The Dominion FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1919, A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 180, 25 April 1919, Page 4

The Dominion FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1919, A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

It is a, pity that any jarring note should, bo struck in regard to the public celebration of Anzac Day, hut there is little doubt that the present failure to reach complete unanimity in the matter is temporary and will soon bo overcome. The attitude of business people and others who are refusing to observe the.holiday can only be accounted for in the assumption that they havo imperfectly grasped the facts of the position. Apparently they do not realise iliat, apart from the direct associations which will make it live for all time in our history, Anzac Day has established an unassailable claim to be regarded, and honoured as the Groat War. Memorial Day'of the Dominion. As. Mr. Oubtayne, secretary of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association, points out, this claim has been endorsed by Ministers of the Crown, Mayors, and other responsible public men, and he might have added that undoubtedly they arc supported in this stand by an overwhelming weight of miblic opinion.' It is self-evident that the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli has caught and touched • the • public imagination in this country far more than that of''any other.day in the year on which deeds of conspicu-' pus valour were performed by our troops In the course of tlic- war there were many'such days, but in .the popular estimation Anzac Day is tho fitting occasion on which to commemorate the achievements and the sacrifices of our soldiers in all theatres and in all the battles in which they engaged. It, of course, greatly strengthens this vcrdict that it is as definitely ancl explicitly that of returned soldiers as of those who stayed at home. Returned soldiers, through their organisations, are taking a leading part in pressing the demand that Anzac Day shall be_ made a statutory holiday. They will assuredly not lack support from tho civilian population. It is not for a moment in doubt that the popular judgment in this matter is sound._ It is always right to honour the pioneers in any great human enterprise, and the New Zealandcrs who fought in the Battle of the Landing were splendid pioneers to all who followed them into the ranks of our Expeditionary Force. In that grim opening conflict our soldiers demonstrated once for all that they were richly endowed with the best and staunchcst qualities of their race, and were equal to upholding the noblest of its martial traditions. New ' Zealand troops entered tho war as-raw and hastily trained levies, and emerged as veterans after taking for years a full and glorious part in campaigns which dwarfed that of Gallipoli. Yet all that followed might have- been inferred _ from the bearing of our soldiers in the historic battle for a foothold on Turkish soil. Time gave them advancement in discipline, training, and skill such as could bo gained only in the hard and ever-changing school of war, but the native quality which from first to last made their achievements possible was brilliantly displayed in their first_ great battle of the war. Our men in this battle gave instant and unmistakable proof of their mettle, and set a worthy standard for all that followed, and the anniversary of the Landing now stands out as the most suitable day on which to commemorate the total achievement and sacrifice of our soldiers and the debt they havo laid upon their country. To say that it so stands out most certainly implies no slight upon the many thousands of' New Zealand soldiers who never set foot on Gallipoli and first saw servicc in France or in the" later campaigns against Turkey which in the end so gloriously retrieved the failure of the hcroic Gallipoli adventure. The record of achievement of the New Zealand ExpeditionaryForce runs unbrokenly from the Battle of the Landing to the events of culminating victory, and in appointing a day of national commemoration nothing could be more appropriate than to select tho day on which the record opened. Some of those who oppose the general observance' of.Anzac Day have urged that it is likely to be regarded as a day of amusement and recreation, and its real purpose lost to sight. This .on the face of it is a somewhat c'xtrcmo assumption, and makes much too little of the fact that for many years to come men who have faced the realities of war and tho relatives of these men and of those who made the supreme sacrifice for their country will constitute a very large proportion of the population'. The argument in any ease confuses One thing with another. No one would dream of .suggesting that the mere proclamation of'a statutory holiday is in itself an adequate commemoration of the deeds of our soldiers in the war. It is merely a first and essential step towards making such a commemoration possible, and of course should be followed up by every possible effort to securo the worthy observance of the day. It is true that i people of British race are apt to

bo backward in such observances, but wo should be unworthy indeed of our heroic dead if we did not fincl in the associations of Anzac Day an inspiration growing stronger rather than weaker as the years go by. l This great day most certainly must not be allowed to degenerate into an ordinary holiday. It is a day on which the people of New Zealand are called upon to remember not only that their soldiers gained high renown in war, but that a little army, more than sixteen thousand iu all, gave life itself for their country and in the cause of humanity. Anzac Day is, or should be, all over New Zealand, the occasion of a solemn tribute to the fallen. • It is a day on which to heartily honour our soldiers who have returned and will return from the front. Not least it should be an essential purpose of the day to hold up tho magnificent example set by our soldiers not onlj to admiration, but to emulation. Tho qualities that told in war are needed, and always will be, in peace, and there would be every reason to fear for the future of this country if the associations that hallow Anzac Day ever came to bo regarded with indifference and neglected. As we have said, the fear that Anzao Day will tend to degenerate into a commonplace holiday seems to bj overdrawn. Looking otilj at (.he local arrangements—necessarily hampered to some extent by the fact that 'the holiday is not general—the Returned Soldiers' Association is giving: an excellent and creditable lead. The parade and memorial service in tho afternoon and the concert to be given in the evening are all intended to be of a character appropriate to the clay, and should go some way towards marking it as a great national occasion. , 'Services are to be held also in some of the churches. The arrangements as a whole commend themselves as on right lines, but when Anzac Day lias been given the full recognition to which it is undoubtedly entitled still more comprehensive arrangements for its observance will be called for/the constant aim must be to bring home to old and young the evergreen associations of tho day and its noble inspiration.