Evening Post. MONDAY, JULY 12, 1909. EMPIRE BY ADVERTISEMENT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 10, 12 July 1909, Page 6

Evening Post. MONDAY, JULY 12, 1909. EMPIRE BY ADVERTISEMENT.

"Empire Day," wrote the Morning Post in its Empire Day article, "seems to be gaining rapidly in popularity. Established by Canadians less than ten years ago, the anniversary is said to have been observed last year by some fourteen millions of British subjects and j six and a half millions of school children. This year the numbers are expected to be again largely increased." In New Zealand the financial stringency and the declension of the Dreadnought offer into a party issue, which Parliament was just about to decide, combined to deprive the occasion of that special access cf enthusiasm which the public sense of the gravity of the naval competition Would otherwise have provoked. But it is gratifying to learn that in the United Kingdom, "where alone," as the Morning Post says, "on the circie of self-governing States, the day is not yet officially recognised," the patriotic efforts of Lord Meath and his friends are being increasingly rewarded year by year. The present time is certainly well calculated to stir the Imperial pride of the nation, and that in no aggressive or vainglorious sense. The question to which the next few years may give the final answer is not one of extending the bounds of Empire by fresh conquests or new diplomatic devices. It is a question of life or death for the Empire as it stands. The matter is tersely and .strikingly put by Lord Charles Beresford in the message which he issued to the nation through the Morning Post on the day in question. "The life of an Empire depends," ho says, "upon its adequate and organised Imperial defence. If the people continue to ignore this vital fact, the proud boast that the sun never sets on the British Dominions will be relegated to the past, and in the near future there will be no Empire Day to celebrate." The message, which is condensed in a few telling sentences by Lord Charles Beret.ford in the Morning Post, is expanded into almost encyclopaedic proportions by the other great organ of Imperialism in the London press. The Empire Day number of The Times is a genuine triumph of journalistic enterprise. It mns to no less than 72 pages, of which 48 constitute a sort of Imperial supplement. It is hardly necessary to say that there is nothing cheap or common about a work of this kind when it is undertaken in Printinghouse-square. It is giatifying indeed to observe that a part of this wonderful supplement more than pays for itself. One page, for instance, which is covered by a bold headline declaring that "The Trident of Neptune is the Sceptre of the World," then pioceeds to quote Goethe's aphorism, "More wonderful even than the fttany heavens is the sense of responsibility in Man," and follows it up with a sort of Imperial anthology in prose aud vei-sc, Tho fact is, that even the

advertisements have the true Imperial tinge, and we are bound to say are, for the most part, well deserving of study as models in that art which has been declared to be the soul of business. Among the advertisements we notice that "New Zealand, the Wonderland of the World," claims one complete page, and that "Millions of acres yet unoccupied" and "Reduced fares to intending settlers"' constitute respectively the first and the last of the attractions held out by our High Commissioner. Neither, surely, of these inducements is quite candid and just. It is true that the text of the High Commissioner's advertisement makes it clear that "the granting of reduced rate passages is limited to farmers, agricultural labourers, shepherds, and men able to milk cows and manage live stock, who will, if otherwise approved, be eligible, subject to their taking not less than £25 with them;"' and to domestic servants taking with them not less than £2. But with regard to all forms of 'labour but domestic service, the condition of the country surely warranted the withdrawal of these inducements even as long ago as the 24th May. It may, however, be inferred from the reply of the Minister for Labour to the deputation which waited on him a week ago, that the inducements have since been withdrawn. The reference to the "millions of acres yet unoccupied" is still more misleading. "Men of slender means can easily make homes for themselves and their families," the High Commissioner declares, "always provided .they know something of the woi'K they undertake, and are, with their families, willing to Work hard and live frugally for a few years The facilities now given for obtaining land and money at reasonable rates offer great inducements to persons to settle upon the land. The Government . . leases allotments to persons desirous of engaging in farm work at an almost nominal rental. " What impression could this announcement convey to the intending immigrant but that land is to be had as freely for the asking here as it is in Canada, for instance? Not a word is said as to the local demand for land which is already far greater than the Government can supply ; not a word as to the chances of the ballot which may keep the most deserving of applicants waiting years, after the £25, which is supposed to suffice for the interim financing of himself and his family,' has been exhausted. If the official advertisement of our High Commissioner is thus misleading, it is not to be wondered at that there is nothing to correct the impression in the genera.l article on "Emigration" which appears in another part of the paper.