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In the two months since he was sworn in (June 21), Lord Athlone has signed piles of bills, played a little tennis, visited scores of military establishments, gone on a few picnics along the Ottawa River, inspected some factories, seen several movies, been seen in several churches, gone to a horse show and ridden some Mounties' horses (but most Mounties use automobiles, he learned), smiled till his salt-&-pepper mustache drooped, entertained and been entertained with great good grace, and generally made himself affable. For this activity the G.G. is to be paid $40,200 a year, with an additional allowance of about $100,000 for expenses. In his efforts he has had the able assistance of Sir Shuldham Redfern, Secretary to several G.G.s, deaf, anonymous, precise as an adding machine, polite as a brass doorknob; and of Princess Alice.
Canada's First Lady is as full of good works as her husband. She has brightened up the 75-room Hall with gay, modern lithographs and paintings, and is such an excellent gardener that people who know about plants compliment her on her "green fingers."
Last week the G.G., after listening to a courteous explanation of the doings at Ogdensburg, set out with Princess Alice and their daughter, 34-year-old Lady May Abel Smith, on a tour of Toronto, Hamilton, St. Catharine's, Niagara Falls, the Maritime Provinces. At Niagara Falls this week they will be accompanied by another memento of royalty—Princess Juliana of The Netherlands.
Triangle. The Governor General serves not only to remind Canadians of their bond but also to remind U. S. citizens of their relationship with both Canada and Great Britain. From the U. S. point of view the triangle is by no means equilateral. The affable but distant feelings which lie between the U. S. and Britain were accurately summed up during George VI's tour of Canada. The Monarch asked an Irish-American journalist where he was from. "From Boston, Your Majesty," said the reporter, easily. "You know—George III?"
"Ah, yes," the King smiled, "something about tea, wasn't it?"
But Canada has two Kings: George VI and William Lyon Mackenzie King. The latter is such a warm friend of the President of the U. S. that Franklin Roosevelt is the only person in the world who calls him "Mackenzie" (intimates call Mr. King "Billy"). On Aug. 18, 1938, Franklin Roosevelt made a memorable speech at Queen's University, Kingston, Ont., in which he said: "I give to you assurance that the people of the United States will not stand idly by if domination of Canadian soil is threatened by any other empire."
It is quite probable that this speech marked the beginning not only of cordial relations between the two chief executives, but of concrete staff talks between their military aides. In any case, it was typical of them both that, circumstances having paved their way, they should pick the exact anniversary of the Kingston speech, Aug. 18, 1940, to meet at Ogdensburg and make their mutual assistance a matter of public record.