SPIRIT OF DEVOTION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 72, Issue 234, 2 October 1929, Page 4

SPIRIT OF DEVOTION

TRADE COMMISSIONER’S VIEW PLEA TO BRITONS TO SUPPORT BRITONS IN wishing that Empire Trade Week in Wanganui may be 1 crowned with the fullest measure of success, it affords me no little pleasure to know that I shall have an opportunity of visiting your centre during the week, and of seeing for myself something of the enthusiasm which has undoubtedly inspired those responsible for its organisation. Short though the time has been that I have so far spent in New Zealand, I can already guage the depth and sincerity of the spirit of devotion to Empire which animates one and all with whom I have come into contact. Empire Shopping Weeks, which are now as firmly established at Home as they are in New Zealand, always appear to me to be one pf the most practical expressions of Empire partnership that it is possible to imagine. They are inspired by a great ideal, the ideal of a self-supporting, self-reliant Empire, powerful for peace and goodwill amongst men. They are the concrete expression of an unselfish desire to help and aid those who are our own kith and kin, who speak our language who have the same aspirations and aims, and who yield the same enthusiastic and whole-hearted loyalty to the same EmpercrKing, Empire Shopping Weeks are not merely the occasion for a temporary display of affection for the Empire, but are a stimulus to all of us to interest ourselves in the meaning of the Empire to which we belong and an urge to continuous endeavour to do what we can to enhance the prosperity of those who share with us a common allegiance. It is this quiet but steady growth in Imperial feeling in Britain that is reflected in the rapidly increasing consumption there of the products of New Zealand and the other overseas Dominions and Colonies. The people of Britain realise to-day that by buying Empire goods they are contributing in no small means to the well-being and happiness of those who in days of peace, as in the stress of war, stand shoulder to shoulder with them. And after all why should we not buy within the Empire? Within its boundaries it is able to produce the utmost variety of commodities. In exchange for the manufactures of magnificent quality sent forth from the factories and workshops of Britain, New Zealand and the other self-governing dominions are able to offer butter and cheese, meat and wool, wheat and fruit of unrivalled excellence. From India, Africa, and other tropical portions of our Empire come coffee and cocoa, tea and sugar, tobacco and rubber, and many another staple commodity of international trade. There is scarcely a need of mankind that cannot be met from the resources at our command. Let us then buy wisely and buy well, assured that by purchasing .he products of our great Empire we shall not only be serving it faithfully and well, but shall be reaping our own reward by obtaining the finest goods that money can buy. (Signed) L. A. PAISH, 0.8. E., His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for New Zealand.