THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1911. DOMINION DAY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10433, 26 September 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1911. DOMINION DAY.

"Dominion Day" in New Zealand is an institution which, might well b# lopped off. lit <te an excrescence upon, tlbe face of our holiday system wGi&eh bas neither sense nor reason to justify it, WHien. Sir Joseph Ward opened lias surprise packet four or five years ago, and told the peo■ple that tihey were diving in a .Dominion, and not in a Colony, (the anmounceiment was received with innocent laughter and amusement. Nobody 'but tlhe unsopTiiiisitfiioated ever suspected that the change would establish, either the credit or the ibona fides of New Zealand, and experience has shown, it has not done so. It as true tHiat lit produced certain inconveniences, and that the sturdy pioneers, wflio had laid the foundation of the country, and were proud of the Jact that they were colonists, Ibad to surrender their claims to distinction in <tMs connection. But, as a set-off to this, the miau. who ruled the political roo&t Avas translated from the common, realm of "Premiership" to the more dignified pedestal of "Prime MjinLsitteaiS'Mp.' * So djar as the country is concerned, it lhais not /benefited in the slightest degree by the change. The holding of a diemioalistration once a year on "Dominion, Day," wheal Banks and public offices are closed and school ohildren salute a flag as if they were celebrating the birth of a new era, is nothing more nor less than a piece of hypocritical humbug. Two-thirds of the people pursue their ordinary avocations, whilst the other third meanders aimilesisily around as though it hod just purchased ia new suit of clotties and was anxious for an opportunity of airing them. How mlufcttii better could .the Civil Servants be employed in attending to Ithe affairs of the country, for which they are paid! What excuse is there (for this cadet flummery, and the making of patriotic and silly speeches ? Are we to assume that it is necessary to get youngsters together in a public park or other convenient spot once a year, to remind them that they belong to a debt-ridden Dominion, where every attempt is made to cruish out individuality? Does the waving of a few flags and the airing of uniforms and silk hats create a feeling of reverence and loyalty? Bah! The whole thing is a travesty —a miserable, wretched appeal to the lowest instincts in human kind. It is a sham and a delusion, and none knows' it better than, the selfconscious Prime Minister who was responsible: for .the innovation. WTho cares a tinker's malediction wihether

the icoi poamii J fj fSaii} or a Colony p Far mior e tope >rfcani dio it tJiat the duties aoid P™ /ftLeges of o'Ltizensbip should be ir grassed upon the rising generation /y .wiholesome methods. Far more f iiintportaint that the example of those | mjb -tilve head of affairs ishould be such ' .that it would inspire respect. What I will ihappen if this holiday miania—j .a -miania produced by slovenly and ; voairele&s politicians—is allowed /to get a firm grip upon the. community? Wihiy, the very vitality of the nation will he sapped, and men and women will come to regard the serious /avocations of life as irksome. It is time that this holiday craze was 6i»ppresised, and that men, wiomeoi and children were tau'glht that their first, duty to .tflie State is to endeavour, by application and zeal, to improve ifche conditions of life. This desirable emd will never 1 be achieved by 1 sudh flummery as that wihich, is vrit- ■ nessed on Dominion JUiay.