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been absent from employment through, service in the Armed Forces, would have qualified for "A " grade licenses. The Board has now established the policy of giving preference in respect of all vacancies arising to those operators who have had military service, and for assistant operators a special training scheme has been evolved under which applicants may qualify for provisional licenses on the passing of an examination and after a short period of intensive training. This scheme is operating successfully and appears to be a satisfactory solution to the problem of the rehabilitation of the assistant operator. C. Exhibitors'• and other Licenses Licenses under the Cinematograph Films Act for the year ended 30th September, 1945: exhibitors'4ss ; itinerant exhibitors' 19 ; renters', 16 ; storage, 10 ; miscellaneous, 16. VIII. DISTINGUISHED VISITORS During the year several delegations visited New Zealand. Delegates to the Civil Aviation Conference comprised Lord Winster, British Minister for Civil Aviation, and party; Lord Knollys, British Overseas Airways Corporation, and Lady Knollys, and party; Hon. A. Drakeford, Minister of Civil Aviation, Australia, Mrs. Drakeford, and party ; and Sir Alexander Grantham, Governor of Fiji, Lady Grantham, and party. The United Kingdom Supply "Mission was headed by Major-General Pakenham Walsh and Mr. H. W. L. Kearns. Other important people who visited New Zealand were : Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke, G.C.8., D.5.0., Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and party; Lord Wakehurst, Governor of New South Wales, and party; Vice-Admiral W. L. Calhoun, U.S.N., Commander, South Pacific Force and area, and party; Sir Angus Gillan, Director, Empire Division of the British Council; Sir Cosmo Parkinson; Air Marshal the Hon. Sir Ralph A. Cochrane, K.8.E., C.8., A.F.C., R.A.F.; M. Pierre Ange, Minister for France in Australia ; Hon. Hamilton Knight, Minister of Labour, New South Wales; the Fautua of Samoa, the Hon. and Mrs. Tamasese, the Hon. and Mrs. Malietoa, and the Hon. and Mrs. Mata'afa ; the Right Hon. W. J. Jordan, High Commissioner for New Zealand in the United Kingdom, and Mrs. Jordan ; Sir Raghunath Paranjpye, High Commissioner for India in Australia, and party; Major-General Sir Charles Rosenthal, Administrator of Norfolk Island, and Lady Rosenthal; General George L. Carpenter, International Leader of the Salvation Army, and Mrs. Carpenter ; Hon. Ata, Premier of Tonga ; Lieutenant-General J. Northcott, in charge of the British Commonwealth Force of Occupation in Japan, and party ; Sir Henry French, who was head of the United Kingdom Ministry of Food, and Lady French ; Hon. E. J. Ward, Minister of External Territories and Transport, Australia; Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie, ex Governor of Malta, and Lady Dobbie; Commander' C. J. Pitts, S.A.N.F., who came to make arrangements for the visit of Admiral the Lord Louis Mountbatten and party ; Right Rev. J. L. Wilson, Bishop of Singapore, and Mrs. Wilson ; Hon. G. Mullins, New South Wales ; Bishop F. Houghton, Director-General of the China Inland Missions ; Miss Gracie Fields and party ; the Claude Thornhill show of United States Navy entertainers ; Messrs. A. W. Hicks and K. E. Grainger, New South Wales Public Service Board. Welcomes were extended to Mr. Armand Gazel, Mr. Ivan K. Ziabkin, and the Hon. Avra M. Warren, Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of France, the U.S.S.R., and the United States of America respectively, who arrived to take up their positions. Sir Harry Batterbee, the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom, was farewelled, and his successor, Sir Patrick Duff, was welcomed. 2—H 22

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