THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1931. EMPIRE DAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20880, 23 May 1931, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1931. EMPIRE DAY.

To make much of Empire Day is a duty to be gladly performed by every British citizen. What should be done by way of public celebration is a matter on which there is room for diversity of opinion, but that there should be some distinction given to the day scarcely admits of argument, and its prompting to glad and hopeful thought can be obeyed whatever form of public recognition be given. For the Empire, although it is not the habit of British folk to wear their hearts upon their sleeves, is deeply dear to them, and what it means, for others as well as those of their own race, is rightly a subject of honest pride. Its record is not wholly faultless nor is it perfect as it stands to-day—after their man ner, British folk are the first and fiercest in calling attention to that when some Government or other within its bounds does anythinig inviting criticism—but it is surely entitled to credit for its part in modern history and its influence today. There are some who gird at the word " Empire." They lose no opportunity of uttering instead the sounding mouthful, " British Commonwealth of Nations," and explain their preference by citation of the domineering uses the shorter term had in the bad old days before this Empire was born—as if language were static and every word must mean the same from age to age. To be consistent, they must eschew the term " Colony," as applied anywhere now in the world, because it originally meant a military out--1 post planted amid an alien people to enforce awe and tribute, and i " Dominion," because it has the root sense of overlordship. That i they are not usually so etymologici ally scrupulous gives a hint that : they are out of step with loyal I lovers of their land and are at heart lawless, unless their objection to " Empire" be no more than a piece of pedantic affectation. There need be not an atom of vainglory in speaking of the British Empire. Bather may such speech be rightly charged with a sense of responsibility to help in making this vast and powerful national unit a power for good in the world. It is a national unit, and its power for good resides in its unity. Does anyone imagine that to split the Empire into fragments would leave its scattered elements with an aggregate of influence equal to that now exerted by the undivided whole? This is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. In the course of his allBritish tour in 1928, Mr. Amery said i of the Old Land, " We in England | never regard the Empire as some- ! thing outside England, but as something to add to the greatness of our existence, to enlarge our horizon, and to help us to get a better perspective of our own life." That expresses the truth that the vitality of any organism is present and potent in every part of it. The outmost leaf has in it the life of the tree, so long as it be not severed from the root drawing sustenance from the earth, and in turn, breathing in the remoter air, it contributes to the health of the life it shares. To cherish the unity that imparts strength was never so demanded by current circumstances. Those who , hold lightly the ties of law and language, of ideals and sentiment, appreciate too little the fact that when a British opinion is given voice in any council of the nations it gets its impressiveness from the remembrance by others of the world-wide community in whose name the opinion is uttered. The unity lost, there would be an end to this service to the world It was in South Africa, that Mr. Amery's " wo in England" i was spoken, and there he pressed 1 home a plea that South Africans j. should think and talk of the Km- ,' pire as their Empire, not Britain's. | So with us in New Zealand ; the Em-! pire is ours, its prestige enriching and dignifying our existence, and , our influence, for all it can mean, ( reinforcing the universal service ( rendered by the Homeland. In the thought of all subjects ofj i the realm there is a rightful place j 1 for honest pride in the growth of I the Empire. There is little hope of j any serviceable international : out- j look in these expanding days with- i out that widely national sense. It would be a poor and illogical beginning of thought about the world's : affairs to start as " little New Zea- i landers." That would be sheer i parochialism, cramping and blinding. But to esteem ourselves sharers i of a far-stretching domain is to be already on the way to the larger brotherhood in which all men are held entitled to a place. Signific ant is it that one who proudly re- - called his citizenship " of no mean city" gave epochal service to an evangel for Jew and Gentile, Greek and barbarian. It is as significant that the one people doing

most in the world to-day for international peace, promoting mutual understanding and supplying again and again a mediation necessary to quell others' quarrels, is this people to which we belong, with its wide domain and multiplying domestic tasks. That is the answer to those who decry talk of the Empire and would lightly let go all observance of Empire Day. Their pose of superiority is in reality a confession of limited sympathies, whatever the large-rnindedness they affect. Fortunately, they are not numerous in this characteristically British country. Tho rest will continue gratefully to muse on what the Empire has been privileged to do and will encourage each other's resolution to do all possible to keep the flag flying, for the advantage of every nation under the arching sky.