RETURNED SOLDIERS' RECEPTIONS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 48, 20 November 1917, Page 7

RETURNED SOLDIERS' RECEPTIONS

ARE THEY "COLD, CALLOUS, AND INDIFFERENf?"

[By Sylvius.]

In a recent issue of an exchangeappeared nn article, no jloubt intended to be scathing, on the attitndo of tlio public of Wellington towards returned soldiers on the day of their arrival.. II £ a conclusion wluch the superhc.nl observor could be excused from arriving at, but, all tho same, it is inr from bcin„ the truth. As ono who has scon »°°P 5 arrive, from the fint draft from Galhpoli to the last from Messwes I am quite aware that tho one-time public speedmaking, tea-drinking form of reception has passed away, and little has been left to tako its place. But whore does the blamo lie? Not with the public or the civic officials. Tho fact that a reception of troops to-day may seem cold, callous, and indifferent" is the result of the action of the men themselves, , who simI ply will not have tho public reception, I «nd without any hesitancy have declared themselves "fed up" with that sort or thins, probably because of tho. receptions at Capo Town and Albany. When drafts of troops first commenced to arrive back there was no sign of anyone being cold or callous. They were driven in procession through the streets in motor-cars, headed by a band, and were entertained in a decorateil Town Hall, by sympathetic' ladies, who were simply kindness itself, and the Governor-General and Ministers 'made speeches. Gradually, however, tho men of each draft became less nnd less inclined for suck parades, and the numbor of soldiers who attended them dwindled until the Concert Chamber was used instead of the larger hall. Later still, the men, before they left tho troopship, said openly that they did not want anything of the kind. Probably they had seen the thousands which arrived Tn England overy week from tho battle-line, and know it to bo ' a part of the game, and little "to crack hearty about." So now it has come down to The Mayor receiving the'men at_the railway station or boi\t, and assuring them of tho citizens' pleasure at seeing them back again. Some months ago, tho Mayor made arrangements to provide lunch and afternoon tea for tho returned men, and they were notified of tho sarno on tho train coming down, but tho thing was a fiasco, practically no one turning up. In such circumstances there is only one thing to bo dono. As a matter of fact tho pompouß receptions and grandiloquent farewells accorded to troops were but a passing phase of tho great war. Most people aro quite sure that the public heart still warms towards tho returned man, but tho soldier of to-day hates to bo mado a fuss of. He wants to meet those who are near and dear to him first, and anything that delays or interferes with that meeting has to go. One may as well think of revorting to tho old stylo of farewelling troops as to reinstate big sympathetic receptions to roturned men. The times are out of joint for both. Tho men go forward steadily in a stern sense of duty to their country and their blood; the returned man comes back conscious of a certain personal pride that ho has "dono his bit," but ho has seen so many hundreds of thousands of men going through the same ordeal, and faring worse, that ho really does not yearn for hero-worship-in public.