THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. MONDAY, APRIL 24, 1922. MAN’S UNCONQUERABLE MIND.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4405, 24 April 1922, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. MONDAY, APRIL 24, 1922. MAN’S UNCONQUERABLE MIND.

“Aut vincere aut mori ” — Either to conquer or to die.

Broadeniifl* out from a day of commemoration of the dauntless valour, almost superhuman endurance, and supeib self-sacrifice of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers, and those of the famous 29th Division who effected a lauding on the hostile shores of Gallipoli on 25th April, 1915, Anzac Day has now become a Day of Remembrance of all the Empire’s soldiers and civilians who suffered for the cause of Freedom during the Great War, 1914-1918. With our soldiers are associated the gallant meh of the Navy, the tiansport and medical services, the nursing sisters, the mothers and the fathers of all who suffered bereavement. But, naturally, our hearts are touched m »st keenly by thoughts of our own loved ones who crossed the trackless seas to fight for our- Liberty, Honour, Altars, and Hearths on many a foreign field of battle. As each anniversary of Anzac comes arotnd, our speakers and writers point the moral and adorn the tale by telling us the lessons the great conflict has for us, which is as it should be, for the value of. history lies in the lessons to be derived therefrom. It is truly said that only a fool fails to profit by experience—and ’ history is the record of the experience uf the human race. , Passing through somewhat troublous times economically, perhaps the lesson of most value we can learn just now from the Great War is that thete are such qualities as self-sacrifice, courage, and perseverance in human character, and which are of incalculable value, greater far than gold, in the battle of life. When the Great War was in its early stages, the then Prime Minister of England (Mr Asquith) said, he would win by the power of “ man’s unconquerable mind, and this is precisely what happened Marshall Foch, the brilliant gen eralissimo of the Allied Armies, said the Great War was won by the superior spiritual values of the Allies. The same qualities win the prizes of Peace, and if we take to' heart this one lesson, that sheer determination will ultimately achieve all worthy ends, then we shall have benefited immensely. Note that it is “worthy” ob jects that are referred to, demanding for their fulfilnient such qualities as patriotism, moral and physical courage, self-sacrifice, endurance, perseverance, love x of freedom, a strong sense of justice, mercifulness and chivalry towards the weak and the aged. True greatness is ever gentle. With profound truth it. has been said that one of the greatest weaknesses of the German Navy was that its seamen were not fortified by centuries of such splendid traditions as the men of the British Navy could b<ast of. - Without traditions of a glorious past, no nation can match its sous on equ-il terms with those of a foe the echo of whose deeds of valour resound across the centuries. Let us then vividly realise that the Homeric bravery of ibe sons ot New Zealand have lifted our'people definitely up to the status of nationhood. The long agony of those four years during which the me’al of our men was tasted and tried in a fiery furnace of war, and nude icr themselves and their country immortal fame, must be crystallised into fadeless tradition, from which etch succeeding generation may gain inspiration in the hour of trial; that they in their turn may be stout of heart and high ot purpose to fight tor Freedom, for the relief of the weak from the heel of the. oppressor; for the honour of their women, and for all those liberal and enlightened institutions which combined make up the living, fabric of the greatest Empire the world has ever seen, and one leading onward, ever onward in the march for civilization. In war or in peace, kt bur children be given plainly to understand that Anzac Day is observed to commemorate those <>n whose wooden crosses may fi.ttngly be inscribed the epitaph, “ Human! generis decus ” -—the glory of the human race.