LATE J. A. LYONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 April 1939, Page 5

LATE J. A. LYONS

DEATH A LOSS TO WHOLE EMPIRE PRESTIGE KEPT CABINET TOGETHER. TRIBUTE IN GREAT BRITAIN. By Telegraph—Press Association.—Copyright. LONDON, April 9. "The Times” in a leading article on the late Mr J. A. Lyons, says Australia loses a Prime Minister who enjoyed to an unprecedented extent the confidence, affection and respect of the whole community and whose proved honesty and independence enabled him to rally the Commonwealth to the effort necessary to maintain the national credit. Ministers lately had not been a united family and disagreed among themselves on national defence and the practicability of' proceeding with a programme on social reform. These dissensions were accompanied by open bickerings, and only the national prestige of Mr Lyons kept Cabinet together. There is little doubt that these troubles helped to wear down Mr Lyons’s physical resistance, but the heaviest strain came from the menace of international tension. Mr Lyons laboured incessantly to co-operate with Britain and his untimely death is a loss to the whole Empire, as well as Australia. PRESIDENT’S REGRET GOOD FRIEND OF AMERICAN PEOPLE. WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT. WASHINGTON, April 8. The White House has issued an official statement expressing regret at the untimely death of Mr Lyons. It adds: “The President has known him for a number of years and recognised in him not only a personal friend but also a very good friend of the American people.” The “New York Times,” in an editorial tribute to Mr Lyons, says: “He was relentless in the fight against dishonest finance and repudiation,” and adds: “In one year he reduced the Government’s deficiency from £100,000,000 to £45,000,000. He turned deficits into surpluses and reduced taxation. That is glory enough for honest Joe.” President Roosevelt and the Secretary of State, Mr Cordell Hull, have sent personal messages of condolence to Dame Enid Lyons, whom they knew personally, through the United States Consul-General, Mr Wilson, at Sydney. Mr Hull nas also sent an official message to Mr W. M. Hughes, saying:— “May I express to you the deep sympathy of the Government and people of the United States in the great loss which the Commonwealth has suffered The Australian people have lost an outstanding leader and a great public servant. He will be remembered particularly here for his contribution toward a closer understanding between the American and Australian peoples.” STAUNCH CHAMPION OF FREE ASSOCIATION WITHIN BRI i ISH COMMONWEALTH. CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER’S PRAISE. OTTAWA, April 8. The Prime Minister, Mr W. L. Mackenzie King, praises the late Mr Lyons as a staunch champion of free association within the British Commonwealth. His declarations at the Imperial Conference in 1937 had animated the whole growth of the Commonwealth of Nations and death had removed a well beloved figure. * The Leader of the Opposition, Dr Manion, said the Empire had sustained a severe loss in his passing. His statesmanlike qualities were marked. The Minister of Trade and Commerce, Mr W. D. Euler, recalled Mr Lyons’s admirable co-operation in the Canadian-Australian Treaty negotiations when Mr Euler visited Austiaha in 1936. A real leader had gone, he. said. ' AUSTRALIA MOURNS BELOVED AND GREAT MAN. MESSAGE FROM THEIR MAJESTIES (Received This Dav, 10.55 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. The whole of Australia is mourning for Mr Lyons as one of the Commonwealth’s most beloved men as well as one of her greatest. A message of sympathy from the King and Queen and others from the heads of other great nations are included in the thousands that have been received. Apart from the official message of the King and Queen,' Queen Elizabeth sent to Dame Enid Lvons a personal message worded simply, “My deepest sympathy.” Six of Mr Lyons’s children will accompany their mother at the State funeral tomorrow. They will also go to Devonport, where they will be joined by the younger children for a private funeral there.