Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, JANUARY 5th, 1920. LOVE OF COUNTRY.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 January 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, JANUARY sth, 1920. LOVE OF COUNTRY.

In these troubleous times with a world upset, there is the need to cultivate a love for country, and respect for the flag which stands for national freedom. An insidious propaganda tending towards disloyalty is abroad, and those who desire to sec true citizenship maintained should assert themselves in a personal way so as to lead public thought in the right channels. In these times of marked unsettlement there is the need for the Government to take a more personal interest in the people. The social welfare and the advancement of the people are the first aids to the cultivation of loyalty. These steps require to be taken in a. reasonable way, not as class against class, but for the benefit of the mass. There is no escape from the fact that a leaven of disloyalty is permeating the people, and this requires to be counteracted. The national system of education should be so controller} that the youth growing up, the future men and women of the country, are trained in the right spirit of loyalty. The United States can set us an example in this respect, for it cultivates a right spirit from the very beginning of the school life of the children. The Stars and Stripes are always in the forefront, and there is the daily recital of the budding citizens’ creed in which fealty to the flag and country are publicly avowed. In New Zealand, the Union Jack does not occupy such a favored position. The flag is rarely displayed and except for an odd lesson or two ;, i the year, its story js unfamiliar to the grpwng minds. In the same way publicly the Uniop Jack is far too seldom flown from the public buildings—yet the United States makes a daily display of its loved flag. The Union Jack is the emblem of our national freedom, and it should be revered and honored as the charter of our liberties. Love of country might lie fostered, too. by means of the cinematograph. The censorship controlling the pictures exhibited in this country is far too lax. A higher standard and nobler ideal in the pictures displayed should be insisted upon. Hie cinema is a remarkable medium for propaganda work, but there are no signs that it is being used as such in a national way. There is a fine field for State Control in the picture business in this country, and if a firmer censorship doos not result soon, the Dominion will reap an evil harvest from the pernicious seed being sown nowadays. The times call for the best in citizenship, and for more open declarations regarding the standing of our country. New Zealand ha s been described by the poet as “God’s Own Country.” It is all that, on 4 it is for the people to keep their heritage pt that level, and enjoy the bountiful privileges which will aperue by tho maintenance of true loyalty among the people and the honouring at all times the flag which, is tins sign of the dearly-won freedom we enjoy,.