LORD NUFFIELD’S VISIT

Southland Times, Issue 23142, 8 March 1937, Page 6

LORD NUFFIELD’S VISIT

Brilliant Reception In Invercargill MAN OF GREATNESS AND SIMPLICITY MODEST REFERENCE TO HIS PHILANTHROPY A reception which must be unique in the social annals of Invercargill was held at Ehnwood Garden on Saturday evening. It gave Invercargill citizens the opportunity to meet and listen to the man who has been described as “the greatest philanthropist of this generation”—Lord Nuffield. The gathering was a representative one, and while the reception was a brilliant social success, the feature that will be remembered longest by those privileged to attend it was Lord Nuffield’s characteristically modest reference to his .philanthropy. “Whatever I have done is only what I should have done,” he said. “To my mind helping the weak and the crippled is the greatest work of all, and my sincere hope is that others able to do as I am doing will come -to regard it as I do.” The reception was given by Mr C. J. B. Norwood, of Wellington. There were two hundred guests, including the Mayor (Mr John Miller), Mr W. M. C. Denham, M.P., Mr James Hargest, M.P., Sir Robert Anderson, and Lord Nuffield’s local representative, Mr William Grieve. After the guests had met Lord Nuffield, the Mayor expressed the city’s welcome to a very distinguished visitor. Mr Miller spoke of Lord Nuffield’s ideals and referred to the gift that he had made recently to Invercargill. Lord Nuffield was a cheerful giver, he said, and it was his own duty now to administer the gift in the full spirit in which it was made. “We have with us tonight a very distinguished visitor,” the Mayor said; “a philanthropist whose gifts have accomplished a tremendous amount towards ffie relief of distress within the Empire. (Applause.) On behalf of the citizens of Invercargill, I am pleased and privileged to welcome him. We are very pleased that he has been able to pay us a short visit and we regret that his stay is of necessity so short because we think that our city is important and that we are important people. (Applause.) Invercargill is a young city, but it is the capital of a wonderful province. I regret that Lord Nuffield has not the time to see some of the potentialities of the province, but I hope that he will be back soon and that he will be able to spend some time here and see some of the tourist attractions of Southland as well as its commercial possibilities.

A Cheerful Giver

“I received a letter from Lord Nuffield recently advising that he had made a gift of £1650 to the city to be spent in helping crippled children, maternity cases and others that I might think entitled to assistance. (Applause.) I thank him for that gift, and it is my duty to dispense it in the spirit in which it was given. ‘The Lord loveth a cheerful giver,’ and to my mind Lord Nuffield is a cheerful giver. I hope his stay in New Zealand will be a pleasant one, and that he will be able to continue his splendid work for many years.” (Applause.) The singing of “For Hes a Jolly Good Fellow” greeted Lord Nuffield when he rose to reply. “I want to be serious for a few minutes,” he said. “I like to think back, of all the people in this world who have not been as fortunate as we ourselves have been. Anything that I have done is only what I should have done. When I say that, I would mention that there are a few people in the world who could have done the same work but have not done so. My hobby is crippled children., I was bom complete and sound in wind and limb, and I think that the only thing to do with my money is to help as much as I can those who have been born into the world and who have yet to be born not so well equipped physically as I am. I think there can be no better work. (Applause.) Anything that can be done to help those people to .regain something that they have lost through no fault of their own gives me the greatest possible pleasure, and I hope for the reason that I cannot do everything myself that others will help. “At least 30 per cent, of the crippled children in Australia and New Zealand owe their deformities to lack of adequate attention at the time of birth,” said Lord Nuffield. “I am not criticizing Australia or New Zealand for that, but I am hoping the time will come when mothers and children will receive all the attention they deserve. If I had my way, there would be many more ‘flying doctors.’ There is one in Australia, and I am satisfied that is the only way to provide necessary service in many cases. I would like to have many more of them. That might not be practicable.for a long time yet; but I hope that what I am doing will help other people to think as I do. Scenery Appreciated.

“I thank Invercargill for its reception,” he continued. “Throughout New Zealand I have experienced hospitality to an extreme degree. I appreciate it, and I hope that other people will come to see things as I do. If the children and the mothers are looked after, I don’t think anything else matters much.” This was his fourth visit to New Zealand, Lord Nuffield added. On the three previous trips he had not had time to come to the South Island. This time, fortunately, he had had a few days longer and he was particularly pleased that he had been able to see some of the most beautiful scenery he had ever seen. “I am not saying that just to please you,” he said. “The trip to Invercargill from Christchurch is a fine one, and I hope to see a little more yet of the South Island. New Zealand is my choice after England. It is a country so close to it in temperature, atmosphere and surroundings that I have always felt completely at home as soon as I arrived here, and if ever I leave England I assure you I will be out just as soon as I can get here.”

In conclusion, Lord Nuffield repeated that he had done only what he should have done. “I hope to be able to spend the rest of my life in working for the alleviation of suffering,” he said. “If I am not able to complete it, my only hope is that someone else will carry it on.” (Applause.) Mr William Grieve briefly expressed the appreciation of Invercargill citizens of the opportunity given to them by Mr Norwood of meeting Lord Nuffield. “We appreciate his visit and his modest remarks,” he said. “In time to come his name will go down as ‘Nuffield the Great,’ and he will be blessed by millions of mothers and children yet unborn.” Mr Grieve mentioned that he had discovered only that day that the firm he was representing had dealt longer with Lord Nuffield’s firm than any other in New Zealand. Its business relationship dated from 1913. At Mr Grieve’s request, the gathering again sang “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” with great enthusiasm. A Man of Simplicity “I assure you I have appreciated no

duty that has fallen to my lot as much as I am appreciating the honour and privilege of introducing to the people of New Zealand Lord Nuffield, undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest men,” Mr Norwood said. “I would remark on the fact that great men are always men of simplicity. Lord Nuffield is an outstanding example. His talk and his actions are simple and straightforward because they come straight from his heart.” Mr Norwood spoke of an incident on the road down from Dunedin that afternoon which he described as one of the most touching in his experience. A gathering of old identities of Otago at Milton had determined that Lord Nuffield was not going to pass through without stopping for just a few minutes. “They spread right across the road and would not let the car through,” Mr Norwood said. “We stopped. All that these old people wanted was to shake hands with Lord Nuffield. A thing such as that is worth living for, and I knew it touched Lord Nuffield deeply. There is not a person in New Zealand who would not like to shake his hand and say ‘Thank you.’ Posterity will gain much from his greatness.”