THOUGHTS OF LEADERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21360, 13 June 1931, Page 18

THOUGHTS OF LEADERS

MR BALDWIN ON “OUR OWN ' STOCK " BRITISH CHARACTER. (Fbom Oub Own Cobbespondent.) LONDON, May 7. Mr Stanley Baldwin, grand master, at a Primrose League demonstration at the Albert Hall:— In the words that were used at the time of the foundation of the Primrose League, we have achieved “ the unity of the British Empire under our Sovereign Lord the King.” In no way, in their years of manhood, could the dominions continue to be governed by , a ! Parliament in the election of which they had had no share. But the Crown is different. “The Crown is no,party , j machine, and the Crown of Engalnd is the Crown under which the ancestors of every man of our stock-in every dominion serves gladly and loyally.” “The maintenance of the Empire”—that is the short phrase that is used in the . declaration of the Primrose League, and * it is bn that, the crown of the work of , Lord Balfour, the crown of the work of Mr Disraeli, that I would speak. I am an Englishman who believes that hie first duty is to his own people—to our own stock;' I have always noticed throughout my life that the best : citizens are those who do their duty in their own homes, and I think the best citizens to the world and in their world . relationships are those who fulfil- their 1 duties beet to their own country. No nation of MrsjJellabys will ever prosper. It will be a source of weakness to itself, and a nuisance to the rest of the world. I believe also that our greatest asset is the British character. I believe that that can be our greatest contribution to the health and well-being of the whole world, and that it is our duty to make an environment at Home and in our Empire in which that character may de- | velop itself to the greatest advantage. 1 Our British character will flourish less well in an - Empire in which are *the , seeds of dissolution than in ’an Empire I that is growing and united. Surely in the world to-day, in the unsettlement, in the chaos, chaos all through that once great Chinese Empire, in Russia, where a blind struggle is,going on behind the dark curtain, and all that emerges into the light <sf day is some ' fresh dumped export from some unexpected source, and the reverberation of the shots of the firing party; in Europe, restless, 111 at ease, suffering from a strange malaise, it is more than ever needful that we should preserve that , quarter of the world for which the men of our blood are responsible, in peace and health and well-being. “SENSE OF ADVENTURE.” Sir Edward Grigg, before the Public Schools Careers Association: I believe that the organisation which has been sending out these public school parties to > of_ the Empire is doing work that is invaluable at the present time.\ Anybody who can speak from first-hand knowledge of any part of the Empire, and will take the trouble to do so, renders a very great service indeed. There are two: things immensely necessary at the present time. The first is to rekindle the sense of adventure in the English race. People in this country to-day do not realise how it has died away since the war. The war was so great a nervous strain that a reaction after it was inevitable. Unless this generation recovers that sense of adventure they will not be the equals of their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers. It was those three generations who made the Empire as we know it to-day. If the sense of adventure in the English character deserts us we are lost indeed, because this work of pioneering and development must go on. The Empire cannot stand 'still. Reinforcement is required from the heart of. the Empire, and particularly in the East .African dependencies. The opportunity }or young men is magnificent in that ' country. I believe when the present temporary economic setback is over we will see this great development continued with the full driving power behind it of the character and spirit of achievement of the English race. The public school tours touch the imagination of the boys and “ caught them young.” It also gives them a sympathetic understanding of the problems which face those whose duty it is to govern and carry op Empire. People hero do not realise’the immense part Britain plays as the “ nerve centre ” of the Empire. If they did they would not exhibit the indifference and even hostility they sometimes show . to .those who are trying to do their duty oversea. If the 'moral is wrong here, it affects the whole of the Empire and even the world. I hope that these tours will help' not only to touch the imagination of the young, but that they will also help to promote understanding and sympathy and support at Home for development oversea and will keep England, from the Imperial point of view, as the heart of the Empire, sound and strong. POWER OF THE PRESS. ' Lord Moynihan, the eminent surgeon, at the annual dinner of the Newspaper Society, maintained that the authority of the press had progressively increased, while that of the politician had gradually undergone attenuation and atrophy. I think such a change may well have been expected, when we saw, by slow degrees,, an inaidous change coming over the character - of those elected members of the House of Commons. Instead of men being elected for their own personal worth to represent the national interest, we find men are sent to represent secular, isolated interests, and to put those views forward even at the national expense. • The great newspapers, which represent a chorus of highly instructed opinion, under efficient leadership, have obtained an authority in the country which could not possibly be possessed hy anv political leader to-day. • • I appeal to newspaper men to use their influence to see that there is in the press a rigid observance of the purity of the English language. DEAN INGE ON HEAVEN. Dean Inge, preaching at All Sains’/ Ennismore Gardens: , • I don’t think that we have any right to asume that all will at last go to heaven. We have met many people who would be much out of place there at any time. But that God is. a torturer is a thing that we cannot believe any longer. Our Lord never meant the fire to be taken literally.