WILLING TO DIE
MR. SEMPLE AND THE EMPIRE
The reply of the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) to the welcome given him at a social at Waimate was mainly an appeal to cherish British democracy and its traditions (states the Christchurch "Star-Sun"). The address was enthusiastically received by an audience of one hundred. Mr. Semple thanked those present for their welcome, which wes described by the chairman (Mr. G. Dash) as nonpolitical, and said that public > men needed the good will of their fellowcreatures as an inspiration.
■ It would be out of place for him to speak of party politics, Mr. Semple said. He would only say that his party believed they were doing the right thing and travelling the right road. The world was- passing through troubled times and a period of terrifying expansions, which might bring about a national or international calamity. The British Empire, however, was the safety zone of the world.
"We must do what we can to perpetuate the form of government we have had for so long," he said. "I am not a militarist, but I would forfeit my own life to protect our Empire from any form of invasion that' threatened to take away our democratic form of government. I would do it as readily as drink a cup of tea.
"There are probably weak links in the chain of Empire. Reforms are needed here and there. Our. job is to strengthen the weak links until the British Empire can defy any form of dictatorship outside its own lines. "I know I have been accused of being a tough kind of gentleman and a hard taskmaster. I don't think I am," he continued. "What I want is service. The basis of the right to claim citizenship of a civilised society should be service. Those who are able-bodied and refuse must step on it or go out. And I have no time for the fellow at: the top who wants to gamble, with his fellows' food and shelter. That kind of person will soon be as extinct as the moa. We are remembering our responsibility towards posterity."
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 48, 26 February 1937, Page 8
Word Count
356WILLING TO DIE Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 48, 26 February 1937, Page 8
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