DAUGHTERS OF THE EMPIRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2436, 21 November 1900, Page 27

DAUGHTERS OF THE EMPIRE.

j ANOTHER PROOF OF CANADIAN I LOYALTY. I Where will the loyalty of Canada, and Canadians end? The latest proof of intense patriotism comes from Montreal, where Mrs Clark Murray, of M'Gill University, has founded a federation known as " The Daughters of the British Empire," with a juvenile branch called " The Children of the Empire.*' The object of the movement is to form a great bond of union among the women of the Queen, and to bring them into touch with each other, wherever they may reside. Although the initiative has been taken in Canada, and auxiliaries are forming all over the Dominion, the special object of the federation is to secure a solid footing in every colony of the Empire, in the motherland itself, and, indeed, wherever a British woman's heart is beating with love for her Queen and country. It is the intention of the federation to secure individual membership in every corner of the Empire, a work which will be much facilitated by the formation of an executive in each colony, with auxiliaries in towns and districts. The executive of the federation in Montreal are actively interesting themselves in preparing to arouse and stimulate a strong sympathetic interest between the colonies by a series of lectures illustrated by high-class limelight views, from every colony, and for which intercolonial connections have already been secured. Steps are being taken to introduce into the schools of Canada, both public and private, an arrangement by which one hour per month. shall be set aside, and a patriotic programme enjoyed, and the scholars formed into '' Chapters of the Children of the Empire," meeting at their respective sohoolhouses, shall march to Empire Day celebration under the inspiration of the Union Jack. Attention is being given to the books, usutdly given as school prizes, with the view to securing some measure of patriotic tendency and education in them, and both Roman Catholio and Protestent schools are being urged to unite in the movement. Finally, the Montreal Executive have under consideration the care of an old and muchneglected military cemetery in the Province of Quebec, and a committee has been appointed to earn for the newly-made graves of _ British soldiers who have fallen in South Africa during the war. The flag of every auxiliary branch and chapter is the Union Jack, and the senior badge i% the Union Jack worked in red, white, and blue, the rest of the emblem "being gold. The junior badge is the same, but in metal, with a red, white, and blue ribbon attached, and on the scroll the word " Children " is substituted for "Daughters."