EMPIRE DAY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2584, 24 May 1923, Page 2

EMPIRE DAY.

ROYAL MESSAGES TO CHILDREN.

Auckland, Last Night. His Excellency the GovernorGeneral has received the following messages, which Their Majesties the King and Queen have been graciously pleased to address to the children in the elementary schools of the Empire, on Empire Day, May 24. THE KING’S MESSAGE.

The King’s message reads: —“To the children in the elementary schools of the Empire: On this day, my people itt all parts of the world join to celebrate their unity and to draw closer the common ties which hold them together. Each of our many peoples has its own life to live each has its own work to do; yet all are members of oue family, sharing their sorrows and .joys. Ton have learned how the Empire was built up by brave and wise men and women in past, and it is only by courage, wisdom and unselfishness that it will endure. Tr is a great inheritance. Your fathers and forefathers made it; its future welfare and good name are, under the providence of God, m your hands. Do not think of it ns a thing far away from you. Every one of you counts and wlmt you do and learn now will decide how far yon will be able to play your part worthily when you grow up. Get knowledge, be brave, honourable and kind, thinking of others before yourself and always play the game. So will you fit yourselves to hand down this community of free nations to your children and grandchildren, as a great instrument for justice, peace and goodwill, which will deserve the respect and esteem of mankind.”

THE QUEEN’S TO THE GIRLS. The Queen’s message to the girls in the elementary schools of the Empire reads —“Oil this day of memory, and hope, which is also 1 the birthday of the good Queen Victoria, this is my message to you—Daughters of our world-wide family of nations and peoples: Think always of what you can do to make your homes happy and how you can best prepare yourselves to make happy the homes for generations of children which will follow you. In our vast Empire there are many kinds of homes and many different customs. The home which fosters clean minds and kind hearts, is God’s temple, and the spirit of a good home, whether it be rich or poor, is one of the best things in the world. You can learn many lessons at school, which will help you to become wise and useful citizens of the British Commonwealth, but you can learn and practise nothing better for yourselves and all members of the great British family, than the simple lessons of love, kindness and unselfishness, which, in cloud or sunshine, are the strength and beauty of life.” MR MASSEY’S MESSAGE.

Empire Day is being celebrate<Lin London in a manner which will bring the occasion prominently before the people of the capital. The great daily newspapers are taking a prominent part. The “Daily Express,” which is holding a demonstration in Trafalgar Square, has cabled to Mr Massey for a message for presentation to the people of Britain, and Mr Massey to-day despatched the following cable: —“Empire Day stands predominant as a reminder of the kinship which binds the Dominions to each other and to the Motherland. Freedom of thought, speech and action, illustriously won generations ago by our ancestors, are the laurels which citizens of today share, and under which they live. New Zealand, as the young Britain of the South Seas, feels the power which her allegiance to the groat Empire gives. She stands stronger to-day than ever before, iu her whole-hearted determination to shoulder her responsibility for the protection of the Crown and the rights and liberties of the Empire. Xew Zealand knows it is Britain’s ana a I way- in see that the crowning achievement, the peace of the world, is maintained: working steadily and tenaciously for preservation of that peace and for the principles under which it was secured. Xew Zealand asks her citizens to be unwavering in their loyalty to the Ling and Empire, which is the i-iiiy guarantee for our heritage. Millions of our fellow-citizens have held their lives as nought in striving for the good of humanity, for righteousness and for freedom, and it is plainly the duty of the British peoples throughout the Empire to see that the .sacrifices made not only in recent years but through centuries, for good of all were not made iu vain.”