Evening Post. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1917. TO-DAYfS CELEBRATION

Evening Post, Volume xciv, Issue 73, 24 September 1917, Page 6

Evening Post. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1917. TO-DAYfS CELEBRATION

The tenth- anniversary of the.. graduation of New Zealand from a Colony into. a Dominion is being celebrated-to^ay at least as languidly as any of its predeicessois. The transformation amounted i*y so very little more than a change of.' name that even at tha time-it.caused no - excitement or. exultation, And unless.some, evfint. of greater sobstance can. be -associated with future celebrations of theanniversary some reformer will surely discover that the day is the- most-mean-ingless of holidays, and his-enqufry why it cumbers the calendar ma-y be hard toanswer. In the case of the larger' Dominions the position is ve"ry diffeoient. They have all a birthday to commemorate which is of such obvious historical importance as to make some appeal evento the most matter-of-fact imagination. The celebration this year of the jubilee of Canadian confederation has reminded us all-of the greatness of the event which is celebrated by Canada's Dominion. Day. The British North America of 1867 united French Canada with Upper or British Canada as provinces in a union which, in the course of a few years, reached northwards to the Arctic Ocean and westwards to the Pacific. Nationbuilding on that scale is not a thing that happens every day. Canada's Dominion Day marks an event, of profound importance, not merely for Canadalftrself, but for the British Empire and the whole world. We caa appreciuLe ■U*at fact laoxa clearly, ta-day w■, we

watch I: 3 tremendous political 1 and racial struggle which is subjecting the great structure so admirably designed .Sty years ago to the most dangerous Strain that' it has yet had to face. The foundation of the federal system •under which the previously divided colonies of Australia began the new century, and the consummation of the Union of South Africa within ten years after her racial feuds had cost the Empire nearly three years of war, were events of very little inferior importance to the Confederation of Canada. But while the big Dominions thus have anniversaries of the highest Imperial significance to celebrate, New Zealand's Dominion Day is without importance even in her own eyes. The change of her title from Colony to Dominion really added nothing to her power or, dignity. The name "colony" had nev«r become as offensive here as it had to the national pride of Canada and -Australia. The contrast was well illustrated during Mr. Massey's visit to the Mother Country by his remark that he , saw no objection to the use of the term " colonial," while almost simultaneously its. application to the self-governing ■Dominions was strongly repudiated by a .faithful exponent. of Australian sentiment.. Thus, even from the sentimental point of view, the change which is celebrated to-day amounted to very little. If nobody resented it, nobody could pretend to find in it a.fit subject for enthusiastic approval. The analogy of the other Dominions to which we have referred shows that the event which should be the subject, or part of the subject, of to-day's celebrations is- one which took place more than a generation ago. New Zealand suffered in her early days from the peril of divided, overlapping, and conflicting jurisdictions with, which the great Dominions by their schemes of federation or pnion have more or less successfully grappled. Nor were the dissensions and the friction, arising in New Zealand from this source rendered any less acute or mischievous by the smallness of' the scale. Mercifully protected from the terrible problem of the racial antagonisms which have played, and are still playing, so conspicuous a part in the politics of Canada and South Africa, (New Zealand nevertheless illustrated in her. early, troubles most of the difficulties from which the larger Dominions ha,v« sought relief in closer union. What Sir Wilfrid Laurier has called " the pitfall of concurrent jurisdictions" presented a serious obstacle to the rapid andl harmonious development of the infant colony ■■of New Zealand. But as the obstacle was removed before a vicious system had magnified and inflamed differences to dangerous or dramatic proportions, and as the removal was effected more than forty years ago, the change to a unitary system is a thing which is no better calculated to arouse the enthusiasm of the present generation than the change of name from Colony to Dominion. The 12th* October—which is the anniversary of the. passing of the Abolition of Provinces Act in 1875, or Ist November, which marks its coming into full operation in the following year—would therefore be just as ill adapted for a national celebration as the mere verbal ■change which failed to fire the popular imagination ten years ago and leaves it absolutely cold to-day. It is, however, worth the Government's while—or it will be worth its while when the pressure of war problems has relaxed—to consider whether these and other important events in the history of New Zealand cannot be brought into touch with to-day's celebrations in such a way ■as to give some real colour and substance to the anniversary and endow it with a genuine sentimental and educative value. Thai so young a country as purs has necessarily a short history, and. that, luckily on the whole for us, that history has not abounded in spectacular incidents, are really reasons for- making the most of what we hayS got. The inauguration of the Historical section of the National Museum, which we owe to the initiative of the present Minister of Internal' Affairs, was a. welcome step in wise historical patriotism. The same historical sense, under the guidance of thesame Department, might re-dedicate Dominion Day to a genuine celebration of the famous men and the great events that have made us proud of our country. ■ . . ■