CELEBRATING PEACE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 252, 18 July 1919, Page 2

CELEBRATING PEACE

THE WELLINGTON GIRLS' COLLEGE

Yesterday morning tlio stall' will pupils of l-he Wellington Dirls; College hold their peaco ciiijbnvtions in the Central Jfell of the school, ,<"hich had teen very prettily decol'nted with lings lor il.o occasion. Tiio junior school, which met - first, was addressed by llio Mayor, Mr. .f. I'. Luke, who occupied tho chair, and by Mr. Darroch, hull. secretary of tho .Navy League. Mr. Luko based Jiiß remarks on what ho termed the keynote of the successful'issue of the war contained in the two words "United Effort." He said (hat thoro was no doubt that \ictory had resulted from (ho fact that the Allies had been united in their efforts, lie traced tho united purpose of men, nurses, and till those who had helped in the campaign at Gallipoli, ■ Palestine, Mesopotamia, ['"ranee, and Belgium. Ono or two instances were Riven to show the good work done by tho New, ■ jiealanders, and great praise was given to the Imperial troops. Mr. Luke stress-, ed the fact'that we must mc,ko ourselves ; strong to counteract any effort that may: be made to bring about such .another, war as has just been ended. .Mr. Dai - -' roeli, who spoke on behalf of tho Navy: League, pointed out the great benefitthat,. liacl- resulted to our nation from tho fact that the Navy'had Kept ct 'bay and .defeated the German fleet, which . never ventured out again after (ho Dattlo of Jutland except to lamely surrender on November 21, 19 IS. Tieferenco was made to the submarine warfare and thu splendid efforts of Lord Jellicoe in actively qudlling this barbaric methodi of the enemy. Mr. Darroch Rave '-cry interesting facts to show the heroio work done by the Navy,' and pointed out that it was due to tho men of tile Fleet tl at llio Allies emerged from tho war victorious. M.iss M'Lean, principal of f he college, proposed a very hearty vote,of thunks, to the speakers, which was carried unanimously by the pupils. Tho senior school wore later uldressed by Mr. Ward, chairman of the Board of Governors, who presided over their gathering, and by Miss Mac Loan, matron-in-chief of the Army Nursing Corps,' Mrs. J. P. Luke ' (the Mayoress), ])r. Sprott (Bishop of (Wellington), antl Profossor Basterlield. Miss Mac Lean spoke of the splendid work tho nurses and women bad done'in the war, and' urged the girls to take up nursing as a profession. Mrs. Luke, on behalf of the girls, llianked MSss Mac Lean warmty for her ai'.dress, and while doing so Mrs. Luke impressed oil the girls the necessity-of tarrying on I 'the work iu the mnnner in '••illicit it hod already been performed—that is, cheerfully and brightly. Bishop Sprott spoke of the benefits Unit would Ims derived from tho League of lie stated that-wars wore still going on, and will go on until men and women are filled with a desire to end jn a rational way all misunderstandings. Tile aim of the League of Nations was to try to arrange that future differences between nations bo stilled f>.v arbitration. Tho. present Germany was a barbnrio nation, 'as shown by liie atrocities elio had confmitted, and was very different from tho Germany of a generation earlier. Just as Germany had 1 become infected with the ideal of war from the year 1879, and had taught this in her schools, so wo should be able to rise to '.ho ideal of settlement of disputes anil teach tho .children the truths of lovo, gentleness, and goodness. It rested with tho young pcopio of fo-day if there vas to b» bettor future, and wost of this would depend on women, who would be.given a foremost rfco in tho future of Hio world. That being so,'it was ot' the highest importance that girls should havo .noble ; ideals 'before'-them; of putting down bar-. •"baric savago methods and bringing in. a better state of things. The Bishop . closed his remarks' with the following - quotation from M;ordsworlh, which was. a fitting ending to. a .very helpful, inspir-•■ nig, address. .-. ..... ' "Bliss was it in that dawn to lie alive, But to bo young was very Raven." Professor ' Drislerfield, in returning thanks to Bishop Sprutt for his. address, emphasised the points brought out by the Bishop that faith should be shown -in tlie League of. Nations in the work it was about to undertake, and the speaker pointed out that the League could be ■easily represented iu the. coi'lcge itself if tho girls carried out their efforts on the basis laid down by Hi o League. i Miss M'Lean, in thanking Mr. Ward for presiding over the gathering, • taid she would like a Thanksgiving Day for pence to become all annual institution in the school, just as theso days are held yearly in Canada and tho United States, but that it take the form of a holy day in giving thanks \o .God for His help in the ordeals through vliich tho world has passed. During the proceedings the following musical items were sung by both senior and junior schools:-"Land of.Hope and Glory," "Empiro Flrt??." "Peace Again," and the '"Marseillaise." -Mis-res Allen and Jiobertsoai and Mr. Watkins nceompanvmg. • / The celebrations Tight'throughout were memorable and stirring. Maior and Mrs. Brewis and the Misses Brewis left Chrisfchurch earlier in tae week for Wellington, en route for their new homo in Hamilton. Major Brewis baa been in charge of the Queen Mary llosDitnl. Hanmer, for some months. .