EXAMPLE TO THE NATIONS

Taranaki Daily News, 7 October 1929, Page 9

EXAMPLE TO THE NATIONS

ANGLO-AMERICAN PARLEY MR. MACDONALD’S ARRIVAL GREAT WELCOME ACCORDED By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Australian Press Association. United Service. New York, Oct. 4. Mr. Ramsay MacDonald was enthusiastically acclaimed as he set his foot on American soil this morning. The Berengaria was escorted in by the cruisers Memphis and Trenton. The welcoming committee boarded the liner, and Mr. MacDonald, Miss Ishbel MacDonald and the party were taken aboard the city tug, the Macom, and proceeded to the tip of Manhattan Island. At the Battery vessels of all descriptions gave a mighty whistle salute, while the guns at Fort Jay on Governor’s Island thundered a salute of 19 guns. “The United States and ourselves are really making an appeal by example to all nations to gather round the council board of peace so that, whilst cherishing their historical past and engaging in all the healthy rivalries of genius, skill and work, they will remember the wider unities of humane civilisation,” said Mr. MacDonald in an interview. While aboard the city tug, Mr. MacDonald answered questions informally and frankly, and, when asked regarding the reaction of other Powers to the British and American rapprochement, he replied: “If we stood side by side for peace, who could stand against us? Any mutual understanding reached between our countries will be welcomed on the Continent. The thing that makes Europe afraid' is the enmity of other peoples. They are not afraid of friendship.” WELCOME AT CITY HALL. Mr. MacDonald was given an official welcome and escorted to the City Hall, where he was presented with the freedom of New York. The crowds that lined the streets to obtain a glimpse of the Prime Minister were not as numerous as those which welcomed the trans-Atlantic airmen, but they were nevertheless obviously sincere and proffered a warm greeting. Mr. MacDonald issued a’ statement saying: “At the moment of my arrival, when I greet my hosts, His Majesty has honoured me by telegraphing his good wishes for the success of my mission, which I feel instinctively is to have a benefit far beyond the boundaries of our tivo countries.” Thousands Avho lined the route to the City Hall showered ticker tape on the procession. There was an even greater crowd at the City Hall Park. The Premier,- with his cheek?., glowing and his eyes sparkling, seemed in high good humour as he bowed, smiling and waving his hat in greeting. He was escorted to the aldermanic chamber, where the Mayor, Mr. James Walker, and the Secretary of the State of New York, Mr. Edward Flynn, greeted him in the name of the city and state. Mr. Walker presented the Premier with an embossed scroll from the city, to which Mr. MacDonald made a brief response. The Mayor then escorted him and his party to automobiles, which whisked them to the Pennsylvania station, -where he will board the special train for Washington. Mr, MacDonald, in the course of his statement to the newspapers, said: “You almost make me afraid by the boundless hospitality you seem to be preparing' for me. I hope I shall be equal to your kindness. HIDDEN DIFFICULTIES. “The problem of armaments is full of hidden difficulties and patient working at the details in an atmosphere of mutual confidence is required to overcome them. I crave judgment from you as generously sympathetic as your welcome is to be generously lavish. When I return and it is all over, I pray that I shall leave behind me some memories which will make it easy for you to think well of Great Britain and will be a reason for close co-operation between your country and mine in the great cause of democracy and liberty which inspire the peoples on both sides of the Atlantic.” An accident was narrowly averted at the quarantine when the hawser holding the Macom to the Berengaria parted as Mr. MacDonald was preparing to step on board. The Macom slid back several feet, almost pulling the gang plank off the deck. The Premier was warned to go back and the hawser was readjusted. The police band in the accompanying tug played “Rule Britannia.” Among the first to grasp the Premier’s hand as he stepped ashore was the Secretary of State, Mr. Stimson, who was with Sir Esme Howard, the British Ambassador, and had waited at the pier. The Union Station at Washington was thronged and cheers resounded through the building when Mr. MacDonald arrived there. The Assistant-Secretary of the State Department, Mr. Castle, Lady Istbella Howard and Mrs. Stimson greeted the Prime Minister and Miss Ishbel MacDonald. Mr. Stimson and Captain Allen Buchanan, naval aide to the President, occupied the first automobile for the drive to the Embassy. The Ambassador, Sir Esme Howard, Under-Secretary Cotton of the State Department, and Colonel Campbell Hodges, military aide to the President, occupied the next. Lady Howard, Mrs. Stimson and Miss Ishbel MacDonald were in the third. The procession moved slowly towards the Capitol and Embassy. Two troops of cavalry and a battalion of artillery formed the escort. Two aeroplane formations hovered overhead. Mr. MacDonald was escorted to greet the President in the Blue Room by Cap-, tain Buchanan. The leaders exchanged salutations and then proceeded the Green Room, accompanied by Sir Esme Howard. There they were joined by Miss Ishbel MacDonald and Lady Howard and the group then proceeded to the Red Room, where Mrs. Hoover awaited them. A chat followed until Mr. MacDonald and his party left for the British Embassy.