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Hokitika Guardian, 21 March 1923, Page 2

It would be a surprise to most people last week to find that the War Memorial Committee connected with the Hokitika State School movement, should have occasion to approach the Government for remission of customs duty on the memorial now being erected here.

( Something over £OO has been demand- i ; ed By and paid to the authorities in j respect to the memorial in question. > The Government with some show of reason lias posed ns the friend of the soldier and always suggested that too much could not be done for them or their memo”.-. Las*- session Parliament voted £1,060 towards the remission of dutv on war memorials provided for by public subscription to be erected in public places. It becomes ; all tlic more remarkable therefore, that 1 in the local instance the Customs Department should turn round' now and I demand the duty. It would appear 1 that the Minister of Customs and his Department assume an attitude snpeior to that of Parliament. It can he well understood why the local commit- . I tee moved in the direction of placing a , special memorial in the school grounds. First, there would bo the natural dej sire to do honor to those who served . their country, and tho school lias a very < fine record in that- connection. Second, j there would be the intention to keep j the question of intensive loyalty to j country prominently before the scholars of successive rising generations. The , whole idea is therefore mast praiseworthy and should he commended and encouraged, not flouted and discouraged. The Minister who was here lastweek had something to sav about tbo memorial being imported. The Committee no doubt did tlic best they could with the funds at their disposal. 1 hey have secured an artistic monument of • good material at a reasonable price. The designs offering in New Zealand ■ were not as satisfactory, the material was not as lasting, ami tho price was higher But the Minister represents a Government- which frequently, and al- ‘ ways when its suits, goes out of the country to buy its needs. For instance the electrification of the Arthur s Pass Tunnel was let to an English contractor in preference to a Now Zealand firm. The offence of Hokitika is that 1 it went to Australia—where the main branch of the Anzacs came from by the way for the memorial. The rich province of Canterbury is building a Bridge of Remembrance ill Oliriststone from Tasmania. Act the 1 Governcliui'ch, and drawing tiie ornamental mwit which levies over CHI) on the Hokitika memorial for customs duly, donates £I,OOO to the Canterbmy memorial. An exaction of a similar nature was proposed in regard to the main war memorial in Hokitika, also, but later the money was refunded—out of the £I,OOO vote. The penalising of Hokitika in these circumstances again, is distinctly unfair—not to pass stronger comment on the action of the Government Department.

In a recent published lecture, Air F. C. Phillips, the well-known author, spoke of “The Appreciation of Poetry." Air Phillips makes a bold claim for poetry, but who can say that it is unjust. “It is in terms of poetry,” he writes. “thnL the work of the world is carried on. It lies at the root of all progress; it- builds our steamers, reaps our harvests, lavs out our cities, and fills the sky with flights of aeroplanes. For poetry is vibrant with imagination, and it is this element in our life which speeds civilisation to its goal. It is the most practical thing of which we know, and in our own profession it is the absence or presence of this quality which makes our work either a dull round of drudgery or an ever-recurring opportunity.” True words. The teacher who- approaches his task in this spirit- and communicates this spirit to his class will find all difficultes disappear as if by magic, and will make the study of English what it should be, a labour of love. Air Phillips shows that the faculty of literary appreciation, like anv other faculty can lie cultivated. Taste can be trained. Just as tho expert woodsman sees much that escapes the untutored eye. so to the traveller in the spacious demesnes of literature, if he be wisely led, unsuspected beauties and fresh vistas will constantly be revealed until at last lie learns where to lode for them himself. Mr Phillips’ illuminating lecture opens out many new lines of thought.