UNITED STATES AND EMPIRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 June 1939, Page 5

UNITED STATES AND EMPIRE

Speeches at State Dinner at White House KING AND PRESIDENT STRESS FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN NATIONS OCCASION STANDING OUT IN HIGH RELIEF By Telegraph—Press Association.—Copyright. WASHINGTON, June S). Britain’s King and Queen slept tonight in the White House, which is painted white to hide the scars remaining when it was rebuilt after the British troops burned the capital in the war of 1812, their presence there symbolising more strongly the burying of the past rancour than all the pomp and ceremony of their fatiguing day. Earlier in the evening President Roosevelt and the Ring toasted each other at a State dinner in the White House, stressing the friendship between the two nations and expressing confidence that their friendship would always endure. The text of President Roosevelt’s ton st. to the King and Queen at the State dinner in the White House was as follows: “In the life of a nation as in individuals, there are occasions that stand out in high relief, such as the present one, when the entire United States is welcoming on its soil the King and Queen of Britain, our neighbouring Canada and all the far-flung British Commonwealth of Nations. “It js an occasion for festivities, but it also is fitting that we give thanks for the bonds of friendship linking our two peoples. I am persuaded that the greatest single contribution our two countries have been enabled to make to civilisation and the welfare of the peoples throughout the world is the example we have jointly set by our manner of conducting our relations. “ It is because each nation is lacking in fear of the other that we have unfortified borders between us. It is because neither fears aggression on the part of the other that we have entered no race of armaments one against the other. “The King and I are aware of the recent episode when two small uninhabited islands in the centre of the Pacific became of sudden interest to England and America as stepping stones lor commercial air lines between America and Australia. Both nations claimed sovereignty; both had good cases. To have entered into a. long-drawn argument could have meant ill-will between us and delay in the use of the islands by either. “It was suggested that the problem be solved by the joint use of both islands and a gentleman’s agreement to defer the question of the ultimate sovereignty to the year 1989. The passage of 50 years will solve many problems. “If this illustration of the use of methods of peace divorced from aggression could only he universally followed the relations between all countries would rest upon sure foundations, and men and women everywhere could once more look upon a happy, prosperous, peaceful world. May this kind of understanding between our countries grow ever closer. Slay our friendship prosper. “Ladies and gentlemen, we drink to the. health of his Majesty King George Vl.’’ His■ Majesty’s response to Mr Roosevelt’s toast was as follows:—■ “The visit which the Queen and I are paying you today is something which has been in our minds for many weeks and if we have had our moments of .anxiety they have served to make us realise how intensely we have been looking forward to the present, occasion. I wish, therefore, in the first place, to thank you for your kind invitation and your still kinder welcome. We have been deeply touched by the manner in which Washington already has received us, and we expect to enjoy every minute of our remaining time in the United States. “From Canada, which we have just left and whither we will soon return, I bring to you today warm greetings of your neighbour and trusted friend. From my other'Dominions, from the United Kingdom, from all my Empire I carry to you expressions of the utmost cordiality and goodwill. “As I drink a toast to you, Mr President, I. wish you every' possible health and happiness. I trust and believe that in the years to come the history of the United States will continue to be marked by that ordered progress and prosperity which has been theirs in the past. L pray that our great nations may ever in the future walk together along the path of friendship in a world of peace.”