UP AGAINST IT.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 June 1917, Page 7

UP AGAINST IT.

DUTY TO THE EMPIRE FIRST. Speaking at the Egmont A. and P. show meeting on Saturday, Mr P. Mills (president), said that one of the strongeat arguments used by Sir George Clifford, at Christehurch, for the carrying on of shows as usual, was that at a time of national stress the people needed something "to keep their pecker up." "Gentlemen," added the president, warmly, "what do you think of a gentleman in Sir George's position insulting the people of the Empire in a manner like that,' that we Britishers need something to keep our pecker up? What they needed was a good punch in the eye, and this would make them put their hacks more firmly to the wall. (Hear, hear.) There was no doubt that the Empire was really up against it, more so perhaps than at any other time in her history. Now that the Empire had reached a crisis it was up to every man, and to everybody, to do what little they could to help their country and Empire. It was not a question of pulling a long face; he did riot suggest that, but their pleasures should bo such that they would not in any way interfere witli the performance of their duty to their country, (Applause.) Could they honestly say—it was not always easy to look a fact squarely in the face, especially when their personaal inclinations were pulling one away from the right | path of duty—that the carrying on of the show was not going to interfere with, production for the> country? He was sure that if the show was held it would interfere with production, because all men who exhibited stock at shows knew that they had to waste a couple of days from their farms; hundreds of men attended the sliowb, which means that they were absent from their farms for some time at any rate. .Could they spend that time without interfering witht the production of the country? Did not their shf/w come at a time of the year when the farmers, were busiest of all; their hands were not only fully occupied attending to their cows and stock, but they were busy preparing the crops for the autumn. and the following winter in order to keep up their production. They would not suggest that their winter crops did not affect their production; surely the more crops they could get in the greater was going to be their production. Was not that an important point at the present time? On the other side of the world starvation was already staring many people in tho face, and it might be said that they in New Zealand could not help' theso people because of the shipping Perhaps not 'to any great extent. But they would be abie to do so later on. They had been warned of hard times by those in authority, and it was up to every one to keep up the production and in every way assist the Empire in its present crisiß Star.