CIVIC HONOURS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 August 1941, Page 4

CIVIC HONOURS

SEVEN CITY FREEDOMS FOR MR FRASER RECORD FOR NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER. VISIT TO THE SCOTTISH CAPITAL. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, July 30. The New Zealand Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, has accepted the invitation of the Lord Provost and Corporation of Edinburgh to receive the freedom of the city. The date of the ceremony has not been fixed. This-will be the seventh British freedom for Mr Fraser, which is a record for any New Zealand Prime Minister. Mr Fraser spent yesterday in Edinburgh visiting the east coast shipyards, where his chief interest was in three minesweepers being built for New Zealand. Accompanied by Commander Connelly, Dunedin, Mr Fraser inspected these vessels. Commander Connelly will command one of the three ships which will eventually sail for the Dominion. They will be chiefly manned by New Zealand officers and men, a number of whom were present for inspection. The management and employees of the shipyards asked Mr Fraser to address a meeting of employees. A quarter of an hour before lunch time 1500 men gathered round the shipyards headquarters. The men stood on ship’s girders, spars, oil drums, and baulks of timber and cheered Mr Fraser, who thanked them for building ships for New Zealand. Mr Fraser called for cheers for Britain’s effort for complete victory, which met with a loud response. A worker called for cheers for New Zealand, which evoked a magnificent response. Mr Fraser, accompanied by the High Commissioner, Mr Jordan, and Mrs Jordan, lunched with the Lord Provost, Mr Henry Steele, and later motored to Aberdeen.