THE FRENCH MISSION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 86, 6 January 1919, Page 5

THE FRENCH MISSION

ARRIVAL IN WELLINGTON i TOUR EXTENDED TO DUNEDIN .•'•The .members of . the -• French Mission arrived in Wellington by motor 'from '~ Wanganui last evoning. In two days .they •,hau. come from Taumammii,rdown the xivcr to Wanganui, arid, yesterday all'the way; from Wanganui by road.- The jour- ; ney passed without mishnp. Tlio visitors we™ much impressed with tho beauties bf tliD 1 scenery cut the banks of the -Wa-' iiffnnni River, and nleo tliey were delighted with the friendly welcomes given to them by Maoris at! Pipiriki and at Jerusalem, further down the river. 'At both places personal gifts of' rugs and mats and such trophies were given by the . Natives to members of.the Mission.. Tho day on the : river was prolonged by these stops 'to receive the welcome of the Maoris,'and the party : did not arrive at- Wanganui until 10.30 at-night. On ~ arrival they had supper- v ; th'■•■tho Mayor • and . councillors. Yrtfc'rday . they left Wanganui .at nine o'clock in the morning, .were roceived :by-. the oivil authorities at Martonj and had 1 lunch as. guests of the Mayor and councillors, at ~ Palmerston. After luncheon General Pan ..delivered,a 6Deech to, an assembly of the citizens in the Sauarb. ■ It had been intended that the iparty ' should travel to .Wellington throneb Wjii-' : . Tarapa, but the' roads were considered to be .too bad ,for the journey to be made. . Tliey came clown eventually through Levin and Paekakariki. At 11 o'clock, this, morning a civic re'caption-, will be accorded to General Pau .. And the members of. the Mission in. the Concert. Chamber of the Town Hall. . 'Owing to. the date of departure of the. Niagara having been postponed, the stay of the Mission will be a little longer in New Zealand than had been expected. It will now .be possible for the visitors to go to Dunedin, and instead of returning to. Wellinpton. from ■' Christchurch next Saturday they will go to Dunedih, spend 'two".days there, and then, return to Wellington, Arriving, here on Wednesday,', January 15. In conseniionce of this change of programme all Wellington, appointments for'the Mission which were being arranged-for their return, will have to be . . WELCOME 'AT WANGANUI..; ..■ ;:. Ry Telegraph.— Association. Wariganui, January 5. The French Mission had all day on ~ the river, : on Saturday. They stopped at . Pipiriki and/Jerusalem, being entertain-' ed by Maoris at the latter place. The visitors, arrived' in' Wangamii at -10.30 , p.m.,\ and were welcomed .by ' a _ large crowd; A party .: of . leading citizens .; -went up the river ; to meet the; visitors. ENTHUSIASM AT PALMERSTON- _ . Palmerston. North, January 5. .- The French- Mission. 1 , arrived ,at 'Pal-' ' merston' North by. road at midday. They were ..met at Awahuri by Mr.- ; J.:-: A. •Nash, : Mayor and'-M.P;," and fleet of • sixty motor-cars, (decorated-- with the • French. and allied colours.; : Genej'al Pau , . boarded the Mayor's car. .- • -Attended ; by.' -re, number, of military officials, the party.. completed the journey to : Palmerston -. gaily-bedecked.Flags and streamers '.'• flapped an enthusiastic . welcome.' on a ... breath of high-wind. ~The party drove to the Empire Hotel, where General Pau was introduced. to .leading citizens and fte wives of. officials. • In the . course of a picturesque ceremony, at a - subsequent', dinner,; fraternal toasts were . interchanged;— '"• ~ ,i: .' " ;. "i At an al fresco gathering in the Square ' . . later the .City,' Band 'played the. na-', tional anthems. ' Mr: Nash delivered a formal- speech ~,-of . .welcome, to .which. •: General ' Pau responded. '.Ho ,referred .. ' to the 6imilaritv -in '.top'ogrnnliy between • ;. New Zealand. France,-, and England, and to New'.Zealand's. splendid contributions of men and material to the.war. Geri-i •eral Pan was warmly applauded. %;,Ac- , companied -by ■ hundreds, ofenthusiastic 'spectators, the' partythen ;made their, way-to. the 'waiting,, "motor-cars, - .theGeneraL pausing to shake hands heartily ',' with the . gatherings of .returned soldiers .. and Maori War - veterans.., The, visitors were' heartily cheered, on leaving . for Wellington. ~,v ■-• ;-'i • • : PERSONNEL OF THE MISSION A DISTINGUISHED COMPANY.' The mission 'consists "of; General Pan,;' head of"' the' "mission;' • Commandant d'Andre,- attache to . General Pau, M. , Marcel Mathieu,' M. 'Xeclercq-Motte, of Wattrelos, '•■' woollen manufacturer, M. . Corbierei" of- Monant-le-Pin, agricultural engineer and :st'c"ck-breeder.' i' M: Georges •Bader, secretary■-and , accountant, and Dr.-' Siegfried, general. secretary of the . miaion'.-'.-;.Whep ithe.toissiop left : France . it was headed by M. Albert. Metin, a .Labour-member of the-Chamber of De- . puties, and.former.Minister for.Blockade.' lie, however, died in San' Francisco while > .the mission-, was 'on the way to';.Aus- , tralia,- leadership- was;., assumed 7by -General' Pau. - ■: .- " General£au> who lost ,his fight, hand' In' the :Eranco-German war, iB7O, was a, youth when the 1870 war broke out'. . Ho was.'terribly-'wounded,three times in.tho Battle:'of. Woerth,' but managed to struggle home.with',the. loss of-an arm. When his arm! was scarcely healed he heard -M. Bourbaki . was ..organising, ,an. v : army in order to, fight on after France ■ was. defeated.;;; Heinsisted in rejoining . . and fighting with it.on the Swiss , frontier. When Bourbaki's 1 army was forced over the border into' Switzerland, General Pan' refused to cross the border.' He made : his.' way ,by " night with. _ a party ..-of his, men through ..tjje: German lines back, to Trance. During the next forty years he served a. good,-part of I his time, in,the French, colonies. Finally, he reached a position on the superior war council of- France. Eealising the manner in which the. Germans were.increasing their army, "General Pau insisted on the law of . three'years'. Service in the French Army... When told it was■ very unpopular, he still insisted he knew it. was necessary: That .law was passed ' just in. time" to save France. At the; outbreak of war, General Pau was already on the - retired list, but asked to Tejriin. He was sent to Aisace,'when'the French were beaten J>ack there, and he : drovo back the Germans 'to the -Rhine. By that time the condition of affairs in Belgium was serious. General. Pan's last . service consisted of bringing the Belgian. Army down from.Antwerp to the French: border. Later lie was sent on important missions!'to Switzerland and Russia. He 6peats only it ■ little' English. Dr. Siegfried is a professor in the School of' Political Science,' Paris. He . visited Australia and New Zealand in, ! 189 S. and is the author of "Democracy in 'New Zealand." and "Edward Gibbon Wakefield on, the Theory of, Colonisa- , tion in South Australia." He has also ' .written of Canada and the political par- , tics in France. Dr. Siegfried is a son of a former Minister of Ctimmerce. He was with the British Army for three "years during. the war, and won tho Military'. Medal. ; ! Conimandnht d'Andre is a professional soldier. He played a brilliant part in the Battle of the Mnrrie, was wounded, and was awardod the Cro. c s of the Legion of Honour. He was a prisoner of war in Germany for two years. ' ' M. Louis Leclerq-Motte is a wool-manu- . . facturer, of Eoubaix, ono of tho towns, f fheld bj' .the Germans from 1914' up to tho ''succcssful British advance" in Flanders, . just prior to the termination of hostili- 1 ties. During the war he acted as an interpreter with tho British Army. He ■ . holds the D.C.M. and Croix de Guerre. M. Henri Corbiore' is a well-known cattle and horse breeder, of Normandv, and is an agricultural ,expert. Though over military age, -he enlisted at the'out-' break of wn.r, and won the Cross of tho Legion of Honour. ,: . " , Jf. .Bader, secretary and; accountant of the mission, spent U .years .of his life in Australia, being formerly attached.to the French Bank in Melbourne, and, was also in a wool merchant's employ in Sydney.