Empire Day.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 8489, 24 May 1904, Page 4

Empire Day.

NORTH SCHOOL. There was a very good muster of school children at the North School this morning. Parents did not attend in any numbers, this probably owing partly to inability and partly to the state of the weather, which was certainly uninviting though not actually wet overhead. The Chairman of the School Committee (Mr B. Mollison) said it was unfortunate that this, Empire Day, of all days should have been so gloomy, but it was one of the characteristics of the British race that they make the best of things as they find them and, instead of lamenting misfortunes, rise superior to all difficulties. He expressed his pleasure at seeing the cadets, of whom there were 35 on parade, in such good order, and read a letter from Mr Lindsay who said that he had intended being present at the function, but thought it inadvisable to come out on such a morning. His message to his pupils on the occasion was "Honor the flag." The ceremony of unfurling tha flag was then performed, the cadets presenting arms. The cadets, under Captain Begg, fired a feu de joie, the children supplying the National Anthem.

Mr Mitchell, addressing the children, said they had been assembled to salute the flag, and asked: What is the significance of the ceremony ? Why do you salute the flag, which is only a bit of bunting—one flag of many hundreds? There were other flags just as beautiful in their own way. The same colors—red, white, and blue—were found in the tricolor of France and the stars and stripes of the United States of America, and in a host of other flags of other nation's, even in the Jack of Russia, patterned upon our own Union Jack. Why then salute this particular flag? It was because it was their own flag, the symbol of the nation's strength and power, and the flag that conveyed to them an assurance of liberty, justice, and security. They knew that whenever that flag was unfurled in authority freedom followed. It was well then that they should salute the flag on Empire Day—a day set apart for a little modest rejoicing over the magnificence of their Empire. There was a special appropriateness in the selection of the 24th May as Empire Day, because it was' the anniversary of the birth of the late Queen, "Victoria the Good, during whose illustrious record reign the Empire had been created. When Victoria came to the throne Britain was but a nation among nations. During her reign "the nation had grown into an Empire as wide as the universe and embracing people in every clime speaking many tongues, and of many colors and creeds. Their histories and geographies would tell them something of the growth and extent of the Empire, but he might remind them that in this reign also New Zealand, the land of their birth and the land of his birth, because a British possession, and the dominions of the Crown had been added to in Africa and in Asia, in Europe and in the islands that dot the broad seas of the world. It was well, then, that they should commemorate the anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth and at the same tim& evince a pride in their nation. Honor, then, the flag—the flag that carries a. message of freedom to the slave, of justice to the oppressed, and of security to all who seek the shelter of its protecting authority. But they should do more than honor the flag on one day- in-the-year. They should strive to maintain its honor _by living upright and honorable . lives, and by so doing endeavor to add lustre to its fame. He concluded by. calling for three cheers for the flag of freedom, justice, liberty, and security. The school children then sang "Son's of the Sea," with the greatest zest and,; having given three cheers for their absent _ headmaster, were dismissed by the chairman, who admonished them to go and enjoy themselves for the rest of the day, despite the weather.