The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 1924. THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE NATION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 28 June 1924, Page 4

The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 1924. THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE NATION.

Delivered every evening by 6 o’clock in Hawera, Manila, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatcki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeho Manutahi, Alton, Rurleyville, Patea, Wt, verity, Mokoia, Whairasiura, Ohangai, Meremere. Fraaer Hoad, and Aravata.

The steady advance in civilisation should encourage the individual to pay great attention to citizenship, for a bad citizen is a hindrance to progress and weakens the State. British people have had a wonderful heritage handed down, to them, a heritage won by men of character and principle, and upon the present generation rests the responsibility of keeping that heritage unblemished and passing it on tn the people of the future. National responsibility is, when analysed, individual responsibility, for a nation consists of units, and if the- majority of these fail to- carry out their duty the nation must suffer. Tn recent years the world has had painful evidence of

the failure ol‘ mob idle and of the serious dangers of wild assertion and appeals to the crowd. Hr. Herbert Hoover, who did such great service for humanity, and who gained fame throughout the world for his great efforts during the war period as a leading American citizen, has shown how it is to the individual that one must look for the . safety of a nation. “Acts and ideas that lead to progress are born out of the womb of the individual mind,'’ says Mr. Hoover, “not out of the mind of the crowd. The crowd is credulous, it destroys, it consumes, it hates, and it dreams—but it never builds. It is one of the most profound and important of exact psychological truths that man in the mass does not think, but only feels. The mob functions only in the world of emotion. The demagogue ship is the leadership of emotion, not the leadership of intellect and progress. Popular desires are no criteria of the real need; they can be determined only by deliberate consideration, by education, by constructive leadership.” Mr. Hoover’s statements are supported by a British scientist, Dr. Harry Campbell, who said some months ago in an address that “all the great advances in human culture have been made by the gifted few. But for them we might still be living'in ,cave,s and clad in skins. No matter what their original social status, such, by virtue of their gifts, tend to take their place among the upper classes, to which they naturally belong.” These statments, it will be generally admitted, are correct, but unfortunately there are many people who give them no thought. In New Zealand much is being done in the effort' to give children a sound education, but is care being taken by parents and teachers to see that character and education go hand in hand? Of: the two, character is the more important, for education without- character may be a curse instead of a blessing. The greatness and influence of the British nation have been gained by character rather than by education, but if the people desire our national greatness and influence to continue in the years to come, we believe that the character and education of the individual must be regarded as of first importance. Character is developed through habits, and habits are, or should be, controlled by the will. It is therefore necessary in training young people to grow up to' be good citizens to teach them to think and to use their minds to determine how they shall act. Having made a decision, it is next necessary to enforce it by the power of the will, which, with the mind, needs training and discipline. . Many a. man may have the power of making up his mind, but may lack the will to carry out his decision. He may be a man of good education, hut if his will be weak his education may be of little use to him. When one looks- at the Empire and its affairs and realises that the individual should take his part—it may be a. very small part—in those affairs, one finds that individualism hats a very important place. No one should try to live a life of complete isolation and selfish activity, for the individual is a member of the great British family, but it is, nevertheless, necessary that the individual should know how to take his place in that family and contribute towards the welfare of all the members. If he brings into the family circle good character and education he can do much to help the community in which he lives, and he will have the satisfaction which comes from constructive and not destructive activitv.