The Press WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1957. Anzac Day

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28260, 24 April 1957, Page 12

The Press WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1957. Anzac Day

Anzac Day has a wider significance than the commemoration of Australians’ and New Zealanders’ most famous feat of arms, from which it takes its name. Its wider meaning embraces even more than the honouring of their brave deeds and sacrifices in several wars. It honours these men and women because it recognises the ideals for which they were ready to die. Because the high hopes with which they went to war have not been fully realised, the world is still a dangerous place, a more dangerous place than most of them could ever have imagined. But their achievement has been no small one. New Zealand, the British Commonwealth, and many other countries have preserved the rule of law, love of liberty, respect for fair dealmg, and the

quest for a stable and just social order. The men and women honoured tomorrow were in the vanguard of many who have defended these blessings with unceasing vigilance. The best reward for those still alive and the best memorial to the fallen should be the knowledge that in the easier times of peace other men and women are prepared to accept their share of the responsibility of defending these ideals—and to count it a privilege. This is a task that can never end while human frailty beckons to tyranny and bad faith; but the spirit of Anzac shows how the burden can be borne by free men when they believe their cause to be just, however terrible the path they must take. A young nation is fortunate to have such a tradition. Once a year it does well to brace itself to be worthy of it