STANDING THE TEST

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 30 July 1929, Page 6

STANDING THE TEST

NEW ZEALAND AND THE EARTHQUAKE X MESSAGE OF MOPK (Contributed) Some earthquakes have been mere episodes. They have come and gone, and done a little damage, and have been quickly forgotten. Others have become a black-letter date in the national calendar. The prophecy of Amos was dated "two years before'the earthquake." But," to one who has kept eyes and ears open, the hope is cherished that this earthquake,, along the path of national sympathy and heroic service, may pass iiito national character, and become a moral landmark in the history of NewZealand. It has created a national crisis, which has brought into activity character-mak-ing qualities and virtues of the highest value in nation-building. ADVENTUROUS COURAGE ' The spirit of the people has been heroic. And courage is an ancient virtue which has high moral value in the nation and in the Kingdom of God. There have been folk overseas who have been turning pitying thoughts towards New Zealanders in general, and the people in the Nelson Province in particular. Sitting in their comfortable parlours where.no earthquakes ever play pitch and toss with the furniture, they wonder why people stay in a. place where, to their "timid souls, the element of peril looms large. Well, folk could live in a- place where no seismograph would register a 'quake once in a millenium—the Sahara desert for example! Fear is as; silly us :it is cowardly. There are those who will never go to sea because of the peril of the storm; who will not enter the water lest they should drown; who never play a game because they might get hurt. But such are lacking in the first elements -of manhood,. Coward hearts under whole skins are feeble apologies for men. It is taking risks in navigating stormy seas, in conquering rigorous climates, or in playing the game to the utmost in spheres of heroic endeavour,' that make the highest type of manhood and produce qualities which pass into the character of the nation. SUBDUING THE EARTH One of the commandments of the Creator v/hich He has written deep in the.purpose of man, is to "subdue the earth." And this can only be done by strength, and. daring adventure, and at cost. And what a story of achievement is .the record of man's advancing conquest, here, harnessing Nature's forces and .using them for the service of mankind! But.sometimes from air or earth or sea, Nature flings down a challenge to man her master. And such tests the make and the measure of, the manhood of a nation, or a community. A man has .only as .much, strength as he can command in the hour of crisis and trial. SO|W.ith a nation. And New Zealand has not failed here. *" There is a, little verse which tells of the greatness of the achievement in The creation of a new highway of world commerce in the construction of the Panama Canal: "A man went down to Panama, Where many a man had-died,' To slit the sliding mountains,;" ... And lift' the eternal tide;" IA man stood up at Panama, j And the mountains stood aside !" This is what has happened in New Zealand before our eyes. The nation has 1 stood up to it. There is no crying quits.. And in high endeavour and heroic deeds and brotherly service, a great chapter is being written in the story of, this national brotherhood. Our noble Governor-General and his equally admirable lady have nobly expressed the national sympathy and purpose in visiting the centres of the earth-quake-riven zone. Honour to, them ! The Government has not quailed before a challenging situation of great difficulty. The schools and houses destroyed or damaged are being rebuilt or reconditioned. The abandoned farms not totally destroyed will be # re-occupied. Out of by-ways, a new highway has been linking up Nelson with the West Coast. And the colossal task of re-opening the great ecenic highway through the Bulier Gorge, now blocked With the debris of sliding mountains, is to be undertaken. The initiative and daring enterprise of Public Works engineers; the courage and . toil of workmen whose pickaxes have. not ceased to swing to the noise of the quaking earth; the skill and pluck of service car drivers who have been as heroic as lifeboat men in a stormy sea, are parts of an epic story "of which a nation may justly be proud. But perhaps the greatest part of the epic story is that which tells of the spirit and noble service of the people at the stricken centre. The men who threaded their way up ravines and gorges and across sliding mountains, into every blocked valley, and brought or helped out to safety the stricken settlers were valiants who have earned the admiration and respect of the nation and the world. If a great passenger ship were stormfluug upon a reef, and bravo men took their, lives in their hand and tore through the boiling surf, and rescued passengers and crew, the story -would go round the world. . A greater thing has been done at Murehison. In the face of difficulties and dangers not one in a thousand can conceive, every man, woman and child living Was brought out, and when the tally was made not one was missing! One pays to such the tribute of admiration.

AND NELSON A stranger may be allowed to break a little tile reserve which makes Nelson citizens silent regarding the part their city has played in the crisis. The most famous and important institution of the city is perhaps the Uoys' College. This has lost its tower, its facades, and its chimneys, but none of its glory. To have billeted all its 140 s boarders within twn hours of the Big Shake, and resumed classes within 36 hours, and not abandoned a single sports fixture, and not had a single boy withdrawn from the school, is a noble record. And to one who is n follower of Him who lived Himself by the Golden Rule, He commnnded, and Who in (he parable of the Good Samaritan interpreted the meaning of brotherhood, nothing finer conld be said of Nelson than (hat its citizens were equal to all the demands of pood Samaritan hospitality and service.