INTANGIBLE BUT REAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 April 1940, Page 6

INTANGIBLE BUT REAL

BRITISH COMMONWEALTH'S UNITY. "The striking unity of aim and effort of the whole British Commonwealth of Nations in this hour of common danger is a landmark in the history of the Empire, and provides an impressive answer to those apostles of brute force and oppression who saw in the very freedom of the British Dominions to choose their own destiny such an unmistakable sign of British decadence." said Lord Snell, the British Labour leader, in a-recent address. "What a marvellous justification the Empire , presents at the present time! It seems to possess some strong, yet invisible, tj quality which always—but especially f in the time of danger—binds it together. What is the secret of this unique power of cohesion? Wo have known other Empires which boasted of their strength. Yet they passed away and are now only tragic memories. Why. since they died, does the British. Empire live? What quality sustains it that, they did not possess? Is it not the binding, consoling and sustaining spirit of freedom which endows it with an inner strength: which gives to all its members an enduring trust be-' cause it is based upon a common purpose and inheritance? There have been many Empires both ancient and modern; but-saving only the British Commonwealth of Nations—there has novel' been one that had the insight and the courage to stake its life upon such, intangible, yet sure, foundations."