NEW ZEALAND'S DEAD.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 656, 5 November 1909, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND'S DEAD.

il,?! r r Kip, » ing '® r ,e c « !sio n' l l hymn recurs fore. ?Jl)^A° n %? '2'» d m ' wading the. letter "Now merviUe ra ad, ?F& '•"** R<s ? inaW S™" rvntir. ' lQt £\ )ate CominoaSer Fourth r£ffiii' T ?' h,oh speared in, your issue for October 11 It cannot be supposed that Colonel Sommeivile intended to excite the feeling of dietrustwinch.his letter is calculated to conveyi but it was a letter which mado one sad to lZ'J n * r f? ret that ' oße wh °' natl been S?m, 1D ih K "Pwationsvin-' South Africa should have written, as it oontains insinuations nlnch reflect painfully upon the accuracy,.and • indeed, the honesty; of .purpose, of tho letter trom Airs. Alex. Campbell MTSwcn, hon. graves ecretarr of the Guild of Loyal Women of south Africa, TrausvaiU, . and the. numerous ladies.in South Africa associated,with her in. a- noble arid ; patriotic\.work, ■ which 'should appeal to tho finor feelings of overy generous »rson)of the Anglo-Saxon .race. Mrs. 1 ' Camp. >cll Miiwen's letter, accompanied a . letter Tom Captain llostyn Jpn&s. late Adjutant, S'xth and Brigade-Major, Ninth 1 Contingents, N.i:.M.) which, as Colonel Somrii'er.ville'. states, appeared in Tim Dominion on September 29. In© lady s letter explains how. the money—most of which, as : Colonel SommerviUo is awaTO,' was collected ■ in' England—has been invested, and, as Captain Jones states in his more recent letter, the trustees aro the High Commissioner and tho Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, with *tbe Federal president of the guild. Surely your readers wilMeel satisfied' that these highplaced individuals 'will administer thoir, trust to. the best advantage. Besides, is it generous o criticise the administratioli' of. a trust to the fundo.of which New Zealanders' have hot in auy way contributed? The lady hon. secreary of the Guild of Loyal Women states in her letter that "no money has ever been received by the guild for the' care of the graves of New Zealanders who have fallen in the Transvaal, from any public -association , or. private individual in New Zealand, and vet 'these graves have always been loqked after.' . Under such circumstances, why should Colonel Soinmerrille or any other New Zealander deairo "to see a. balance-sheet"? The colonel has evidently read the lady's letter carekssly. and, as Captain. Mostyn Jones points out,: tho misunderstanding of the letter he critici6os lies with himself. On the face of this explanation there does not appear to be any' reaeonwhv New Zealand should'not subscribe to the'funds pi the Guild of' Loyal :Women of South' Africa, w.ho are perpetuating the- memory-and ;aw charging:themselves.with the decent caie and upkeep of the graves, of :New : Zealahdors who lie buried-in the Transvaal.; ■. . .. , ' The writer has devoted some time and .at. tention to visiting, the scenes,'■■' of tlie, various engagements between the ImporiaUand colonial troops and:the Maoris, in.the war.of 1860, an«i afterwards, and was grieved to. observe the deplorable state of ruin and' neglect into.whic} the little cemeteries and other burial place* of those who'fought and fell:in -defence '■ a', the: colony have been permitted to fall. Heri and there throughout, the Dominion l they li< decently..' interred in'little cemeteries; - undei headstones or slabs of ~wood,, ■ fenced. around and witli pine-trees planted to, preserve thi appearance of their burying place. These littli cemeteries,- with-'.malny . isolated , grnves: bj meandering streams and in lonely fern-.sprnb w-ere left by,.the Imperial troops as a esscret trust te the care of .New Zealand. And hon has she-discharged that trust? Visitors, ti snch, places as Waitara, near New Plymouth and at the mouth of. the Waingorigoro,' nek Ha-wera, may see^for-themselves; but, ead. t< say, there are many places inhere;the plpug! has obliterated -every - appearance of < buryini places, and the sweet grass grows oVer tho las resting-places, of those who gave, tieir live for ihe land .the .present., generation are enjoy ing in , peace. No. monument, nor iron dros hasbeen erected to. perpetuate, their memory or to call the flush of pride and patriotism ti the cheek of the rising generation. Shduli .this-be so?: A' peregrinatory commission oiigh to have been appointed long ago by tho Govern men t to inquire where our nnhonoured - deai are lying, and .to retrieve'this long neglect. . .England's .and-New Zealand's dcad'in Sout' Africa lie honoured and'cared for bythe lovin and generous womanhood" 6f 'the" Guilder Loyal-Wpmei'of; South' Africa.■', However.iisc •lated a lonely grave may be.-there has an iro cross -beeii-erected in (nemoriam. .;Aro :th wonien;."^f,;*NeW : 'Zealand, less'kind- aVd- loyi to the,memoir of their dead? "Thaf ; somethm ■ lias' recently ' ; Deo'n ; done .'must- be gratefully r a< ■mitted, as' at:Now ; Plymouth, Tauranga, an previously:'at Tβ.-, Ngutu-o-to-' Manu, • Manai< and possibly other places the writer has n< visited, but - there 'remain many,'\too:.M.anyy- ( our • nnhonoured i'dead. lying stiU negleote< waiting the exerciee of thai generosity to whio Colonel Sommervillo's.letter alludes. ; : "God o'{ our.'fathers, : Known of-old,*!':--' ,■" Lord of our!far-flnn^ba.ttle : -line; "■: : ■-■■■;■■• Beneath Whoso awful 'Hand we hold | .'. • Dominion over■ palm 'and pine.,. :.-.'".'■ Lord.God of Hosted be with us yet, , , ■ Lest we'foreet—lfist, we forget,. .''", : !. "The .tumult;and the shjiuting dies';" '; ' ■ Tho captains and-the : kings'depart: ; Still: stands' thine-ancient, sacrifice,' ■An humbleand. a contrite: heart,'- ;■,';;;'".': v, i Lord God of Rbsts.'-be with:us;yct,-' ;J .Lest wo. forget—lest we-forget." . -I am/'etc., '. ■;'..VIjC^AV.-.TOjiNG;'..'.',": ■-. ' ' ■ ; (Late) Captain the Lincolnshire Ecgti," 1 V. .■ ■■ ". ; ii-.l ,'■-. Imperial Forces. ': Auckland,\pctober 27, 1909.'-,,- •"..-';