Untitled

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4422, 10 June 1909, Page 2

It must be a matter of iAfi greatest satisfaction to every patriotic cltuoi; of the Dominion of New Zealand that the | motion of making adequate provision I Aefrnce of the country is being f,vlly and brought under qf the people. We pre gM $,9 ft Cl ¥r» r T,e Awha jis wtf lagging behind in tbfs matter, and we trust that the meeting In fee lujd fln Fijday will be the largest and nnst nnthg#iastjc ever held in the Borough, We hope, too. that the women of tine community will show by their presence, that this question of defence is felt by them to he one of pressing importance. Scarcely any question -indeed no question—touches more nearly the inteiests of women than ijlae* tjjis Home is woman’s kingdom, apd Mjjut our men to be strong enough to iK4C,p ttynr hearths and homes inviolate and is not Apid, though moppy - and luxury jgay me plotting its assassination, *ud the thought th • t upon ,% strength of his arm *ime w j7 -#u relies for protection is slid up inspiration, to a true man. The most pressing nqceshfty is to convince our people that wp are in a n -y danger. We are indeed in danger. All thoughtful men know too wejl tfi’d the British Empire is ill a state of unstable equilibrium. Any man of average intelligence and moderate education may examine the facts for himself and form a rational judgment upon them. It is noticeable that, the ;nen wbo to day are taking the lead in waring the nation of the risk it i« running nre no m*u,v p&nicpiongeis. There is nothig of the circus aoUdfe/’ playing to the gallery in Lord Robert*,, Ifjs life and his writ ings show 1 him to be a fiu*V patriotic man, simply and sincerely religious, and deeply sensible of the responsibility resting upon him. He has lived a* arqLuou s > lbe. ho has served his country veil, his reputation stands firm in the hearts of his fellow citizens. Surely if any man «ight spend his declining years in leisured and honoured case, that man is Lord Robest». But he will not take his case ; he is girwg fyip time, his great talents, and his exjM'rt to the task of rousing a lethargic people a. sense of the doom that—failing awnkou-r rug—inevitably awaits it. i'll ere is no <jne»t,ion of sensation or cowardly panic, and it is high time we knew it. Let us purge our minds nA all high sounding cant about militarism. |t,ct p,s cease to brag about the battles nor fathity \von. The plain and simple fact of the uv.se h’ that we are living to a great extent, upon ,t,b« reputation of our ancestors. Bricking I.whblca is easy, lmt ns a rule it is not a particnjUrlv profitable undertaking. To prick the hubb’e of British supremacy, 1 4

if it is a bubb e, would b • the most profitable achieve mmt, p rimps, in all the wCrld. Who can say when some ambitious nation, seekng out eta for its teen iig millions, will essay the operation of pricking ? In one of his recent speeches Lord Roberts, speaking of the re.istance that the British people could make to an enemy landed upon their shores, observed that “ A few slieep more or less will make iittle difference to the wolves.” If that phrase does not whip a slumbering people into vigorous awakening, t' cy arc degenerate indeed. Think of it ! The sons of the men who fought at Crecv and Agincourt, at Blenheim and at Waterloo; who held the Residency at Lucknow and stood on the ridge at Delhi, are spoken of by our foremost soldier under the metaphor of sheep ! And the phrase is true. In their present condition the groat mass of the men of our Empire would be no better than a mob of sheep in the face of the highly-trained and efficient soldiers of the great military nations. But. as Lord Roseberry says, the hearts of our people ar • still sound ; and be is as much irnp essed with the gravity of our position as Lord Roberts. We can still put our house in order, and it is to be hoped that the people of Te Aroha will show on triday evening that they are ready to take t heir part in the National awakening of New Zealand.