Rangitikei Advocate. TWO EDITIONS DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 1916. EMPIRE DAY.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLI, Issue 11582, 24 May 1916, Page 4

Rangitikei Advocate. TWO EDITIONS DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 1916. EMPIRE DAY.

AN anniversary which is gradually assuming high rank in our regard is that of Empire Day, the observance of which started from the most easterly British territory tins morning and will roll on in step with the sun around the zone of British dominion to the regions of the extreme west. Wuat were the sentiments whicdi originally prompted the institution of such a novo form of celebration avo are unable to say. For the position of dominance the Empire holds in the world is so unique ami so splendid that more than one consideration might have led to

its initiation. It might have been suggested by vain glory and a spirit of boasting, or a more reverent conception of the sources and the responsibilities of greatness and a desire to concentrate the attention of the whole of the British family

of nations upon its permanence. Empire and greatness in the Avorld have been the dream and ambition of peoples since the world began. “1 will make of thee a groat nation” was the most precious promise of the Israelitish Jahvoh to an insignificant people. Historical records, from the time they Avore lirat inscribed in Egyptian hieroglyphics, and on the bricks of Mesopotamia, however, show that the Imperial away of nations Avas one of the most elusive and shifting of possessions, and if there is one thing

more than another which conld operate as a corrective to vain glory and boastfulness, and evoke in us a thrill of apprehension, it is the spectacle which the great panorama of histor3 r shows us of the rise and then the rapid declension of nations. Naturally we trouble ourselves with the question as to whether the British Empire itself will be subject to what seems to be the natural law for nations as for all, or nearly all other thing—that it shall have flamed out briefly in the constellation .of nations like a new star in the firmament, cnly to rapidly dim its brilliance to the third or fourth degree, and its splendid position in the hierarchy of the world be taken by a more virile people. Who can tell; We only know that so far the process of rise and fall of national power and of foreign dominion has followed the universal law. And it is a singular fact that so far history has not furnished us with a single instance of a nation once having been trodden into the mire ever resurrecting itself to power again. It seems to be damned forever —a thing that has gone through its cycle of fate and for which fate has no further use. Else what has become of Persia, which in the heyday of its power could command the war tramp of armed millions, of the Empires of the Tigris ami Euphrates valleys, of Egypt, of Imperial Rome itself and, in a less degree of Greece, Venice, and the Turkish Empire, which is now process of disintegration and eclipse ?

There are, however, some elements in the consideration of the permanence and might of the Empire which allow of come optimism in the face of the future outlook. Analysis of the conditions of most past dominant peoples siiow that they were not practically homogeneous, were the haphazard gatherings of conquest, and, therefore, uatually fell to pieces at the first violent shock, If, too, there is, as some declare, a zone of power running arouud the globe, which includes tlie governing part of our Empire, and onts'do of which dominance could only bo temporary, Asiatic and African empires were foredoomed to rapid decay. Although, therefore, we may experience misfortunes and temporary periods of disaster the vitalising and energising environment in winch we live will take a considerable amount of care that the

temperament which commands military domination and mercantile success shall not become bankrupt, There is nothing irreverent in saying that Providence does not altogether decide the fates of nations. Otherwise wo should be puppets in the hands of tho Celestial Powers. The success of a people in the everlasting clash of the ambitions of the world depends very largely upon its intellectual furnishings, upon its

wisdom, its daring, its coliesiveness, and especial!}' upon a patriotism that, as a cult, is almost a religion. So long as these elements make up the psychical characteristics of the Empire it is safe from destruction. It will have no end to be deplored by coming generations. And if the German ambition of world power be rendered futile in the present war ws may look forward to a long cycle in which we shall have rest from disquieting alarms and serious rivalries.