The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MAY 15, 1909. FLYING THE UNION JACK.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2502, 15 May 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MAY 15, 1909. FLYING THE UNION JACK.

In attempting to justify his action in declining to order the Hying of Union Jacks from public buildings on Empire 'Day, Mr. Haldane, Secretary for War, expressed the opinion that the Empire was not held together by flag flying. In this statement the British Minister displayed a narrowness of vision that it is deplorable to discover in one who has been entrusted to a . high place in the councils of a mighty Empire; He had an opportunity to perform a gracious act, but, presumably owing to the pernicious influence of the rabid Laborites, ho chose instead to strike a discordant note and to give voice to one of the most injudicious utterances that have been heard for many a year in the House of Commons. The implied inference of Mr Haldane’s remarks is that the Empire is held together not by sentiment, but purely by motives of self-interest, and we do not hesitate to sav that it would be a sorry day for England when such a doctrine was accepted universally. Fortunately for England and fortunately for Mr Haldane and his follow Ministers, the statement is absolutely false. Even in these days of excessive materialism and commercialism sentiment remains still the strongest factor in the constitution of humanity, and men and women, individually and collectively, will still make sacrifices from the highest of motives which they would never make for any sordid consideration. The sailor who leaps from the steamer’s side into shark infested waters at.; the cry of "man overboard” arid risks his life without a moment's hesitation for the sake of another, the devoted nurses who carry their lives in their hands as they' walk along, the hospital wards and smooth the fevered brow of the patients whose every breath is laden with infectious germs, the miner who deliberately descends the shaft • and, with the poisonous fumes reeking through his nostrils searches for missing comrades, the soldier who lingers amidst the bullets of the enemy that ho may bring a fallen mate to safety, the mother who ungrudgingly gives her life for her child, tho poor, hardworking woman —- herself a miserable' drudge—who spends night after night at the bedside of a sick neighbor, losing the sleep, which she herself so badly needs, all provide ample and convincing proof of the enormous arid beneficial influence played by sentiment in our daily lives.- The mercenary money-grubber umlor- | stand these deeds, for like the Muckrake of Pilgrim’s Progress ho keeps his eyes so fixed upon the-ground that he cannot sec the higher ideals which act as a guiding star to his fellows. No monetary consideration- could persuade a man to imperil his life amongst a horde of sharks, nor induce tho other acts of self-sacrifice just indicated, and though really commonplace, they stand out with brilliant .vividness as an eternal proof that there is more of goodness in the world than there is of badness, and at the same time suppy incontrovertible testimony to the power of sentiment. Presumably* Mr Haldane thinks New Zealand is retained as a portion of tho British Empire because it suits us to sell our meat and wool to the people of England, or because we still need the protection of the Great Old Mother of the Anglo-Saxon race. Ho apparently attaches little

importance to tho Union Jade. Docs « his unimaginative mind fail t 1 the tremendous power tli L . z&sr P wfl.arfnot 1 tho‘ advantaged a r nf Ave feel an intimate and per w cro our w 0 remc mbe r the tho more speedily a. +i in + have inrfnl and glorious deeds that na stands as an emblem- I S J i! it has been a paitncr ■ j and defeats; it symbol.sos m a wa«ak no other object can ° °^J nder t]l6 ness and our streng [ l , our soldiers it is carrie m o r y CO nrago and inspiration o i ®..y[ u peace it waves will exhibit an ap p aren tl y magnificent |} le strength and iS) proudly a m ;g]jty Empire. If any con*Sklande r doubts its potency let impend a brief period amongst the of<*ople of a foreign nation, where he sees nothing and hears nothing of sympathetic utterance towards the country to which he belongs. Then let the strains of an English national anthem break upon his ears and simultaneously give him a sight of the Union .Jack and, as the blood races through his excited veins he will realise that the flag means a lot more to him than he had supposed. We are told by the cablegraphist that Mr Haldane’s statement was greeted by Ministerial and Labor cheers. Tho whole incident is regrettable, for it indicates a meanness of spirit that should not be manifest in the Councils of the Empire. Wo do not favor a patriotism that desires an outlet by making war on our neighbors, but we do claim that the propogation of a love of country on the part of its inhabitants is a legitimate and godly tiling, and to minimise the part played by the Union Jack in the maintenance of Empire is to lose sight of the fact that patriotic sentiment is one of the most potent factors in determining the affairs of the human race.