AFTER THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 1922, Page 5

AFTER THE WAR.

RECOVERY OF BELGIUM. THANKS TO BRITAIN. EXAMPLE OF LOYALTY. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received May 10, 8.30 p.m. Brussels, May 9. A State banquet was given in honor of King George and Queen Mary, who are visiting Belgium. King Albert said Belgium was touched by the promptitude with which the King: and Queen returned the visit paid by the Belgian Royalties to London a year ago. Belgium, he said, could not forget how the British Empire threw itself into the war, with all its forces, to fulfil the pledge ‘which it entered into with Belgium. Never was a higher-lesson in honor and respect for treaties given to the world. That engagement was consecrated by the courage, sufferings, and death of many heroes, of whom large numbers came from the Dominions and distant Colonies. The Belgians would always remember the fraternal care with which their wounded were treated on British soil and the hospitality extended to the refugees. “I drink the health of the Royal Family and the prosperity and glory of the British Empire,” he concluded.

King George, replying, recalled visits to Belgium dm .ng the war,, adding: “But happier far is the enjoyment of this hospitality, now that the Belgian Sovereigns are restored to the Throne they never lost, surrounded by the devotion of an admiring and grateful people. Of all who fought in the war, it cannot be doubted that the Belgian nation have, with an industry and national spirit which are a stimulus to the world, advanced most rapidly on the road to the recovery of their national prosperity. In the future of Belgium all the sympathies of the British Empire are enlisted.” —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.