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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 14, Issue 12 (March 1, 1940)

“Made In Germany.”

“Made In Germany.”

Compare it with the species of “liberation” conferred by the Nazi barbarians on Poland, the “protection” enforced on the Czechs under the sinister banner of the swastika. Compare Adolf Hitler and his bloodspatterd henchmen as the exemplification of Liberty as “made in Germany,” and realise that our liberty, at least, is not the liberty of the jungle or the freedom of fang and claw. The actions of modern despots compel us to review our estimate of the ancient ape man. He was more or less a gentleman. One of the most tragic aspects of traditional liberty is that the thoughtless can only assess its worth in the light of its loss. For them, only oppression can awaken appreciation of lost freedom. But that is too late.

We have reached a stage where there is only one question to answer. Shall we abandon our freedom to apes or defend it as a trust for the future generations of men? For Liberty is always a legacy in trust. The Freedom of 1940 is the Liberty bequeathed by the dead and the living of 1914 and onward.

The Freedom that we hold in trust to-day
Is not for us to jeopardise at will.
We did not make it, though we've nurtured it,
But we may only call it ours until
We part with life, and then we pass it on
To those who wait, expectant, as their right,
That we who held the torch in trust for them,
Will pass it on with steady flame and bright.
For every generation holds in trust
This precious torch attained by blood and tears,
And we, our children, and our children's heirs,
Must pass it undefiled along the years.

It must not be said by the millions unborn, “Liberty is what our fathers had and bartered for a brief illusion.”

They shall not mourn of liberty betrayed,
Nor lay a vassal's curse upon the years,
Better that they should weep for men who died,
Than mourn a squandered freedom
with their tears.

No tobacco? Can you picture what it would mean to millions of people if the world's supply of tobacco were suddenly and for ever cut off and no more could be had for love or money? Airily classed by this government and that as a mere “luxury”—tobacco has yet become almost as necessary as food to most people. Fortunately there is no danger of such a catastrophic state of things eventuating as a world without its weed. The huge output is constantly increasing; demand creates supply. Happily for Maorilanders some of the choicest leaf is grown and manufactured right here in New Zealand. Visiting experts and connoisseurs who have sampled the five popular brands. Navy Cut No. 3 (Bulldog), Riverhead Gold, Desert Gold, Cavendish and Cut Plug No. 10 (Bullshead) have pronounced them equal if not superior to, the finest tobacco produced in other lands with the added advantage (an enormous one) that they are practically without nicotine–eliminated by toasting in the process of manufacture, so that they are powerless to harm even the most inveterate smoker.*

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