I am not surprised that some rather acrid comment, have
been passed about the reception given to the athletes who came from all parts of the Dominions and Colonies to compete last week and this in the Empire Games. The first Empire Games meeting took place four years ago in Canada, and was marked with all the ceremony of celebration that might be expected from that Dominion. This year, when five hundred picked athletes came to the heart of the Empire from every quarter of the Empire, the official voice of Britain was represented by Lord Lonsdale and the Deputy Lord Mayor of London. The captain of the British team took the Oath of Allegi- ance in the name of all the competitors, but there was no member of the Royal Family present to hear it. It is a pity, but there will be no complaint of that, for no one in the Empire makes greater sacrifices for such purposes as this than the King and Queen and their sons. The Prince of Wales, moreover, had greeted the athletes a few days earlier and said how sorry he was he would not be there to see them run. But surely one or two stray Cabinet Ministers, most of whom perorate eloquently on the Empire at intervals, could have been rounded up, even if the Acting Prime Minister and the Secretaries of State for the Dominions and Colonies, whose absence was conspicuous, had compelling reasons for staying away. In this field at any rate the Empire treats us a great deal better than we treat the Empire.
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