CIVIC WELCOME.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20483, 8 December 1934, Page 13

CIVIC WELCOME.

Accorded to Mr and Miss MacDonald.

A civic welcome was accorded to Mr Malcolm MacDonald (Under-Secretary for the Dominions) and to Miss Sheila MacDonald by the Maj'or (Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P.) at the City Council Chambers this morning. The Mayor welcomed the two distinguished visitors and said he hoped that they would have *an enjoyable and profitable stay in New Zealand. He recalled that Mr MacDonald was no stranger to Christchurch, having visited the city ten years ago as a member of the Oxford debating team. He also remarked that Mr and Mrs Ramsay MacDonald had visited the Dominion years ago, and he remembered hearing the present Prime Minister speaking in Christchurch. Mr Sullivan complimented Mr MacDonald on the reputation which he had earned for himself as a diplomat while in Melbourne, and on the clear way he had grasped the problems facing this country. Mr E. J. Howard, M.P., then welcomed the travellers from the Homeland and extended a special welcome to Miss Sheila MacDonald, whose mother he remembered speaking in Christchurch on the occasion of her visit. He hoped that both the young i people would carry away happy mem-! ories of their visit to New Zealand, and he wished them both health, wealth and happiness. Mr 11. Holland, M.P., associated himself with all the two previous speakers had said, and declared that he wanted them to feel that in New Zealand they were among friends. There were no more warm-hearted people than those of Christchurch, and he wished to join in the warm and sincere welcome to them both. Both Mr and Miss MacDonald thanked everyone present for the wonderful welcome they had received, and Miss MacDonald announced that she would remain for some two months in New Zealand, after her brother had returned to England, in order that she might really get to know some of the people who lived here.