FREEDOM MUST BE DESERVED

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 April 1942, Page 4

FREEDOM MUST BE DESERVED

PRIVILEGE AND DUTY “Hold Fast To Liberty’’ No one realises how precious freedom is until it has been lost. Many people have lost their liberty because they have failed to realise that Freedom means duties and responsibilities as well as privileges and benefits. The war for freedom will only be won when that fact is fully realised. We enjoy a large measure of freedom in New Zealand, including the liberty to eat and drink as we please within the bounds of the law. The conditions prescribed by law are those that express the will of the majority of our people through traditional democratic means. Now, a reasonable man accepts those conditions, and while enjoying the benefits secured to him by our way of life, is mindful of the rmhts of his neighbours and of the public generally. Abuse of the liberty to drink as one pleases, as for example by excessive or after-hours drinking on licensed premises, is not only unwise but is an invasion of public rights. Those who seek to indulge themselves in that way are endangering the very freedom they wish to enjoy. Moderation is a virtue at all times, but in wartime it is the foundation of national morale and of the will to victory. “Hold fast to liberty”—but remember that freedom must be deserved. An announcement issued in the Nation’s interests by the National Council of the Licensed Trade of New Zealand.