CONSCIOUSNESS OF DUTY.

White Ribbon, Volume 20, Issue 236, 18 February 1915, Page 14

CONSCIOUSNESS OF DUTY.

The following i> .1 summary of the aldress delivered on Franchise Day to the W annate W.C.T.U. gathering by Mr Geo. Dash : Mrs Graham and Ladies, —When, your deputation assured me that what was wanted from me was not so mu< h a history of the franchise movement as an outline of what is from my point of view the work before >ou and the need of the immediate future, I felt < alled to come and deliver a message that burns in me. It is enticing on thi" Franchise Day to review the past and fight again the battles which led to triumph. It is tempting to pause to rejoice in the victories now crowning the work of our sisters in America, and to sympathise with the army of English womanhood that fights >0 strenuous a battle in the Home lands. Of that battle the true account will perhaps never be accepted when it conn s to be given. The misrepresentations of the cable news and the use made of opportunity by the hoodlum and incendiary element ever present in large cities, have done much to mislead and to slander. Turn we to the future, remembering well Lowell. “ ’Tis as easy to be heroes as to sit the idle slaves of a legendary virtae carved upon our fathers’ graves.” The call of the present is for a consciousness of duty. Willingness to do our duty is of little avail without a knowledge of when the occasion i" calling. Duty i" neglected because it i" not recognised. We learn to re cognise the flower only and fail 'to destroy the young "hoot of evil. We need a better grounding in the life hi»tory of the evils we attack, and thi" would help us to recognise each occasion for action. Phis i" the need of the hour. Duty is placed upon a pedestal, and the pedestal is so far from us that we fail to recognise duty when it comes to our door. Duty has become a word, and not a fact. Many there are, prepared to sacrifice much on the altar of duty. Many are earnest and sincere. We an* surrounded by associations of wellmeaning people. Churc hes increase in number. Organisations succeed organisations, eac h seeking to do good, and make for the advancement of a nation. Your own Cnion among the most worthy. Your presence here to-day is evidence of your earn-

e"tness and sincerity. Yet 1 say that with all this there is mu< h that has called in vain in this year of grace for those whose duty it was to act. And the calls would most certainly have been answered had they been recognised. Phis i" the pity of it; that the hour arrived for the blow to be struck, and the striker and the weapon were ready, but the signal failed. In this we all have failed. I myself am not c laiming exemption. The need of the moment then is .1 consciousness of duty. How shall we attain it? First, we must have a creed of duty. A statement of our stand. Perhaps this- it is my duty to encourage good and oppose all that is evil. To oppose all that is evil is not to destroy the flower only and leave the root untouched. To this end I must understand that whic h I attack. I mu»t know it> life history, and learn to recognise the flower, the leaf, the branch, and the root. I must learn to know each evil not only by it,s results, but by it" processes. Then >hall 1 miss no oppot tunity of striking at that evil, then shall I never permit it to gain a hold in my territory. However insidious its advance, however harmless its appearance in its early stages, I shall know it, and smite it. Let me illustrate. Gambling, say, i> an evil. Why, because it leads some men into crime? Because men steal to pay gambling debts. These are but the poisonous flowers of the evil. Nip off these Powers prevent the formation of their bloom, and still gambling is an evil. We mu't go deeper, and learn that the gambling evil kill" out the "pirit of thrift. It destroys the spirit of persistent industry, and -substitute" the get rich-quick anyhow df'ire. A nation i" only built up and developed by industry, by the "pirit of work, the- creative effort of « people. Destroy or weaken that spirit of industry, and you destroy and hinder that nation. Understanding this, my consciousness of duty is that I must attac k gand ,; ig ar any time or place. I must destroy any rootlet of gambling that seeks to take hold in the soul of my country. It is my duty to voice my opposition to gambling whenever and wherever the spirit of gambling shows itself. If any association to which 1 belong seeks to raise fund" bv mean" of alleged art unions or the like it is mv duty to protest, to be outspoken in my condemnation and to decline membership if

the course is persisted in. If any c hurc h to which 1 belong seeks to initiate anything in the* nature of a lottery or raffle it is my duty to make my protest known, "ilent withdrawal will not suffice. If any institution to which I do not belong seeks to raise money by evasion of the Art Union Law of this country, it is my duty to draw the attention of the Minister of the Crown in cha.gr to the matter. I should never attend a gathering where gambling is recognised as a part of the proceeding", and I should never buy ticket" for lotteries, art unions, or the like. My protest "hould be no silent one. My silence may mislead others. ( onsiderations of social preferment, advancement, or business profit should not deter me from doing my duty. In all this I must remember that I am working for the good of my nation against that which i" an evil clog to it" upward progress. Ido not claim thi" as a perfect statement of the c ase, but it will serve* to put my thought before you. As 1 have treated the gambling evil, so should each evil be treated. It should be understood and systematically opposed. The social evil, the liquor evil; all attacks on our liberty to upward development, and all the insidious attempts to lowe r the moral tone of our nation should receive a like treatment. With knowledge comes recognition, and recognition of duty will mean duty done. Much, very much harm is being done in these days of lack of protest. Lac k of protest imple-s acquiescence, and i" so read. This laxness is permitting a host of evils t<> extend their roothold, and we shall later have a bitter c rop as the fruit of our lack of consciousness of duty. Thi" lack of protest where protest "hmild sound is not merely ind vidual; it is the sin of unions and associations, and of Parliaments and churches, of political parties, and of prominent persons. Notice how unfashionable it i" just now to criticise the militarism rnove- . ment in New Zealand. Praise i" the order of the day. Yet in its administration there is a contempt for liber ties won at much cost and a contempt even for law. No sane free man was for any reason hitherto deprived of his franchise. The mightiest fact, the* strongest act of freedom, is the free man’s vote,

[ Our right each man to his vote v.ts not easily gained, and we should permit no tampering with that free dom. Hut the conspiracy of silence L involving even the Press, and the infringement of this liberty is permitted to militarism. 1 he right ot each child in New e/.aland to free education is in danger at the same hands, and here too the cry should be hands oft. Hut it is not pleasant to voice a protest against anything relating to territorialism and rights of fcupreme importance are in danger, with scarce a protest. Have you not noticed how frequentJv of late we have had attempts made jto establish a different code of honour for men in public life to that in Ivogue for men in private life? The promise that would not be broken by |a business man is lightly treated ov fa man in a public matter. Men in public positions are falsifying themselves, are saying one thing a’d do jjing another, are proving false 10 the trust reposed >n them. The chang ing from one party to another at the <all of place and influence, and th • light regard for pledges are weak *iling the fibre of public life, and redacting upon our people And what of protest? It has been 1 strenuous in some quarters, and nonexistent in others. The most flagrant untruthfulness has been condoned and glozed over by men holding positions •that called for instant and insistent l condemnation. Here, consciousness of duty was needed. I’nderstanding that honour is supremely important in public life, we should be alert to -trike at public dishonesty in any place, in any person, in any form. Have 1 said enough now to lead your thought in the direction 1 indicate. Remember that a-, we fail to recognise our opportunity, so shall we be judged insim ere. 1 he eyes of many are upon those who stand for righteousness, and more especially the 1 eyes of the younger generation. It (must not be permitted that it should become to be believed that sincerity is rare. The sincere statesman cannot compromise with evil. “They enslave their children’s children who make compromise with sin.” The sincere clergyman cannot be eloquent on principles and silent in instances, “nor go • it bald-headed ’gainst sin in the abIstract, which ain’t to be pitied. ’Sides bein’ a sin no one ever committed.”

The business man who is opposed to an evil, but earns the name of timeserver if lie condones it for profit. “For they are -laves most base whose love of right is for themselves, and not for all the race.’’ Societies and leagues cannot be regarded as sincere if the individual members, unwittingly perhaps, but still culpably, are silent where thev should be heard.

The need of insight. No new need. Lowell voices it

“backward look across the ages and the beacon moments see, That like peaks of some sunk continent jut through oblivious sea. Not an ear in court or market for the low forboding cry, Never seem- the choice momentous till the judgment is passed by.”