The Daily News. TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1921. THE PILLARS OF EMPIRE.
In his farewell message on the eve of returning to New Zealand, Mr. Massey expressed his satisfaction at the work done by the Premiers’ Conference, which he considers was by far the most important of it’s kind that has hitherto been held for promoting the welfare of the Jjhnpire. He is confident that what has been done by the Premiers will assuredly strengthen the bonds uniting (lie British people, and that the pillars of Empire have been .strengthened. This latter phrase lias a wide-reaching significance. There is a peculiar fitness in regarding the Dominions as “pillars of the Empire,” composed of titanic forces that will not only endure, but will take on strength as time rolls onwards. It is not merely the strength exemplified in material resources, but the vital homogenity of the British race as found in all the quarters of the globe. In figuratively depicting the Empire, not as an abstract and meaningless generality, but as a grand structure standing upon the roek of Liberty and supported by pillars of sueh strength as the world has never conceived possible, Mr. Massey opened up a vista of illimitable power, strength and cohesion that explains at a. glance how the Empire has come to be the greatest marvel of all time. Gathered under the one vast dome, the units of this great Empire are. one family, each having a share in the common shelter and security; each undertaking a due portion of the joint and several responsibilities, as the sup-
porting pillars, yet managing their own affairs and working out their destiny to the well-being of themselves and the whole Empire. The dominant spirit is unity; the main efforts peace, development, happiness and prosperity, that the Imperial structure may grow in strength, wisdom and justice, while all that makes for virility and a higher plane for civilisations forms part of the Imperial effort and solidarity. No brush can paint, no pen can fittingly describe, nor can the most gifted orator proclaim in globing words all that this Empire structure means. It exists; it is a reality of surpassing potenee, girt about with glorious traditions and replete with achievements that have convinced the world of the greatness of this unprecedented union of peoples under one Sovereign—a Motherland with loyal and de- 1 voted off-shoots, one in peace and one in war:
“For the sire lives in hie sone, and they pay their Lather’s debt, And the Lion has left a whelp wherever his claw was set.” Well may Mr. Massey feel satisfied with the result of the Conference, at which he has worthily represented the Dominion. Apparently there was no matter in connection with Imperial concerns in the discussion of which the Dominions’ Premiers were not invited to participate, including foreign polities. The statement made by Mr. Hughes that it was in foreign policy that wars were hatched demonstrated the importance of the Dominions being consulted in that policy, and Mr. Massey made a special feature of this new departure in the course of an interview which he gave prior to leaving England, in which he said that the whole range of the Empire’s foreign policy was laid before the delegates to the Conference. Naturally he had something to say relative to affairs in the Pacific. He faced the problem in quite the right spirit, and there can be no doubt that the opinion he expressed to the effect that an understanding between America, Japan and the British Empire would be more likely to lead to a solution of the Pacific problem than anything else, and that sueh an undertaking was an indispensable preliminary to disarmament, cannot be contraverted in any way. On several occasions Mr. Massey has deprecated the possibility of Britain becoming a third-rate naval Power. Whatever happens, sueh an eventuality is impossible. America’s extensive programme for increasing her navy was not directed against Britain. The Navy is the Empire’s first line of defence, and, as such, must at least be equal in strength to that of.- any other Power. That is a vital necessity and a fixed policy from which there can be no severing. The nations of the world have, in the Premiers’ Conference, had an object lesson as to how the Empire is constituted, and this, fallowing on the whole-hearted manner in which the sons of the Empire heard and answered the call to arms, leaves no room for doubt as to the Empire’s might, and the value of the Navy. The pillars of the Empire rear their massive grandeur in a way that, all the world can see and heed. It is for the people who constitute the great living supports of this stately; structure to put forth all their strength, all their energy, and all their wisdom, so that, as the Empire grows it may always be in the forefront of all that makes for the welfare of humanity and the uplifting of the nations.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19210830.2.23
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Taranaki Daily News, 30 August 1921, Page 4
Word count
Tapeke kupu
832The Daily News. TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1921. THE PILLARS OF EMPIRE. Taranaki Daily News, 30 August 1921, Page 4
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taranaki Daily News. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.