HOPE AND INSPIRATION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 May 1939, Page 7

HOPE AND INSPIRATION

MAY BE SOUGHT IN NEW WORLD The King’s Empire Day Broadcast REFERENCES TO INTERNATIONAL SITUATION KEY TO ALL TRUE PROGRESS IN FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE By Telegraph.—Press Association.— Copyright. (Received 'Du’s Dav, 51.30 a.m.) WINNIPEG, May 24, “In a dramatic broadcast to the Empire, from its geographical h,car; today, the King ventured further into the realms of international politics than any constitutional monarch ever has done,’’ says the special representative of the Australian Associated Press. The King stated the European tide of inspiration no longer led the world as it once did and asked: “Is not this the moment when the Old World, in its turn, might look for hope and inspiration to the achievements of the New?" He added: “A sense of race may be a dangerous and disruptive force, but the British and French have shown in Canada that they can keep their pride in the distinctive culture that it inspires, while yet combining to establish a broader freedom and security than either could have achieved alone.’’ His Majesty referred to the common fa ii h of Ihe ■ United ■States and the British Empire in reason ami fair play anil concluded with an appeal to his hearers not to lose heart, even though the skies were overcast. When the King alighted from the train it was noticed that two of his lingers were bandaged. He had .slammed a door on his hand this morning. However he is shaking hands with it with little inconvenience. His Majesty said: “Today is Queen Victoria’s birthday, as well as Empire Day, and 1 am glad I can speak to you on this day amid surroundings eloquent of the Empire’s achievements since Queen Victoria was born. “Winnipeg, the city from which I am .speaking, was not more than a fort and a hamlet upon (he. open prairie when Queen Victoria began to rule. Today it is a monument to the faith and energy which have created and upheld throughput the world the Empire of our time. “The journey which the Queen and 1 are making in Canada has been a deeply moving experience and I welcome this opportunity of sharing with my subjects in all parts of the world some of the thought and feeling which it has inspired in me.

EMPIRE AS LINK. "We often talk of the old world and the new. It is one of the greatest services of the British Empire that ii serves’to link and harmonise the two. That part of the British realm which lies in Europe and in Asia looks back upon many'centuries of civilised life and growth. That part of it which lies in America, Africa and the. two great sister nations of Australia and New Zealand has made its place in world society within the last hundred years.” For a long period of history, his Maj • esty continued, it was the mind of Europe which led the march and fixed the aims of progress in the world, but that tide di inspiration was no longer running as it did in times gone by. “The Christian civilisation of Europe,” he said, “is now profoundly troubled and challenged from within. We are striving to restore its standards, but the task is long and hard. Asia, too, is changing fast, and its mind is deeply disturbed. Is not this a moment when the old world in its turn might look for' hope and guidance to the achievements of the new? “There is one example in particular which North America can offer to other’ parts of the world. A century ago, when Queen Victoria began her reign, a great constitutional struggle was in progress in the Canadian provinces, but soon after that time the provinces of Canada achieved responsible self government. Freedom and responsibility led them gradually to compose their differences and to cement this noble federation from sea to sea. “The sense of race may be a dangerous and disruptive force, but 1 the English and French have shown >in Canada they can keep their pride in the distinctive culture which it inspires, while yet combining to establish a broader freedom and security than either could achieve alone. I

TfdE AMERICAN EXAMPLE. "Nor is that the only chapter in North American history that deserves consideration," said his Majesty. “Canada and the Uniled States have had to dispose of searching difference in aim and interest during the past hundred years, but never has one of those differences been resolved by force or ■ threat, No man, thank God. will ever again conceive of such an arbitrament between the people of my Empire and the people of the United States. The faith in reason and fair play which we share with them is one of the chief ideals that guides the British Empire in all its ways today. It is not in power or wealth alone, nor in dominion over other peoples, that the true greatness of an empire consists. Those things are but the instrument; they are not the end or ideal. The end is freedom, justice and peace' in equal measure for all. secure against attack from without and from within. It is only 7 by adding to the spiritual dignity and material happiness of human life in all its myriad homes that an empire can claim to be of service to its own peoples and to' the world. A WORD TO YOUTH. “I would end with a special word of greeting to those of my listeners who are young. It is true, and I deplore it deeply, that the skies are overcast in more than one quarter at present. Do not. on that account lose heart. Life is a great adventure and every one of you can be a pioneer blazing, by thought and service, the trail to better things. Hold fast to all that is just and of good repute, in the heritage which your fathers have left you, but strive, ?dso to improve and equalise that heritage for all m,en and women in the years to come. Remember too that the key to true progress lies in faith, hope and love. May God give you their support and may God help them to prevail.”