This is what has been done so far. I think it may be said that the foundations of
the Settlement have been truly laid.
We have been greatly encouraged by the action taken by the Belgian Government,
who have brought in a Bill which exempts the British Settlement from all succession
duties in perpetuity and gives them other privileges.
M. Jansen said in introducing the Bill that it had been brought in in remembrance
of what we owe to the British nation and in homage to the spirit that inspired the
erection of these establishments tn the Ypres District."
The Bill was passed by a unanimous vote amid general applause, the President
and all the deputies standing up.
I should like to quote two sentences from the leading article published in the
Times on the 30th January.
No more considerate act, no clearer sign of good-will from our old friends and
allies could be imagined," and later on Until the British Settlement is out of debt and
financially secure due honour will have been done neither to the dead whom it
commemorates nor to the good-will of the Belgian Government."
To accomplish this I am sending out this appeal. I feel confident that it will meet
with a generous response from the countless numbers of men and women to whom the
name of Ypres means so much, conjuring up as it cannot fail to do memories which,
though very sad, are very beautiful. They will agree with me that it is incumbent on us,
as a nation to establish this Settlement on such a footing that it can be handed down
from generation to generation as a living memorial worthy of all the sacrifice it stands for.
All donations should be sent to
Field-Marshal Viscount Plumer,
9, Baker Street,
London, W. 1.
Cheques should be made out to Ypres British Settlement."
The above will be broadcast on Sunday, April 5th, at 8.45 p.m., by Field-Marshal
Viscount Plumer.
