CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 1, 1 January 1921, Page 5

CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON.

NEED FOR INDUSTRY AND GRIT

PREMIER"? NEW YTLAR MESSAGE.

The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. TV. F. Massey, has issued the following New Year message:—

During the pa?t year the Dominion has experienced many difficulties, but at the same time we have had much to be thankful for. The country as a whole has been prosperous and is prosperous to-day. Nevertheless, there are clouds on the horizon and indications of a change which, if it comes, may be fraught with harmful consequences to the community. Yet, it will be our fault if serious hardship or inconvenience befall us. United, we faced the difficulties of the war period with grim determination, and triumphed. So it will be again in this new year if we display the same spirit in dealing with the less serious troubles that loom ahead. 1 do not, however, underestimate their dangers, whether financially, commercially, Q* industrially.

At the present time the uancial position demands the most careful handling. and every possible means should be used so that trade depression may be avoided. If we need to borrow, the money we require should, if possible, he raised in our own country, and the financial stability of the Dominion thereby maintained. '•INDUSTRY AND GRIT."" Energy and determination are the national qualities which the immediate future demands, and if these are forthcoming the clouds will pass harmlessly away. If, on the other band, we allow ourselves to be split up into sections, each antagonistic and jealous of the other we run the risk of disaster. A house divided against itself cannot stand: a community divided against itself cannot prosper. Industry and grit built up this country and raised it to its present proud position in the Empire.

If we abandon the well-tried methods and principles which have stood to our race in the days gone past and give heed to the communistic or Bolshevik doctrines which arc to-day being preached in different countries of the world, not even excluding our own, we shall deserve to reap the fruits of unwisdom.

T am confident, however, that the good sense of our citizens will prevail, but I do earnestly ask that all rightthinking New Zealanders will use their good sense and judgment now and not permit those who. in the hour of tlie country's need, declined to do their fair share, to become a power for evil in the community. The past, glorious as it was in many respects, is gone: the present is with us. and the future depends on the use which we make of the present.

Much has been done in the way of development since Europeans first became established in New Zealand, but there is much more to be done than has yet been attempted. The pioneers brought with them courage, independence, and self-reliance—qualities which deserve to be fostered, and which are necessary to the building up of a strong nation, such as its well-wishers desire New Zealand to become. -STEW ZEALAND'S ADVANTAGES. We in New Zealand have opportunities seldom vouchsafed to the people, even of any British country. Our climate is the healthiest in the world, and probably the most pleasant. The producing capacity of the Dominion is unequalled: our people are. with few exceptions, industrious and energetic. loyal and patriotic. New Zcalanders are probably the purest Anglo-Saxon population in the British Empire. Nature intended New Zealand to be a white man's country, and it must be kept as such. A strain of the Polynesian will be no detriment. The Dominion is able to carry many times its present population; there is nothing in the way of nationhood to which she may not aspire. it is a matter for extreme gratification that the loyalty of the people of this country to the British Crown is beyond question, and that any attempt to interfere with the integrity of the Empire would receive very little—if auy —support in this Dom'raion. The New Year upon which we are now entering may test in no small measure our courage and tenacity in connection with the industrial and financial life of the community, but with each and everyone pulling his full weight in the national boat all will be well. To my fellow-citizens I most cordially wish happiness and prosperity in 1921. W. F. MASSE Y. Auckland, December 31. 1920.