On this day twelve months ago the following passage appeared in this column, which looking back seems to have been almost prophetic While with all his heart and soul the average Briton desires that the cup of war shall be withheld from him, let there be no mistake that if he has to quaff it he will drain it to its bitterest dregs. Let those who would seek to proffer that draught beware lest they find the drinking of it be to their own discomfort, for the years of patience which have passed were no signs of weakness, but rather of an earnest desire to explore the avenues of peace. They are not closed yet; they may never be, but if it is sought to close them determination and steel shall again force a passage.
These are not vainglorious words. [They would be if the hesitancies of the past still prevailed, if the British in all quarters of the globe were not prepared to defend themselves and their rights to the very last hour of act. It may be—though God forbid,—that by the time another Empire Day comes round Britons may be called upon to make good these words. They will not fail any more than the sun will forget to rise, for if they did it would set upon them forever. There is in this year and age a call for service, for sacrifice, for consecration to the high ideals for which the Empire stands. Those things can only be rendered with "a humble and contrite heart" and a remembrance of the history of which the Briton can be so proud.
For almost nine months now the Empire and its gallant ally, France, have been at war. They had committed themselves to the defence of Poland by warning Germany that should she attack that country they would go to war on behalf of the Poles. Herr Hitler and his advisers appear to have thought all that was a mere bluff, but the world now knows that it was no such thing and that the Allies did something which Herr Hitler has never done, and that was to honour their word. It is impossible not to look back on the past year with very considerable pride tinged with humility induced by the knowledge of the great task ahead, and the weighty decisions which may have to be made before another Empire Day comes round. Without infringing the neutrality of other nations, it was impossible to give Poland that immediate aid which was necessary if Germany was to be prevented from overrunning her, but the Allies entered the fray determined that in the end they shall prevail, and that Poland as well as the other nations which have fallen beneath the advances of the German hordes shall be restored to their former liberty and territorial integrity.
Reviewing the events which occurred during last August, which finally led to the declaration of war upon Germany, there cannot be the slightest doubt that the Allies did everything in their power, short of submission to the Nazis' rapacious demands, to avert the present conflict. But it was not to be. The mighty military machine which the Nazis had built during previous years had to be used, and with complete callousness Herr Hitler plunged Europe into a war, which, despite every effort which is being made, may spread far beyond its present confines. The British Empire and France did not lightly take up the sword. They will not lightly lay it down. Nor will it be sheathed until Naziism and all the hideous things for which it stands are wiped off the face of the earth, and in that determination the great Commonwealth of Nations which is the British Empire, is unanimous. The oneness of purpose with which the Dominions and the Colonies have rallied to the assistance of the mother country in its crusade against evil, the spontaneous enthusiasm with which so many various peoples have responded to the call to arms, and the willing submission of all to the sterner discipline of war, show that the heart of the Empire is in the right place. The Empire may in truth be an aggregation of nations so apparently loosely bound together that some people fail to understand how it could ever present itself to the world as a single unit as it is now doing. But the bonds which unite them are mostly spiritual involving the acceptance of high ideals of justice, truth and democracy and an inspired loyalty to them all. It is for these things that the British Empire has again been called upon to fight. It is to ensure that decency and justice shall still prevail in the world, that the Allies are again to watch the spilling of the blood of their youth in many theatres of war, and it is because of these things that on such a day as this the pride which is felt by Britons over the single fact of their citizenship in the Empire, is so openly manifested.
The Empire is again at war with that "lesser breed" which has so frequently during the past nine months shown itself to be completely "without the law." It faces an enemy which will stick at nothing in the struggle for victory, without which the evil system which controls it cannot hope to live. This year it is passing through an anxious period. The battle which has only just begun in Europe still remains undecided. It has not yet assumed the complexion of a major conflict into which it shows every sign of developing. When that comes about the anxieties of the past few days may be increased. They can, however, be faced with the knowledge that the Empire possesses vast resources all of which have not yet been thrown into the melting pot of war, and a grim patience with which to suffer reverses. The path to victory may be a long one: That it will be extremely arduous is to be taken for granted. That the Empire will shrink from any sacrifice necessary for the final achievement of victory cannot for one moment be believed. It will not; the history of a thousand years of struggle is sufficient to indicate that. Readers are referred to the Empire Day message from Viscount Bledisloe, which appears elsewhere in this issue, and particularly the closing paragraph As President of the Empire Day Movement I greet you warmly on the birthday of the great and good Queen Victoria, chosen by its founder to remind us all of the true meaning, the privileges and the obligations of Empire citizenship, and I would earnestly ask you to remember the inspiring words which our present gracious Sovereign quoted in his broadcast to his people last Christmas, "Go cut into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God." Thus guided we shall press forward with the grim task which lies before us, confidently assured of victory for our arms, and also for those noble ideals upon which the British Empire has been built up. Let our battle cry be:—'For God, and Empire, and justice between nation and nation, and between man and man" and all that is best and truest in mankind will re-echo to it.
The sacredness of the Allied cause is recognized not only by the Empire and France, but by the whole of the world not obsessed with the evil doctrine that might is right, and no better fighting cry could be imagined than that which Viscount Bledisloe has given. The Empire fights for God and itself, for justice, and to ensure that all those thing of good repute with which the world has been blessed in the past, shall not now be lost to it by the scheming of evil men. It will not fail in the struggle, for it owes it to itself to see that all the good for which it stands shall be handed down to posterity which, it is hoped, will enjoy a more peaceful life as a result of the sacrifices which are being, and which will continue to be made.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.