The War Memorial.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16853, 5 June 1920, Page 8

The War Memorial.

The Mayor, who is largely responsible for the present unsatisfactory position of the movement for the provision of a war memorial, appears to have imagined that he could best help the Memorial Committee at its meeting yesterday by airing some grievance he has against the newspapers in general, and "Tho Press in. particular. .It is a pity that the Mayor does not realiso that the host service he can now render is to keep in the background as much as possible. Tho committee set itself seriously to the task of getting out of its present anomalous position. At J present it is in the position of a body I representing the public and committed j to the carrying out of a scheme that I tho public does not desire. There is ! no public demand for tho Hall of J Memories that inspired Mr Alpers to j the flight of imagination that left the 1 citizens rather cold, and little prospect of success for any campaign on behalf of it. Tho local branch of tho Returned Soldiers' Association, or at any rate the executive of tho branch, maintains that "tno soldiers stand solidly by their "previous decision for a Hall of Memo"ries," but this is not in accordance with earlier intimations that, provided ' certain conditions were observed, the R.S.A. would support other suitable schemes. !N"or it is in accord, so we > believe, with tha opinion of the returned soldiers as a body. It will be a pity ' if the U.S.A. is induced by its leaders ' to 'boycott all other schemes, but in j that case the public will endeavour to j bear the disappointment as philosophic-! ally as possible. Tho leaders of the' U.S.A. will, of course, consider tho; point that the public may nevertheless not have philosophy enough to forget it. As to tlw position of the Memorial ' Committee, there is much to bo said for the Rev. Mr La wry" s contention that the committee should either carry out j

j tho plan that it was created to carry ! out or '.he go out of existence. It was

not appointed with a general commission, and it is without authority to summon delegates from independent committees which are doing something definite. Nevertheless, we can see no

| strong objection to the proposal that a | coniercnce .should be held. Wc hope, however, that this conference will not resemble the last one, held on April 9th, at which, after hearing; the delegations, the committee decided to ignore the developments since .March and resolved to proceed as if the public had asked for a Hall of Memories. There will be further delay and confusion unless the committer gives up all thought of this scheme, and deevds to give such assistance as it can to the movement to ercct a column. The only substantial point to bo contested Ls the site, and although Mr J. A. Fk-sher, who holds that living dogs (i.e., municipal voters) are better than dead lions (the men to be commemorated), and that therefore the Squaro must bo kept for the former class, has ideas concerninn; the Victoria street bridge, we arc sure that most peopl?, including a majority of the committee, prefer that the monument should bo crected in Cathedral square.