LEOPOLD DEFENDED
BELGIAN OFFICIAL RESIGNS Mrs Suzanne Silvercruys Stevenson today announced her resignation as vice-president and director of the Women’s Division of the Belgian Relief Fund because she believed her defence of the surrender of King Leopold of Belgium might injure the cause of the relief agency. “ Because of various documents from Belgium which are in my possession,” Mrs Stevenson said in a letter to 50 women who composed her original committee to help Belgium before its merger with the fund, “ I am firmly convinced that the action taken by His Majesty, King Leopold, in surrendering was the only course possible, and I know that his contemplated action was only taken after consultation with the British and French Commanders and was well known to them in advance, and, therefore, when uninformed persons make derogatory statements about His Majesty, I cannot refrain from defending the good name of His Majesty and the Belgian people, both publicly and privately and with all my energy. “ My sense of loyalty and justice forces me to answer criticisms of the King, and in so doing I hope sincerely that I am helping ihe Belgian cause. But as it was thought that this might prove a cause of embarrassment to the Belgian Relief Fund because of my official connection i with it, and as it might harm the fund in the eyes of the public. I thought it best to resign. I have assured the fund of my earnest desire to co-operate in any way possible.”
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Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21222, 19 September 1940, Page 14
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250LEOPOLD DEFENDED Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21222, 19 September 1940, Page 14
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