FRENCH-SPEAKING SUBJECTS OF THE KING
Nearly Three Millions Assembling
CANADIAN DESTROYERS MEET ROYAL LINER
LANDING AT WOLFE’S COVE
By Telegraph—Press Association.— Copyright. QUEBEC, May 16. The Royal liner Empress of Australia is expected to anchor here at midnight tonight. She will anchor off the or Orleans, a little, below the city, till morning, and wdl then proceed to Wolfe’s Cove. Tips historic spot, where in 1/bJ General Wolfe climbed the heights to win Canada for Britain on the Plains of Abraham, will be the scene of their Majesties landing at 10 a.m. . At 9 a.m. yesterday the Empress of Australia advised Dy radio that she was clear of the ice field and maintaining full speed. The special correspondent of the Australian Associate! Press states that their Majesties received their first welcome from Canada shortly before 5 p.m. when the Canadian destroyers Skeena and Saguenay met the Empress.of Australia at the entrance to the Gulf of St Lawrence, and moved into position with the cruisers Southampton and Glasgow to escort the liner over the remaining 540 miles to Quebec. Nearly 3,000,000 French-speaking subjects will give the King and’Queen their first welcome as they land in the new world. They comprise five-sixths of the population of Quebec Province, which is Canada’s largest province, comprising territory four times greater than the United Kingdom.
Thousands are pouring into towns which their Majesties will visit during the first days of their tour. A quarter of a million are expected to flock into the 301-year-old walled city of Quebec on Wednesday to shout “Dieu Sauve Les Majesties!” These are the first ' words their Majesties will read in Canada. They will glow from a huge electric sign ashore as the Empress of Australia moves to the anchorage downstream from the gaunt bluff on which stands Quebec to await the daylight landing. Tradition is jealously guarded in this territory where the white man founded the first settlement on the American Continent north of Mexico. Thus the French Tricolour mingles everywhere'with the Union Jack. There is a brave show of bunting even in the lower town, with its narrow, winding streets and alleys. Union Jacks outnumber Tricolours, but it is noticeable that, when the Tricolour and the Canadian flag are flown together, the Tricolour is uppermost by tacit consent.
A truce has been called on domestic and political questions during their Majesties’ visit. Typical editorial comment of . the French language Press is the following from the Montreal “Le Canada”: “Whatever may be our political dissensions, whatever may be our opinion of our system of government, the King’s person does not enter into our quarrels. “He is above our conflicts. He is neither the cause nor the ..judge of them and should not be the witness of them. Our sole duty on this occasion unique in history is to render to our Sovereigns without reserve all honour that is their due. Rarely has a Royal couple more truly deserved to be called their Gracious Majesties.
“They are the finest example of a public and private life excellently led. The perfect union in which the Royal family is living is a living symbol of the unity which should reign in the internal life of a nation.”
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS WORK OF THE MOUNTED POLICE. ELABORATE INVESTIGATIONS MADE. (Received This Day, 9.25 a.m.) QUEBEC, May 16. The Australian Associated Press special representative says an aspect of the precautions for the Royal visit which has not been publicised in Canada is revealed in an interview given by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police inspector. The “Mounties” have their own secret service and these under-cover men for months past have travelled the Dominion, chiefly disguised as hoboes. Wherever disloyal talk is heard, camera shots are taken unknown to the speaker. The Australian Associated Press was shown a bulky album which was the culmination of the work of members of the secret service.
Four hundred “Mountie” special agents familiar with the contents of the album have been brought in to Quebec for their Majesties' arrival. They will mingle with the crowd and unobtrusively station themselves alongside any radicals and cranks they recognise. Similar precautions are being taken in other Canadian centres.
The modern “Mounties” work with the quiet finesse of the Scotland Yard men with whom they are co-operat-ing. While not leaving loopholes, there is no desire to make wholesale arrests and the only arrest so far was due more to an excess of loyalty on the part of a French Canadian, who spent six thousand dollars on decorating his home and then wrote their Majesties inviting them to stay with him. He was disappointed at not receiving a reply and waited on the reception committee. Receiving a blunt “No,” he then broke up the meeting and stormed out with the remark: “Well, if they don’t stay with me they won't stay with anyone.” The police concentration here is the greatest in the city’s history, “Mounties” and half the strength of the pro-
vincial police supplementing the city police. The background of every guest in Quebec hotels is being investigated . The police have also investigated the occupants of all houses along the twenty-three miles of procession route, which will be guarded by a double line of troops. Photographers are forbidden to use flash bulbs or to approach within twenty feet of their Majesties. The Royal automobiles, like the Royal train, are constructed of reinforced steel, fitted with bullet-proof, unshatterable glass. The Royal Canadian Air Force has ordered police aeroplanes to enforce the ■ regulations forbidding aircraft within three miles of any town in which their Majesties are staying, or within three miles of the Royal train.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 May 1939, Page 5
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938FRENCH-SPEAKING SUBJECTS OF THE KING Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 May 1939, Page 5
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