DOMINION DAY—SHALL WE CEREBRATE?

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3774, 24 September 1907, Page 2

DOMINION DAY—SHALL WE CEREBRATE?

A suggestion has been made to us that the Dominion Declaration be read’ on the platform at the flagstaff by the Mayor instead of at the Council Chambers as previously suggested at n a. in. on Thursday next. It is the earnest wish of the Premier that every city, village, and hamlet throughout the land should mark the event in a manner befitting the occasion. To many people the mere changing of the name from Colony to Dominion is of little import. To them the sun will shine, the cows come in, the crops grow, whether our junk .Qtf firmament be called Colony 'of Dominion. Their troubles ! From a national point of view, however/ it cannot be' denied ' that the new title raises the status of New Zealand. The point is whether Foxton is going to fittingly celebrate the event next Thursday at ii a. m. If we are going to carry out a ceremony let us do something to demonstrate to outsiders that we are alive. Here are a few suggestions : —School children assemble round the flagstaff, Mayor read the Dominion Declaration, a few short speeches by clergy or prominent townsmen, unfurl the New Zealand Ensign, school cadets salute, and Band play National Anthem, crowd disperse and school children enjoy a half-holiday. Will anyone take up the suggestions, or “are we too slow to come in out of the wet? ’’ to use a colloquialism.