its cable address ‘.‘Kindness unlimited.” 1 Eight branches of the Victoria League exist in New Zealand. No doubt each would like ’ to make a separate presentation ’to the 6on of their, patrons, Their Majesties King George and Queen Mary, the nephew of their president, H.R.H. Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. By Viceregal command oiir Royal visitor has’ been spared. One loyal address of welcome only will be presented subscribed to by all New Zealand branches. The honor of presenting it has . fitly been delegated to Miss ,T. A. Mowbray, 0.8. E L, president of the Auckland branch, the largest in the Dominion. Gisborne’s Leadership The Victoria League of Poverty Bay was the prime mover in urging civic authorities .to lay aside their usual modesty and extend an invitation to our illustrious guest. It is the first time Gisborne has . been honored by! a Royal visitor and the. community is thrilled and 1 grateful at his coming.. It is also the first time that a British

Prince has been in so easterly a town. It is to be hoped that he also will be thrilled and grateful to us for asking him—first of his line—to come to the leading town not only in New Zealand, not only in the Empire, but even in the world. Our leadership depends not upon such mundane and temporary details as wealth and population, but upon the sun. Each dawn leading in finother day smiles first on Gisborne. It is interesting on Armistice Day to attend our own service and start the “Silence” to roll round the world. Then, 12 hours later listening to the service at the Cenotaph and hearing the jumble made by Big Ben and the Wellington town clock chiming together, each striking the hours of 11, we, realise that the dramatic two minutes has sped half its annual journey. Objects of the League

' To the ordinary mind the objects of the Victoria League are vague. A member of the executive threw some light on the subject. At.headquarters, thousands of overseas visitors were entertained, advised, visited if sick, shown all the treasures of their birthright, universities, historical spots, ancestral homes; endless streams of lecturers, slides, exhibits, coming and going through the office to carry information about the outside Empire to schools, rural institutes, a thousand clubs and associations in England; libraries sent to every part of the earth; the Queen s gift books to increase the supply ; members of the council acting on the executive of other Empire societies which reciprocally send representatives to the Victoria League board table; the only wreath laid each Empire Day on Queen Victoria’s Memorial facing Buckingham Palace.

It is interesting to hear that libraries for Dutch schools at the end of the Boer War, sent by the infant Victoria League, supplied the only reading matter the children had, as the Taal was a dialect only and had) no literature. Perhaps the British outlook gleaned from these books may have had much to do with the remarkable fact that when the Great War broke years after the close of a bitter conflict, the majority of our former foes fought for us instead of seizing the moment to regain their independence. The Power For Good The power for good of the head office is increased by every member joining an overseas branch. Not only is a tithe of his annual subscription sent to London, but the frequent and close connection between root and branches makes for mutual fruitfulness. Visitors or new settlers are commended to the hospitality and kindness of the nearest Victoria League branch.

When Public School hoys were being brought out, each lad's name and date of departure together with the address of the employer to whom he was coming were sent in advance. The Victoria League of Poverty Bay kept a register of over 60 of these young men, writing to them, issuing invitatiosi to spend a few days holiday in members’ homes, noting changes of address, and giving advice and assistance if wanted. At the present time new arrivals are chiefly women, the league being the agent for the Society for the Oversea Settlement of British' Women. That work has dwindled too. But with returning prosperity there may be a frosh rush of newcomers to our shores. Then the Victoria League will supply the machinery to provide friends and helpers in the strange land. Other Imperial Work Other Imperial work done by this branch, is organising Empire Day essay competitions! in the schools and presenting the prizes on the King’s Birthday;

entertaining early settlers on Empire Day; acting as an Imperial conscience for the district and making itself something of a nuisance by urging public participation in giving Empire lectures and honoring anniversaries. Twice it has persuaded the authorities to organise an Empire marketing week. It remembers historical dates ranging from Captain Cook’s first landing in New Zealand on the local beach, to various days sacred to pride and sorrow of the Great War. The branch annually sends out many hundredweight of literature to families in lighthouses or in the backblocks in lonely drudgery building up this new country to Ido a. bulwark to the homeland. It tries to interest growing boys and girls in pen friendships with' others throughout British lands; and to take an active part in other forms of Empire unity. Local Social Activities

Very often the league’s local charitable activities are considered its most praiseworthy work. An energetic committee meets regularly through the winter to sew for needy families, for two maternity homes, arid for necessitous eases brought to the notice of the sewing circle by school and district nurses, and school teachers. Help is given wherever possible. But the executive feels that its paramount duty is world-wide and not merely concerned with its own immediate neighborhood.

This branch was formed in 1913 and was soon drawn into the vortex of war work. Gisborne was then about half its present size. The district sent more volunteers in proportion to its population than any other part of New Zealand. Almost phenomenal sums ol money were raised.

The Victoria League special effort took the form of a Saturday shop. Organising the countryside within a radius of 50 miles, the executive raised £18,500 by tliisi means. The sum of £2OOO was divided among approved war funds at the discretion of the league, but £15,600, the bulk of the profits, was cabled in two or three-wceklv instalments to the British Bed Cross headquarters in London. Communication From Royalty

Together with the certificates for valuable services rendered received from the joint committees of the British Red Cross (under Queen Alexandra) and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England (under the Grand Prior the Duke of Connaught) the Victoria League ti ensures another communication from Royalty—a letter marked “Private” from Her Gracious Majesty, written six years ago, expressing grateful appreciation of a cable of sympathy and hope when the bulletins about the King’s health were seriously alarming.

The local branch also prizes the message issued by His Majesty during convalescence in which he stated tnat Iris illness had convinced him that the dfarcs! wish, of his. heart had heen granted and that he had won his people’s love. His statement that his recovery was helped by the affection and prayers of his subjects made the Victoria League of Poverty Bay realise its happy connection with the Empire and the RoyaJ House.