WALES FOR EVER!

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 2015, 14 August 1919, Page 3

WALES FOR EVER!

“Cymbro” writes as follows to the Auckland Herald:—

“Cymru Am Byth.” This title will most likely puzzle quite a number of readers. We have heard the cry, “Scotland for ever,”' but “Wales for cv,pr” (“Cymru am Byth”) will be something- new. As a Welsh' man who -has lived a good many years in New Zealand I have, like many more, of my fellow-country-men, been repeatedly obliged to explain that there is such a country as Wales, and, also, that the natives have the temerity to speak their own language, and, again, that it is not a dialect of the English. Thanks, however, to the first, man in the Empire, Mr Lloyd George, the public now realise that we are not an extinct race, who once caused a little trouble a few centuries ago by conducting a kind of hill or mountain warfare' against overwhelming odds. We have had our grievances since, but have realised that, although only being represented by about 30 members of Parliament, wo have the honour of living under the only Hag worth while—the Union Jack. I have-not got the figures as to the proportion of soldiers from Wales, but I think that the record is equal to any, and the gallant Boyal Welsh Fusiliers have held their own in every field; and who ever heard a Welshman' run down his flag or utter a word of sedition! In spite of all this, our patron saint, St. David, is entirely unknown out here. We all have heard of St. Patrick, who, by the way, is reported to have gone from Wales to' Ireland. I think that March Ist (Si. David’s Day) should receive some notice as a mark of respect to a country who produced the right man at the right time.