CARE OF SOLDIERS' GRAVES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 978, 19 November 1910, Page 10

CARE OF SOLDIERS' GRAVES.

Sir,—lt would appear this is a subject the people of the Dominion find it convenient to forget. It- is true thero exists in Wellington an association to which the public havo subscribed funds for the care of soldiers' graves in South Africa, but for some mysterious reason thoso controlling this fund have applied it very reluctantly to tho purposo intended, and now we are informed it is being expended in providing monuments of Coromandel granite over tho graves of thoso who returned from South Africa—when they die. It is not this niggardly-administered fund I, am alluding to, but to tho efforts which havo been made from timo to time to arouse public interest in tho shamefully-neglected stato of tho graves of the late Queen's troops, and tho colonial forces, who foil duriiig tho wars with the Maoris from 1860 to 1870. Recently the Auckland branch of the Victoria League, which lias charged itself with this sacred duty, havo applied to the Premier, for funds to enable them to restore theso graves, and to maintain them in a dccent condition. This application was voiced in Parliament by tho member for Auckland City East, backed by Mr. Masscy and several othor members, but Sir Joseph AVard, somewhat superciliously, referred tho Leaguo to the Municipal Council of Auckland, and ignored the fact that, unfortunately, there aro many cases of moro shameful neglect throughout tho Dominion than the particular caso of Synionds Street . Cemetery, in. Auckland. Has the Wellington branch of tho Victoria League nothing to say in this question, which is surely one of interest to all i" tho Dominion? Those whoso momories call mutely from that past where soldiers of tho Queen, whom this Victoria Leaguo is named in commemoration of; and thoso of us, now resident in the Dominion, who havo served in tho Imperial forces, may well ask if all this talk is reaPy meant. No doubt, when our Premier finds himself in England he will expand his chest, and hold forth grandiloquently on tho subject of Imperial federation and tho

lovo all good New Zealanders hold in their hearts for tho Motherland. But what would they say in England if they knew that tho graves of tlioso whom England gavo to the service of the colony wcro now neglected and forgotten?

Surely, if wo mean our loyalty to England, and desiro to eneourago patriotism in our children, it is. an obvious duty to perpetuate tho memory of tlioso who fought and fell to secure this fair land for tho present generation and posterity. Can there bo a better method of inculcating in tho minds and hearts of tho young veneration for sacred things, and respect for constituted authority, than to prove to them that lovo of their country is a sacred sentiment, and that to be prepared to fight, and, if necessary, to die, for one's country, tho, highest obligation and tho most honourable duty? 'So shall wo build up tho patriotism of a nation, and leavo to posterity an honourablo record to emulate. If respect for the memory of those who 'gavo their lives in the service of their country is not a sacred sentiment, what is? All peoples, civilised and uncivilised, honour their dead. Even the foreign nations, whom England fought against in tho this dav tend with respect England's dead who lie at rest in the countries they invaded. ■ Thousands of , English and American people have visited tho national monument on the field of Waterloo, and have bared their heads in memory of England's dead, whoso homes lie scattered around; and the cemeteries left by the English and Trench armies in the Crimea are to this day respectfully cared for by the Russian peoplo. Shall it, therefore, bo said of New Zealand that she neglected this sacred duty, and left tho memory of her unhonoured dead a bitter reproach upon posterity ? If we permit ourselves to becomo engrossed by mercenary ideas, if we reserve no place in our hearts for national sentiment, and despise sacred things, what can our futuro life bo? Macaulay has said: "That a people that does not keep in memory tho great deeds of its ancestors is not likely to do anything worthy of being remembered by its .descendants." Is history to record that New Zealand has no national sentiment; that, immersed in personal .aggrandisement, she forgets her obligations to those who gave their lives in her service? Surely not! Wo have commissions appointed to inquire into matters of less importance to our national life than this. Can it be possible, then, that national sentiment in this matter is so weak that public opinion will not sooner or later insist upitn the appointment of a commission to'inquire and report as to-the deplorable stato of tho last resting-places of our honoured dead? The caso. of Symonds Street Cemetery, in -Auckland, is bad enough, but -there are many moro cases of shamoful neglect in other placos in tho Dominion, and one would fain believe that a Government which had tho best interests of its people at heart would' be glad to' assist an association like tho Victoria League, willing _ to take upon itself this, national obligation, by providing tho nccessaij funds annually.—l am, etc., y C.A.YOUNG. Hamilton, Waikatoj November 11," 1910.