PRIME MINISTER’S STATEMENT

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 307, 11 December 1936, Page 5

PRIME MINISTER’S STATEMENT

SADDEST OF DAYS. MUCH SORROW CAUSED. People Will Honour and Serve New King. Press Association —Copyright. Received’ 9 a.m. Wellington, To-day. The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, in a statement issued on receipt of the news of the King’s abdication said; “This is one of the saddest days in the history of the British people. The abdication of King Edward VIII will cause profound sorrow to his millions of subjects throughout the Empire. The affection entertained towards the King as the occupant of the British Throne was deepened in the case of Edward VIJI by the manner in which, both as Prince of Wales and as King, he identified himself so intimately with the welfare of his people. ‘Those in close touch with the situation during these sad days have been aware of the fact that no effort has been spared in an endeavour to find a solution to the problem suitable to His Majesty and acceptable to the people of the British Commonwealth of Nations. “That the effort to this end made in Britain and the Dominions has not been successful, is a matter that occasions profound and universal regret, v/h ch will be felt as keenly in this Dominion as elsewhere in the Empire. “I have no hesitation in sayingi that' the loyalty of this Dominr ion to the Crown is as strong a, nd enduring as ever it was and that the people of New Zealand, While regretting the abdication of Edward VIII, will honour and serve the new King with all their traditional' affection and sincerity.”