"THIS DAY WILL PASS."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 302, 21 December 1932, Page 6

"THIS DAY WILL PASS."

In every age there Lave been found people who would be willing to set fire to their neighbour's house in order to roast their own meat. But,'as we come to the end of a year of difficulty, it is well to record the fine spirit that has drawn our people together when the press of circumstance has been felt by all sections of the community. From the very nature of our profession, legal practitioners have exceptional opportunities for observing the reaction of citizens of all classes to the trying times through which the Dominion has been passing. A time of economic readjustment serves as a crucible in which everyone is tested, and the year now drawing to a conclusion has disclosed a wide range of interests in which we can all strive together for the common good. In this, wo of the law have both our part and our opportunity. "It is a great thing to be a lawyer in days when material possessions dwindle and interior resources rise in value," said a leading member of the American Bar Association recently. "I doubt if any body of men have opportunities for service greater than ours." It is no easy matter to preserve patience and balance in times of stress, or amid untoward circumstances to maintain the even tenor of professional and other tasks with dignity and serenity. But if the prevailing depression has taught us the lesson of mutual forbearance; if it has shown that widely different political and economic opinions may bo held with complete honesty and good faith; if it has demonstrated that we can stand together to resist what troubles may menace us, then the difficulties of our times are not altogether evil. ' During the height of the horrors of the Reign of Terror of the time of the French Revolution, Queen Marie Antoinette was in prison, and the day of her execution had dawned. Calmly she safd to her attendant: "Even this day will*pass." So, too, the day of our present, and lesser, difficulties will pass. The speeding of the coming of a brighter to-morrow cannot, however, be left to be the burden of a pious hope, or to the unsupported efforts of those who guide our country's destinies. The spirit of confidence that brought our pioneers to the ends of the earth to commence lives afresh under wholly novel conditions; the spirit of courageous endurance and unqueTichable hope with which our people faced the trying years of the World War; the patient reserve of civic and social strength that carried our citizens through the influenza epidemic, and, more recently, through earthquake disasters—these virtues, we feel, are still characteristic of New Zealandcrs generally. Consequently, we look forward to the New Year with renewed hope. We feel certain that with the co-operation of all, the practical qualities which make for the highest citizenship soon will bring us to better times. All that we need is. a recognition that the re-establishment of the prosperity and happiness of our people does' not depend on the city alone, or on the rural community alone, on employer or on worker, but on the long pull, and the strong pull, and the pull all together of every section of the community. With this united effort, "even this day will pass," and the duration of the term oS its passing will be in inverse proportion to the exertion of all our citizens for the common good, each in his appointed sphere of endeavour, until the shadows fade away, and a new day dawns, and our goal is won. —"NEW ZEALAND LAW JOURNAL."