WHY SHOULD WE NOT SING?

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue 12997, 9 November 1916, Page 7

WHY SHOULD WE NOT SING?

LONDON, August 24.. Mr Lloyd George, in a, stirring speech at the Welshr"National j Eisteddfod -atAberystwyth, severely - criticised a .letter objecting to the Eisteddfod, signed "Welshman," and ..published -in the "Times." He said: ■

To this egregjous-. .Welshman the competing bards are so many racehorses ■ started around-the course by Mr L. ,D. Jones, the - chairing <lay ■ being, I suppose,, the Bardic Oaks. >;y Sir Vincent Evans would be the Grand ' Bookmaker who arranges the stakes and,'of course, we .all. have' something on one or other of ; the . starters. '

"Hush, no music—there is a war on." • Why should we not sing during the war?" Why, especially, should we not sing at this stage of the war? . ..' The blinds of Britain are not dowta yet, nor are they likely to be.—(Loud cheers.) The honour* of Great Britain is not dead. Her might is not broken,, her destiny ' is not fulfilled, her ideals are not shattered : by her enemies. She-is more than: alive,. she is more potent, she is greater than she * ever was. Her dominions- are wider, her v influence is deeper, her purpose is more. * exalted than ever.—(Cheers.) Whv should her children not sing? I know "war means Buffering, war means sorrow, darkness lias fallen on many .a devoted household. . But it has been ordained that the best singer among , the - birds of Britain should give its song in die night, and according to legend-that . : sweet song is a triumph, over pain. There are no -nightingales this side of Severn. Providence rarely wastes its gifts. W« ..- do not need this exquisite songster in Wales. We can provide better. There is a- bird in our villages which , can beat the best of t-Hem. He is called': Y Cymro. He sings in joy, he sings ■ also in sorrow. He' sings in prosperity 1 , he sings also in adversity. He sings at play,, he -sings at work. He sings in the sunshine, he sings'in the storm. He sings in peace; why should-he not sing' in war' He sings in."ihe daytime, he sings also in ,the night. Hundreds of ■ wars have swept over "these hills, but the haip of Wales .has.'never yet been : silenced by one of tlieni." and f should' bo proud if I contributed something to keep it in tune during the war bv the. holding of this Eisteddfod to-day.— (Cheers.) ." ! * V Our soldiers sing the-"songs of Wales in the trenches' and they hold their little ' Eisteddfods behind the "trenches. Hern is a telegram which 'has been received from them : >'. - ? ■

"Greetings and ;Best " wishes for success to the Eisteddfod—From,'Welshmen in ths Field. Next Eisteddfod.'"we shall bo with vou. —(Cheers.)" >• „» Please God they will.—{Renewed cheers.) They don't ask us to -stop singing.— (Cheers.) There is: not one of them who would not be sorry if Ave gave up our National Eisteddfod during the war. They (vant to feel that while they are upholding the honour of Wales on the battlefields of Europe,* Asia and Africa, "we are doing our best to keep alive alluthe institutions, educational, literary, musical, religious, which have made Wales 1 what it is to them.—(Cheers.) , They want the fires on 5 every national altar kept burning so. .. that they shall be all right when .they return with laurels of victory from thei stricken fields of this mighty war. That is why I am in favour of holding this festival pf Welsh literature and of song even in the middle of Armageddon. But I have another and even more urgent reason why this? Eisteddfod should be kept alive during the war. When this terrible conflict is over-a wave of materialism will sweep - over the land. Nothing will count but machinery and output. I am all for output, and I have done my best to improve ■ machinery and increase output. There is nothing more fatal to a people than that it should narrow its vision ,to the material needs of the hour.

National ideals without imagination are but the thistles of the wilderness, fit neither for food nor fuel. A nation that depends upon them must perish. We shall need at the end of the-war better workshops, but we shall also need, more than ever, every institution that will exalt the vision of the people, above and beyond the workshop and the counting house. We shall need every national tradition that will remind them that: we-cannot live on bread alone.

The storm is raging as fiercely as ever, but now there is a shimmer of sunshine aver the waves, there is a rainbow on the tumult of the .surging waters. The struggle is more terrible than it has eyer been, but the legions of the oppressor ire being driven back and the banner of right is pressing forward.—(Cheers.) \V~hy should we nothing.? It is true there are thousands of gallant men falling in :the fight, but let us sing to their heroism.—(Cheers.) There are myriads more, behind ready to support thr.m when their turn comes. Let us =ing to the land that gave birth to so many heroes.—(Cheers^) I am glad that I came down from the cares and labour of the War Office of the British Empire to listen.," and' to join with you in singing;'the bid son's which our brave countryman on battlefields are singing as a defiance to the enemies of human right.—(Loud cheers.)