TO SOLDIERS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10607, 4 June 1920, Page 5

TO SOLDIERS

DUTY TO THE PEOPLE APPEAL BY DR. E. BOXER. ‘T have a message for every member of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association,” said Dr. E. Boxer, president, to the delegates in conference yesterday. “I want it to go forth as a clarion cry as to whore the duty of every returned soldier lies. The past was buried in small things, and gradually there tame an acknowledgment of'what soldiers have done for°their country. We have been accepted bv the public and tho Government. Wo have a power for good. It has been stated that the Returned Soldiers’ Association will die a natural death, but I hold that pn the contrary it will rise Sphinx-like out of The ashes of our own internal dissension to a height of nobility. We have to carry into effect all we have striven for. ' Tho future is in your hands and mine- Individual members of the association with strong ideas arise from time to time, bat I beseech them always to bear in mind that saying which’ is the keynote of success: ‘The greatest good for the greatest number/ “Think Imperially,’’ continued Dr. Boxer, ‘‘study your history- with a map before you. The old teaching comes to my mind—‘For God and jiferrie England’—l would rather say ‘For God and the world.’ Out of the travail of the past years of misery consequent upon the war, I had hoped there would be born a child of tho best intentions, a child of peace, known as tho League of Nations, that could insist on peace. Alas, that child was still-born. We must not think of ourselves, but ever of those ■smaller nations that it is our duty to protect. Unfortunately, there is ono nation in the world that will not accept tho mandate of the world, apart from herself. She sinks back into her shell—a covering of dollars. My soul goes out to those who have made sacrifices during these past years of war. I had hoped that those sacrifices would have made for the peace of the world. But no.' And yet, I know that we will not bo called on to make sacrifice in tho future in vain. It is probable that we will have to sacrifice the curly heads of our own to the destroyer’s touch. Realising this, ive must build up a defence scheme which will make it impossible for any other nation of the world to take action.

“Our present force is known as the ‘Defence Force/ It is always ‘Defence,* never ‘Offence.’ That defence Is of everything that has been held sacred throughout the years of our Empire—for what we were striving for during the recent years of war. “Secondly, we must think nationally. Only 10 per cent, of the population of the Dominion are returned soldiers, and that DO per cent, have to help carry the burden of the 10 per cent'. That was something every member should bear in mind always. Lastly, we should think enthusiastically of the association. It has been created by our own brains and* is something to be prord. of. Every member should strive not to do his best for himself but for the" dependents of those who had fallen by the way, for those who had been maimed, and for the country. Justify the future and the vision vouchsafed us. Lift your eyes to the ranges of future greatness. from whence comes the salvation of the future generations. Make it your religion to strive for others, for the stricken, and the dependents. So will you find the true joy of life.’’