In most places the master or mistress spoke to the
children on the rise and growth of the Empire and the significance of the Union Jack. Suggestions for these addresses had been furnished in an excellent circular letter issued by Mr. R. Blair, the Education Officer of the L.C.C., who laid stress on the fact that the relation of the Kingdom to the Dominions overseas was one of partnership rather than possession, the tie corresponding to that between parent and grown-up children. It was also pointed out that the Empire was a union for peace and defence, and not for aggression and aggrandisement. Perhaps the best comment on this state- ment was the message from Mr. Fisher, leader of a Labour
Ministry and Premier of the Australian Commonwealth, published in Saturday's Times, in which he declares that confidence begets confidence. " In the free Dominions the authority of the Crown and of the ancient institutions of our country stands to-day more firmly than ever."
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