DOMINION DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22068, 26 September 1933, Page 8

DOMINION DAY

EARLY SETTLERS* REUNION ADDRESS BY LORD BLEDISLOE ADMIRATION FOR NEW ZEALAND (Special to Daily Times.) WELLINGTON, September 25. Pride in the courage and determination that the people of New Zealand had shown during the last few difficult years, and confidence in the nation's future welfare were expressed by the GovernorGeneral (Lord Bledisloe), speaking at the Dominion Day reunion of early settlers and the Historical Association of Wellington this afternoon. " It is on this day more than on other days in the year that we look back and look forward." his Excellency said. " There are many countries in the world —I shall not mention them by name—that cannot consciously and confidently look back with entire self-satisfaction to their past history. There need be no qualms in this country, however, in looking over its comparatively short history and feeling not only a pride in the past but also,a buoyant confidence in the future. Twenty-seven years ago this then so-called colony became a Dominion, entering into .the status of a great self-governing unit of the greatest empire in the world. That is a distinction conferred on but few other countries, and a distinction in spite of its size and relatively small population of which New Zealand has shown herself to be abundantly worthy. Within seven years after New Zealand became a Dominion Bhe was put to the severe test of a great war. She gallantly stepped to the front, and of her population and her size contributed a larger and finer quota to the army of the British Empire than any other part of it. We may well be proud of the part New Zealand played in that great test of national strength which threatened to overwhelm the civilisation and progress of the world. During the last two years she' has found herself in the greatest economic crisis with which the world has ever been confronted, a crisis from which the world has not yet completely emerged, and a problem which the great Economic Conference has failed to solve. " But I want to take this opportunity of saying because now we see the light on the horizon, and we believe that brighter times are coming, that I feel proud of the courage and determination, self-reliance and resourcefulness, that this country has shown during the difficult years that have lately passed. Her Excellency and I know full well that there have been a large number of people in this country who lately have been faced with extreme want, especially in the larger cities. Among these a great many are old people, a large number belong to old pioneer families, and many are returned soldiers. Our sympathy has been very great but our admiration for them has been even greater because of the way they have faced their situation. It is the strongest evidence ■of deeprooted stability of the country which is going to carry it to a higher position than it has ever occupied. We stand at the parting of the ways. Whether so-called democracy, as we have understood it during the last 30 or 40 years, is going to justify itself under modern conditions I will not venture to express an opinion," said his Excellency. 'The longer I live the more certain I am that it is not merely physical strength, and certainly not mere wealth, that is going to make our nation predominant above other nations in the world. We see for example, one nation that is undoubtedly the wealthiest and perhaps, on paper, the most powerful in the whole world, suffering from -the most acute economic depression. In the long run it is faith in God, faith in ones self, and in one's country, and a determination that whatever. Governments may do each person can contribute his own part in building up the welfare of a nation, that is going to tell its tale_ in the relative superiority among the nations of the world."