Greymouth Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1948. Runanga And The Royal Visit

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 October 1948, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1948. Runanga And The Royal Visit

IT is a matter for grave doubt that the * meeting of 21 ratepayers at Runanga on Monday night really expressed the feeling of the majority of the people of the borough. ' If it did—and it is most certainly difficult to believe that it did —then assuredly there exists a grave misconception of the subject matter which the meeting discussed. The Borough Council had recommended that a contribution of £5O —half of the amount sought —be made to the central fund to provide for an appropriate welcome to the Royal Family next year. The grant of £5O, it is worth noting, would have been equal to a contribution of about 6d per head of population. ’ What is of real concern, however, is not the decision to refuse a contribution to the welcome fund —the reasons advanced were certainly far from adequate —but the underlying note of antagonism which characterised the speeches of some, of the ratepayers present at the meeting. It should be said at the outset that the visit that Their Majesties and Princess Margaret are to make to New Zealand next year at the invitation of the Government will not be merely a holiday tour. . It does not require much common sense for the average person to grasp that simple fact. The visit will have a constitutional significance of great importance. It will be an historic occasion in New Zealand history. For Ihe first time the reigning Monarch will visit this country, and, in the course of his duties, will, for instance, open a session of Parliament , not as George VI, “of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the seas, King,” but as the King in New Zealand. The relationship between the Dominion and the Monarchy is direct. In deciding to come to New Zealand Their Majesties have gladly accepted a Royal duty which is freely acknowledged to all the nations to which the King is in equal measure sovereign. New Zealanders will welcome a family whose members typify before all the world the steadfastness, courage and unity of British family life, and in whose persons those same qualities are reflected in the wider life of the British family of nations. The conception of unity is the fundamental idea underlying the whole purpose of the British Monarchy. That is true, not only for the relations between the several peoples of the Empire, but also for that of the groups and sections within each one of them. At a time when insidious, evil influences are at work with the solo object of ■wrecking the unity and weakening the' power of the British Commonwealth of Nations, it is well that these facts should be called to mind. The British Monarchy stands as the central symbol of Commonwealth unity; the Monarchy serves the Commonwealth in the true sense of the word. Its service cannot be measured in terms of mere money. If the Monarchy is attacked, then the Commonwealth is attacked. And if the Commonwealth goes, then there will go with it the priceless heritage of British freedom and justice. The Hammer and Sickle will have replaced the British Flag. It is as well to remember these things, lest we flllow ourselves to become too easy prey for the vultures.