Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 1931. NEW YEAR MESSAGES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 27, 2 January 1931, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 1931. NEW YEAR MESSAGES.

The call for equality of sacrifice is the tenor of the New Year messages. Most striking indeed was tne sermon preached by the Archbishop of Canterbury who, fully sensing the ordeal which is facing the Mother Country, urges upon every section of the community the need for sacrifice. The burden is not alone one for industry,' agriculture, or the trade unions; each must play its part for the common weal. That is the message in the sermon which the Archbishop has delivered in Canterbury Cathedral. Every line breathes a thought for the future welfare of the Motherland, therefore, of the Empire. But the road to be trodden is difficult, and the Archbishop, though he finds it hard to say so, thinks there may have to be “some temporary sacrifice of the standard of life deservedly won on a basis of the past when production and sales were assured.” The question arises: Do not the means—future prosperity—justify such a sacrificed Dnless the public are prepared to recognise it is essential, then the awaited recovery is being retarded. A note of optimism is sounded by Hon. _E. A. Ransom, acting Prime Minister, in his New Year message to the people of New Zealand. The past year, he points out, has been highly satisfactory from the standpoint of production, and he shares the opinion of many others that rock bottom has been reached in the prices of our primary products. That does not mean, however, that thrift and industry are to be laid aside. At no time were both more essential in our national life than to-day, and the practice of both, combined with the “unselfish cooperation and equality of sacrifice” of which Mr Ransom speaks, will make us the more ready to appreciate the arrival of the day when confidence will be restored in the markets in which we sell our products of the soil. In pressing the need of thrift and industry upon the community, Mr Ransom recalls the New Year message of 1930 issued by the late Sir Joseph Ward, in which the deceased statesman “prompted a note of caution to the people against uneconomical expenditure, and an admonition to industry and thrift.” “Time,” says Mr Ransom, “has proved the wisdom of his advice, and in view of the present difficulties facing the community I feel I cannot do better than repeat the advice with added emphasis.” With the latter statement there can be no disagreement, but in making it Mr Ransom lays himself open to the charge that the Government of which he is the acting head has done practically nothing to give the people a lead. All through the year it has continued its construction of uneco-

nomical railways, a huge sum having been spent; had the money been devoted to reproductive purposes such as breaking in areas of land for farming, the country would, in future years, have reaped the benefit, whereas the money spent on railways, work on which has now been suspended, has been more or less wasted. It was not until nearly twelve months had elapsed since Sir Joseph Ward issued his admonition that the Government decided to set up an economy committee to overhaul the Government departments. This announcement was made practically on the eve of Christmas, and was a most belated recognition of an imperative duty. The Leader of the Opposition, Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, discussing the position of the farming community, points out that if all help in the -ask of re-adjustment it will not be long before our country and its people are placed in a most enviable Eosition. There is a high note of ope in the message of Archbishop Averill, and some timely suggestions to overcome the present difficulties. Religion, he points out, is not a luxury but a necessity if individual and national character is to be strengthened—and character, he adds, is always tested in time of difficulty or crisis. His appeal to church people to dp everything to strengthen the force of religion should not fall on barren soil. To respond to it means to add strength to the ties of family life. It is the complaint of the older generation that family life of today is not so well moulded as in their day, but at heart, notwithstanding the manifold pleasures of the twentieth century, the ties of family still bind its members strongly. It is, if anything, that the pleasures of the day have made the younger generation feel less responsible to keeping the Sabbath, and the Archbishop’s appeal should find an echo among them. There will be hope expressed that the next New Year’s message will find days of depression behind and a return to more prosperous times.