CANADA’S HOMAGE TO THE KING AND QUEEN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 118, 22 May 1939, Page 7

CANADA’S HOMAGE TO THE KING AND QUEEN

PHENOMENAL INTEREST QUEEN MAKES THE SECOND SPEECH OF HER REIGN RAIN-DRENCHED CROWDS ASSEMBLE TO GLIMPSE ROYAL VISITORS (By Telegraph— Press Association—Copyright) Received May 21. 8.40 p.m. OTTAWA. May 20. Canadian people have shown unprecedented interest in the visit of His Majesty King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the Dominion. The personal attendance of His Majesty, with the Queen, in the Senate of his Canadian Parliament, has been acclaimed by the Press as the Accession of Canada’s King. The Queen spoke publicly for the second time in her reign to-day. when she laid the foundation stone of the new Supreme t'ourt of Canada, a task which she said “was not inappropriate for a woman, for a woman’s position in civilised society has depended upon the growth of the law.”

* The first occasion on winch Her Majesty was heard by the public was at the launching of the Queen Elisabeth. when she spoke only a few words. To-day, perfectly poised, she faced the huge crowd and a battery of microphones, carrying her voice throughout the Empire as well as the United States, and delivered the first real speech of her reign, in a clear, firm voice. It was the only occasion on which she will speak in Canada, and as a compliment to French Canadians she made the latter half of her address in the French language, which she commenced studying at tiie age of four and speaks fluently. The King was an interested onlooker. The Queen’s blue eyes shone with pleasure at the warmth of the crowds reception, and during pauses in her speech she broke into the brilliant and completely happy smile that has charmed all Canadians. In the English passages the Queen declared herself ‘ happy to lay the foundation stone of a building devoted to the administration of justice, with its addition to a group of buildings on the heights above Ottawa, sureiy one of the noblest situations in the world.” Housing Parliament and the executive branch of the Government, there would stand “a group «•£ buildings unsuipassed as a symbol of the free and democratic institutio.is which are our greatest heritage.” Justice in Two-foht Measure - . In French she said: Tn Canada, as in Great Britain, justice is administered according to two great dissimilar legislations. In my native Scotland we have a Jaw founded on Homan law. It springs from the :-ame fountainhead as your civil law in the old province of Quebec. In England, as in Canada’s other provinces, common law prevails at Ottawa as in Westminster. Both are administered by *he Supreme Court of Justice. To me this is a very happy augury. To see

>our two great races, with their different legislations, beliefs and traditions, uniting more and more closely, after the manner of England and Scotland, by tics of affection, respect and a common ideal, is my fondest wish.” Earlier Her Majesty sat at a win- ' o” in the Governor-General s offices ia Parliament Buildings and watched i brigade of Canadian Guards trooping their colours before the King. An I nfortunate Incident. The special correspondent of the Australian Associated a under on the part of a Government •rficial to-night caused the first unfo tun ate incident of the tour, beu e the King was not informed that had been announced that he and the Queen would make a brief appearance on the balcony of the Chateau Laurier before banqueting with the Government. A crowd of 90,000 people mmed Connaught Square and waited four hours. Finally word reached the King that the crowd had been fathered at the iront entrance of the note! since early afternoon. He immediately asked to be excused and, with the Queen, went to the balcony. Kain was tailing, but despite cautions u .»:n equerries Their Majesties stood •n the balcony for five minutes acknov. lodging the plaudits of the crowd. They did not return to the banqueting chamber, taking coffee instead in a private room. The crowd, drenching t. stood a further two hours vainly hoping for another opportunity to . • ; Ma esties. Sixty-rive people collapsed and were treated by ambulance officers. ’i iriuret Rose Paquette, seven l« ’ i i » weight, is probably the xoungest person in history to attend a K ■>. i procession. Because her mother . o.i going to see the King and Quc?n. h he was born in a ooathouse just as the State carriage appeared a Ion;. the route skirting the lake. A hastily summoned num a iir.'t ; iti ami rushed tn m V hosi' \... ,i the procession had passed. - -i -rct’s name did not present di.’i- ' . £ j s?.e has an ciucr sister named Elizabeth.

Informality at Reception. The reception tendered by tne Gov-ernor-General at Government House broke all precedence. Their Majesties chatted freely with journalists covering the tour and showed a lively curiosity in their work. The King said he did not know how tne Press kept up with everything, and laugnvd heartily when an American newspaperman, with honest admiration, said: “Weil, you can certainly take it. You’re in there punching ali the time.’’ After the pool system, whereby the work of seven photographers is distributed throughout the woriu, was explained to mm, the King confessed that it all set his head in a whirl. He observed that it must be confusing, keeping track of Australian and New Zealand time in cabling the news to those countries, and added that it would be worse in the west, as Canadian local time standards change live times. The ease and informality of the gathering provided a contrast to the colour and pageantry of the function in the Senate an hour earlier—a function so symbolical that the Canadian Press hails it as the accession of Canada’s King. His Majesty, in a dark lounge suit, the Queen, cool and charming in a soft, blue teagown, shook hands cordially with everyone as they were presented. It was the finishing touch for American newspapermen and women, who began the tour in a mildly cynical frame |of mind. Their dispatches since the 'Montreal visit have been almost ex--1 travagant in descriptions of the •crowds spontaneous enthusiasm and 'in tributes to Their Majesties’ dignity ;and charm. They forecast a tumultuous reception in Washington and New York. Fixty-six correspondents, ■ representative of the Anglo-French speaking world, are travelling on the Royal pilot train. Do applications • have been received from the German and Italian Press, although there was a big British Press party for Herr Hitler’s State visit to Italy. One solitary German visited Quebec for His ■ Majesty’s arrival.