"OUR SPIRITUAL HOME"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21328, 1 November 1932, Page 8

"OUR SPIRITUAL HOME"

It is a happy coincidence that on the heels of a controversy about the use of "Homo" by New Zcnlanders as a term for the British Isles, there should come from London (he summary of a speech made by Mr. Downio Stewart, a speech in which lie says directly and uncompromisingly that New Zealanders regard Great Britain as their spiritual home. Mr. Stewart could not speak for all New Zealanders. Nobody could do that. No matter what opinion was passed, on no matter what subject, there must bo dissent. Some would disagree from sincere conviction, based on an unusual point of view, some from sheer perversity, the desire to be different. But at least it can be suggested reasonably that in his eloquent tribute to Britain's greatness, in his description of the reverence and filial regard with which eyes are turned to the centre of a great Empire. Mr. Downio Stewart strikes a note which will be re-echoed by the great majority of his fellow Now Zealanders. He is fitted to put into words what many feel without having the faculty of expressing it. He strikes a just and fitting balance between material things and those which are not material, in setting forth the reasons why there must be a bond like that between parent and child, uniting a Dominion like New Zealand to the country which by almost unconscious impulse created the Empire. On the material side this country has had many occasions to thank

» | Great Britain for actions and ges- S | tares of spontaneous generosity. The | Budget, recently presented, recorded i one. To express it in larger terms. | New Zealand ha 3 grown safely in the j. protecting shadow of British might, I in prosperity because of the door I always widely open to her trade. j t On the non-material side, almost all | t there is in this land of character, t , ... , ■ culture. and o£ spiritual worth j J derives directly from British begin- i | ninga, is a scion from a British stock. I ■ These are reasons why any discern- | | ing New Zealander must recognise I | the spiritual home to which Mr. j f Downie Stewart, himself of this | 1 country by birth, upbringing, and j ! education. paid such eloquent ! ! tribute.