The Star. TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1919. EMPIRE DAY AND THE KING'S BIRTHDAY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 3 June 1919, Page 4

The Star.

TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1919. EMPIRE DAY AND THE KING'S BIRTHDAY.

sel!7»red every evening by 6 o'clock In Hawera, Maoa's, Norman by, Ok&lawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, Eaponga, Awatunu, Opuraks, Otakebo, Manutaul, Alton, Hurley* viiie, Patea. Waverley.

It is rather a happy coincidence that Empire Day and the King's Birthday should come so close together in the calendar, for one may say that all that true British people understand of the meaning .of the day on which we think of the unity of the Empire finds expression in the person of His Majesty. "With developing and expanding the great a,nd ever-increasing British Empire kings have not in the past two or three hundred years had much aGtive part, but in centuries that have gone Britain, or more accurately England, has had as rulers men of a far different type from the present King. In the Middle Ages the kings of England were in the main autocratic; they surrounded themselves with their subjects of noble blood, and extended to the masses no opportunity for progiv?;-'. in any r!e»;ro<\ Yet. ever since Magna Cliarta the British people have advanced towards democratic liberty,

until it is generally considered by the other nations that with the British justice and freedom stand higher than with any other section of the human family. > But the nation's progress in gaining liberty and justice for the individual has not been achieved by violent revolutions and civil wars so much as by reasonable evolution along lines of a "give and take" policy, lv a lengthy period of history it would indeed be remarkable had the British people not fallen occasionally under the power of autocratic masters, but the day when one man or a small group of men can oppress the bulk of the people has gone for ever. The Empire has during the last few years proved how effective is its unity within itself, and the unanimity of the several parts in their determination to stand together to defend their separate countries and the Empire as a whole testified better than anything else that an overwhelming majority of the people of the British Empire considered Britain and her laws of freedom and justice were worth defending, even unto death. We may have our malcontents of the type which makes much noise but does little of practical value; we may have those who growl at their Government because of what they regard as failures; we may have a few misguided individuals who regard the workers as lower in the scale of life than they—but the great mass of the***poople are proud to belong to such an Empire and are unwilling to allow any enemy to do it injury. At the same time they are patient with agitators, and tolerate not a little of the abuse and misstatcments of firebrands, but all the time there is going on the steady building up and adj vancement of the nation as a whole. The great bulk of the people quietly study the trend of events and the actions of the men whom they send to Parliament, and slowly maybe ; but none the less surely, they mark down this or that leader as a friend or an enemy of the Empire. The British | Empire is a collection of States looking towards one central point, yet many of the parts have power to manage their own affairs independently. Furi ther measures of independence are being considered, but, though there is a strong desire in such a country as India for separate government, there is Ino general wish by the Dominions to break away from the Empire. In fact the desire for a continuance of the great nation -is firmer than ever, and never was a King, who is the symbol [of unity, more highly respected by his ! subjects than George ,V., whose birthday the nation celebrates to-day. For him this is the first birthday since 1914 that can be kept without thoughts of the awful daily sacrifice of war. No man worked harder ■, during the terrible four years than the King, and his personal sympathy and regard for his people have made him the most popular ruler in the world. The last few years have seen the downfall of the autocratic rulers of Europe, but the demonstrations at Buckingham Palace and in the streets of London on the day the armistice was signed spoke of the devotion of our nation to its ruler. And we believe that that love will not be permitted to grow dim, for the masses feel that in King George they have a thorough democrat, a man who is willing and ready to help and uplift his people. What an enormous trial the e\var must have proved to him; what tremendous tasks await solution in the future. Little can his subjects know of the responsibility which the King as ruler of this great Empire carries, and ©n this his birthday his people cann«t do better than determine that they will do their tiny part in advancing their Empire and maintaining those principles which have made the nation great and honored by the whole world.