TIES THAT BIND US

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 5, 7 January 1930, Page 8

TIES THAT BIND US

SPEECH BY GOVEKNOR

LOYALTY, LOVE, &. DEVOTION

(By Telegraph.)

(Special to "The Evening Post.")

AUCKLAND, Thia Day.

Visions of New Zealand as he and Lady Alice Fergusson - had striven to help make it were spoken of by the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, when responding to the presentation of tho Auckland citizens' address at tho Town Hall. '

"What is the function of the Gov-ernor-General and of the wife who inspires him?" the Governor-General asked in his speech. "I take it that, put in broad and general language, his function is, if possible, to strengthen the ties which bind .the Dominion to the Mother Country and Empire. (Applause.) I suppose that these ties consist, in the first place, of the sense of pride of race, the sense of common interest in a common heritage, the history and traditions' of our country, and the mutual love, understanding, and sympathy which _ must surely exist among people springing from the same stock. That primarily is the tie which binds us, but surely more than that, and in these days of more importance there is the tie of loyalty, of love and devotion which unites, the Crown and the people. (Applauso.) '' In considering how we should fulfil what we took to be our" duty' in trying to strengthen those ties, we dreamed dreams and we saw visions. The first vision was of a country where children are trained and grow up to realise the characteristics and virtues by which their: forefathers built up this country for them, characteristics of grit and endurance, courage and determination, and selfsacrifice—a country where children should grow up to realise that only by duty and service in love for their fellow-men can true happiness for themselves be found, or prosperity and contentment for a people—a . country where children should understand that a firm religious faith/is the only true foundation on which a life can be lived or by which a nation can achieve greatness. (Applause.) THE BEST INFLUENCE. "Another vision was of a country where parents realise that there is nothing in the world that can take the place of early home training and home influence, that it is in the early days in the home that the child's character is formed, that it is the influence of the home and Teeollection of the early days at home which will keep their ' children straight throughout their lives. Therefore parents should recognise that the responsibility of the destiny of their children and the destiny of the nation lies upon them, and the way in which they realise that responsibility. V "Another vision was of a country where the people of the community, irrespective of class or creed or political faith, should mix freely together, and so by knowledge and understanding of each other there should be evolved that love and sympathy and helpful co-operation which will drive out all' bitterness, rancour, jealousy, and suspicion, those things which poison the life of a community. "Again, there was a vision of a country in which, to borrow a phrase recently used at Home, the statesmen and people should be more concerned with the quality of their loyalty to the Empire as a whole than with questions of the equality of their status with the Mo.ther Country and their sister Dominions; and lastly, a vision of the New Zealand of the future —a country where the people are determined to be true to the ; traditions of their forefathers, to accept and be proud of the glory of the heritage handed down to them, but, at the same time, realise the responsibility such _ a heritage entails; a people who will spare no sacrifice in carrying out the duty laid upon them of transmitting that wonderful heritage to their children, and their children's children, embellished and undefined, a New Zealand which shall be at peace, men recognising that only by co-operation and love and sympathy can they be a happy and contented people; a New Zealand which shall pride itself on keeping alive traditions of love, loyalty, and devotion to wha^has been handed down to them, that wonderful Empire typified by His Majesty the King as its head. (Applause.) "These were some of the ideals and visions which we had, I think, before MB, and toward which our activities were directed. They may be unpractical and idealistic, but if anything we have said or done has contributed in any way to the realisation of those ideals then perhaps our time here has not been altogether wasted."