NATION'S NEEDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 302, 21 December 1937, Page 11

NATION'S NEEDS.

STRENGTH IN CONVICTIONS. ! N'KW ZF. ALAND AND KM PI RK. j The national characteristics of New Zealanders provided the subject of an address delivered to Auckland Kotarians yesterday by Mr. •!. W. Shaw, lecturer at the Auckland Training College. The s]>caker stressed the fact that the Statute of Westminster had created ail ' entirely new position, in consequence of ; which the people of this Dominion must j take the outlook of a nation, not that I of the protected child in an Imperial j family. Flung upon our own resources, we had to realise that New Zealand was relatively a very insignificant part of the | globe both as to territory and popula- | tion. That it was a highly desirable j place in which to live was known to j other nations, and in these times, when • the doctrine that "Might is right" receives substantial acceptance. the quality of our national characteristics ! was of the utmost importance.

N w Zealanders. said Mr. Shaw, had inherited from their British stock fine qualities of energy, enterprise and courage, but he feared that in more recent times the virile spirit of the pioneers had been replaced by complacency and an unwise tolerance regarding matters of vital import to the young nation. Nowadays there was a lack of enthusiasm, of strong convictions and of earnestness, and these should be regained if we were to do justice to the great heritage left by our forefathers.