AN EMPIRE DAY LETTER.
BY EVELYN WRENCH.
-FAITRING the past week Empire Day was rightly -1-7 celebrated on. a larger scale than ever, rightly in so far as it is regarded as a day for re-consecrating ourselves, in a spirit of humbleness, to the stupendous tasks which have been entrusted to us. Surely the age has passed when we need to feast our eyes on pages of statistics showing that. the British Empire is "the most extensive the world has ever seen" or that "it is seven times as large as the Roman Empire at the tirne of its greatest extent," or, again, that "it is the most populous Empire the world .has. ever seen "—I quote from the official leaflet which has been distributed by the thousand.
May I suggest to Lord Meath, who has devoted himself in so self-sacrificing a manner to the extension of the Empire Day movement and for whose altruism we must all entertain the deepest respect, that the Empire Day leaflet of the future should be planned on other lines ? If we wish the celebration of Empire Day to continue to grow, we should surely eliminate the jingoism from it. How will history measure the greatness of any Empire ? By its square mileage or by the number of its citizens ? I think not. Rather by the moral worth, happiness and well-being of its people.
The Empire Day leaflet of the future should enlighten us about the following matters. Out of the total population of Great Britain and the various sections of the Empire, what is the percentage of physical fitness.? And dealing with the Mother Country especially, which is the immediate concern of the residents in these islands, to whom these remarks are addressed, how many stunted or rickety children are there in our midst, how many persons with defective eyesight, how many mouths with, say, 90 per cent, clean and undecayed teeth ? And the homes in which our Imperial race spend their lives— what of them ? I can imagine the remarks of some of the slum dwellers of Glasgow and Sheffield, of Bethnal Green and Walworth, reading through the Empire Day leaflets which dilate on the fact that one-quarter of the world acknowledges the British flag. The British flag does not mean very much to, them of the good things of life, of fresh air, sunshine, of opportunity for self-improve- ment, does it ?
If we desired to turn Empire Day into an occasion for national stock-taking and for national advancement in all the things that matter, would not our Empire Day literature tell us, for instance, some of the following facts?' How many " homes " below the common decency, level are there in the industrial cities of Great Britain ? What proportion of our population live in surroundings in which it is practically impossible to develop soul and body as providence intended ? How many of the people of these islands are able to speak the King's English ? How many of them have received the educational advantages which you and I have enjoyed ? .
Let -the Empire Day literature of the future tell us where progress has been made—for he would be a fool who pretended that we are standing still. What pro- portion of our population to-day own their own houses and their land ? What headway has been made by our garden-cities and by our town-planners ? How many insanitary areas have been pulled down since the War ? How far has the movement for the healthy recreation of the masses spread, which was written about so forcibly by Mrs. Williams-Ellis in the Spectator a few weeks since ? Do the majority of our population ever get a chance of playing games—which we of the prosperous classes consider essential to our well-being ? What was the population of our gaols, our asylums, our work- houses last year ? How many mental defectives were permitted to increase their species ?
A Sunlight League has been formed recently, I observe in the Press, and it is high time. In the large cities of Great Britain how many hours of sunshine were lost through the smoke nuisance ? Our British climate is not so prolific of its sunshine allowance in all conscience that we can afford to be spendthrifts. How far, then, in the past twelve months have we dispensed with antiquated coal fires and substituted efficient, clean and healthy methods of heating ? What has the progress been in the matter of infant mortality—and here at least we have good reason for optimism—in which New Zealand has set us such a splendid example ?
What do our drink statistics divulge, what is the per capita consumption of alcohol of the Briton along- side the progressive peoples of Europe such as the Swedes, the Norwegians, the Danes, the Swiss, or in our- own Empire how does the average drink bill of the Briton compare with his fellow-citizen in Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa ? How many decent public-houses—mark the term " public " houses, that is, presumably, houses to which you and I as members of the public can take our families—how many public-houses are there in Great Britain that we would not be ashamed of being seen entering ?
What of our lovely countryside—which makes such an appeal to our visitors from the Dominions and from the United States, and which is one of the greatest assets of the old country? Do those of us. who are proud to repeat " Ciri.s Britannicus sum" ever raise our individual voice against the disfigurement of our country- side by advertisement hoardings, or do we leave the protection of our beauty spots to a few public-spirited individuals who belong to such societies as the Scapa and others ?
Of course, we are proud of our Empire, or the white section of it which has grown into a Commonwealth of free nations, and we believe that it is the greatest political experiment ever undertaken by man. We are proud of the " coloured " section of it, in so far as we have been able to spread civilization throughout the world, to establish justice and order, to abolish slavery, to ad- minister just laws, to spread enlightened ideas, to provide educational facilities, to teach the rudiments of hygiene and sanitation. For these and many other reasons we are proud of the British Commonwealth and the oppor- tunities for world service which it affords. But if our patriotic protestations are genuine, if they are more than mere lip service, we will see to it that our annual Imperial festival is devoted to a thorough heart-searching, to an inquiry into our social well-being. Is our social conscience active, is it thrilling to the ills of the body politic? Do we indeed desire to build new Jerusalexns around the Seven Seas, and as a challenge to humanity intend to start by putting our own house in order ? Thoughts such as these have been surging through my mind this Empire Day. We all applauded Mr. Kipling's " Recessional " because it was a challenge to " Cockiness " and self- complacency. Cannot we revive its spirit ? ;— "For frantic beast and foolish word
Thy mcrcy on thy people, Lord."
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