The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times TUESDAY, JULY 5, 1932. A TRIBUTE.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 July 1932, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times TUESDAY, JULY 5, 1932. A TRIBUTE.

In th;e course of an address at Auckland. recently the Governor-General paid a noteworthy tribute to- the work of St. John Ambulance Association. No one, he said, could live in this country without realising-what an invaluable aid those who work in its ranks are. It induced him to express his most cordial sympathy with the work of the Association, throughout New Zealand, and to wish all who had nut their hands to the work success and God-speed. During the .hist , two and a half years lie had had opportunities of seeing what an extraordinary asset to New Zealand the movement was. Indeed if lie was inclined at any time to entertain doubts ay to the continued vigour and development of this country, there are s x movements to which h,e could' turn to remove those doubtß and to fill him with confidence as to the future of this country of opportunity and sunshine—and one of those movements- is undoubtedly the St. John Ambulance, which was an eve-r-ready help in the event of an accident, whether on the football field or on the r^c-course, or in the busy haunts of mankind, and one could not help realising the efficiency with which memlie s discharged their humanitarian work. The Order of St. John had ,existed for umyards of 700 years, and to-day was the. oldest form of chivalry in the world. The Order was based on the qualities of piety, human svmpathy, and courage. Before it came into existence there had been lacking that element of human sympathy that had rendered v-ar a much more barbarous under talcing. Apart from Divine help there; were three sources of help to which human beings looked in times of necessity. One was self-help—and he expressed the most earnest, hope 'that New Zealand would never lore t’’at fine ' old characteristic * of the -early pioneers—another was mutual help, of which the Order of St. John was a great example, and the third was Government help. Ventured to say that in times of trouble and distress such as the present self-be’p and mutual help are -infinitely more- valuable Than any 'help from the Government. Lord Bledisloe expressed the earnest hope that the people of New Zealand would never lose their desire for self-help and come to lean more and more on the Government. As long as it was found that there was a large proportion of the" population who were w'lling to give not only money but also .their personal services to such a work as that of the St. John Ambulance, he believed that there was a great future for the country.