The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated " The West Coast Times.” TUESDAY, MAY 2nd, 1921. EMPIRE DAY.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 May 1921, Page 2

The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated " The West Coast Times.” TUESDAY, MAY 2nd, 1921. EMPIRE DAY.

Thk memorable May 24th., so long observed as the hirtnday ot Good Queen Victoria,, was happily transformed through tliy, thoughtiulness ol Earl Meath into Empire Day. It is good to have "a. day set apart as the daj* of the Umpire; indeed, it is a necessity. It affords the opportunity for stocktaking as it were, and gives the chance ot reviewing the national sentiment as regards the faith of the people in the future of ther Empire The British Übnpire is far Hung, and it has been happily said that the sun never sets on the vast Dominions. Here at the Antipodes we are the most remote part from the heart of the Empire, the central pivot, the Motherland of the whole Umpire. But distance does not strain our loyalty, nor time damp the ardour of the people ill the affection for the Homeland, and all that it stands for as te pulsing centre which gives verisimilitude to the great Umpire. Yet, withal it k good to observe the day, necessary, in fact, ns we have said above. There is a strata of antagonism ! pervading the Empire and it is well to mark it, and to show that it is merely a minus quantity, and has no real effect on the great bulk of public opinion—the vast majority of our people. That ugly incident in Sydney the other day arising out of -May Day celebrations when the Union Jack was burned, was an evidence of the objectionable strata, j we refer to. In New Zealand we hear of exhibitions of the red flag and of ( the song of the red flag being sung. The red Hag stands for revolution and should have no place in any loyal part of the Empire, and least of all should it supersede the Union Jack. To do so is to permit a negation of constitutional government and to admit that there is some necessity to supplant the constitution we enjoy by some other mode of government, which we say nt once is tantamount to encouraging rebellion. The time has come in our opinion when Hie liberty taken and the license so far enjoyed by displaying the red flag in this or any other part of the Empire he regarded as l an open offence •toainst the constitution, and should he dealt with accordingly. We have no objection to those who so desire, espousing the red flag, hut let it he done in its place—and that, is not in this country. If they think the red flag is shield eiHVUgh for Them hv all means p, ; pGt them to migrate to a poun-

1 1 v where the red flag Hies. Russia is

vast enough to hold all the red flaggers, and they should hasten there more specially as they believe the leaders of Russia to be such heaven-sent" statesmen. So in our own country, part of the great Umpire we are all so proud of, let us have our own Flag kept always at the peak and never allow it to be assailed without protest, and on no account to he supplanted. The loyalty of New Zealand to the Empire is beyond question. That has been demonstratedl over and over again. Still, knowing such to lie the ease, we do well to recall Empire Day as our national day, and to feature it in its place as somethipg worth honoring and remembering. The privileges we as a nation enjoy were dearly bought and hardly won, and they are worth commemorating as a reminder of our debt to flic past, and our own confidence and willingness to uphold them in the future.