POWER OF EXAMPLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17684, 23 July 1919, Page 5

POWER OF EXAMPLE

APPEAL,TO RETURNED SOLDIERS. MR L. M. ISIITS ADVICE. "It is due to the heroism an„d dangers and suffering endured by you returned men that we have been saved from a fate almost worse than death," said Mr L. M. butt, M-P. at a thanksgiving service at Chnstchurch when speaking particularly to returned men. "I wish to express our gratitude and out deep sense of thankfulness to you for what you hav e done for the Empire. But I also want you to look on the other side of the question and consider your responsibilities to yourself, to the past, to your comrades who will never return, and to New Zealand, her people and her future. What wo usually prize most is that which costs us most dearly to accomplish, and by your patient endurance to ,co.d, hunger, wounds, sickness, and privations indescribable you havo secured a wonderful victory for us.

You returned soldiers have established a_ permanent hold in our regard and affections such as could not be established in any other way than by what you have done for us. The question now is, what are you gp=ng to do in the future? To an enormous extent the returned soldiers hold the future of this country in their hands, and they can mould it to a high and wonderful achievement or mould it along lines which can only bring sorrow and despair to our land. The returned soldier is the hero of the, boy of the present, and all eyes are upon him. He must either establish a fa'se or a true conception of manhood in the country. He will set a standard for the youth of the country to follow, and not only will they adopt his mannerisms, but they will also adopt his morals. Some men think a life of drunkenness and freedom from restraint is one ■of the prerogatives of past heroism. Tf tho returned soldiers set a low standard, there wO be thousands willing to'applaud, and they will accomplish not only thenown ruin but the ruin of thousands of others who are following their example." Continuing, Mr Isitt said that if. there was any notion amongst the men to live a_ life of self-indulgence, and to throw high ideals overboard, they were not only digging their own graves, but the graves of many of the boys who were growing ur>. During the four years of war the soldiers were not'merely in the furnace of physical dangers, but also in the furnace of temptation, and it took great moral courage to come through unscathed. Ho knew the nerve strain and the excitement of military life was hard to shake off when the soldiers settled down to the hum-drum existence of life in Now Zealand, but he hoped thnt bv sober industry, clean jiving, and moral effort the nvMi would gfvo iust as great service for New Zealand after they <am» back as they did when fight : ng for it. It was only by doing this that the soldiers could accomnlish the true happiness of themselves and those they loved. Bv the mighty power of the exnmp'e s»t bv tho returnrd men. would the future of tho country be determined, and he aopealed to them to live hich. noWe. and unselfish \rv-es. therebv gainfmr tho best and the highest interests in life.