STEADY THERE!

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 194, 17 December 1941, Page 4

STEADY THERE!

WAR in the Pacific has brought home to us the nearness of the struggle which is now world wide. That there is a definite threat to our shores is patent to all who take stock

of the growing number of emergency regulations now being introduced by the Government. We are faced for the first time in our history with real danger from a hostile nation. We can take it, and as New Zeaalnders qan be depended upon giving a.good account of ourselves should we ever be put to the test. There is however in some quarters a strong temptation to get 'down' over the prospect, and a surprising feature is that this weakness has been apparent mainly amongst those of our citizens who is normal times are the most confident and the most voluable. We have had two years notice that we are at >war 0 and if our friends cannot face its realities, merely because its shadow draws nearer they should quit the privilege of citizenship in this favoured land of ours. Defeatism and pessimism are the twin seeds of disaster and slavery, they must be replaced by resolution and boldness. As a people we have everything to be thankful for. A birthright of freedom and independence, an ancestry second to none, a homeland which leads the world. Let any foeman try his mettle against us in an effort to wrest these things from us. We will fight for our homeland in a manner which will inspire the world and will fill with pride our chiklren and their descendants who shall build upon the new foundations we have set. This is the British spirit which is always uppermost in adversity. Let us have more of it now.