LEVIN DISTRICT RETURNED SOLDIERS.

Shannon News, 26 June 1928, Page 2

LEVIN DISTRICT RETURNED SOLDIERS.

A SUCCESSFUL REUNION. ,address given by general RUSSELL. The spirit of comradeship amongst returned soldiers was strongly in evidence at the reunion held by the Levin branch of the R.S. A., in the De Luxe Hall on Saturday night. The attendance numbered about a, hundred and the greatest enthusiasm- prevailed throughout the proceedings. Chief interest -centred in the visit of MajorGeneral Sir Andrew Russell, who is held in the highest regard by the Diggers both as their former commander-in-chief and as the present head of their Association. The, function took the form of a smoke concert, at which a hot supper was provided and a programme was carried out in which c&std were interspersed *with musical items. "Major G. D. Hamilton presided, and the place of honour was occupied by Sir Andrew Russell, next to whom sat His Worship the Mayor (Mr T. Hobson). The gathering was a very representative one, including as it 'did several leading citizens who served in the Great War, many returned soldiers from the outlying district, and a number of veterans of the South African War. The secretary (Mr 11. G. Mackay) read apoligies for unavoidable absence from Messis J. Linldater, aud W. H. Field, M’s.P., Dr. Gow, of Waipukurau' (a former president of the, branch), Mr P. 11. Harper and Mr H. Denton. The toast of “The King” was honoured; also that of “The Prince of Wales, ’ ’ in commemoration of the day, June 23rd. A GENERAL IN MORE SENSES V,- .THAN ONE. The Mayor, proposed the toast of “The Returned;-Soldiers ’ Association,” and in-'vdoing so made interesting reference to - the guest of the evening. His Worship stated that, many years ago, when he was secretary of a Farmers’ Union branch in Hawke’s Bay, lie met Sir Andrew Russell, who was then the provincial president; and even at that time lie had recognised a general in Sir Andrew,-who did some/wonderful work in organising the Union when it was- in its infancy in that district, and placing it on a successful footing. One of the most important duties, that Sir Andrew had had to do in those days was, to inaugurate a movement to bring out a veterinary surgeon . front \the Old Country; and, being a wise man and a general in his methods, he did, not invite the expert to come out until he knew where the money was coming from. The enterprise was successful, and there were no grounds even , no.w to say that the movement waS not quite a wise one. In General - Russell the Returned Soldiers Associaiton had the right plan in. the right place as New Zealand president. ,(Loud applause). The speaker thought that-the R.S.A. was a great movement, andjhe was very pleased to see so many members of it at this function. He urged tlie returned soldiers to support it so that it would have good backing when any requests were made to the Government. . The policy of the association with respect to soldier settlers had been a wise and energetic one—a fact which he attributed to the efforts of Dr., Gow, the branch’s former president, who was really the prime mover in getting the R.S.A. to undertake the duty of approaching the Government with the object of having the soldiers’ land re-valued. Dr. Gow had interviewed Sir Andrew, who at that time thought that it was not advisable to approach the Government for a revaluation unless'the association had a good case. Evidently Dr. Gow convinced Sir Andrew that this waS so, because the Government took up the question and had the land re-valued. The Mayor, praised the Association for the help it was giving to returned men. He had had great support from the local branch in assisting the borough to find wages for returned soldiers who were out. of work. This help had tided many a man over a period of difficulty. The returned men, by joining together .and -keeping the association going, might not be helping themselves in particular,,but were doing a good turn to those who needed it. In Major Hamilton they had an excellent president and one who understood the full significance of the position. Their president had recently received the long service medal and was a wan to be admired. With such a leader the association was bound to pijgress.

GROWTH OF LEVIN BRANCH. Major Hamilton, on behalf of the Levin branch, thanked the Mayor for his kindly references to the Association and himself, and thanked the members for the hearty way in which .they had. honoured the toast. He stated that three years ago the financial membership of the Levin branch was 56; the next year it was increased to 70. At the annual meeting of 1927, when he was asked'to stand again for the. position of president, lie said he would do so on the understanding that the members would make an effort, to increase the membership by 20 during the year. He was very pleased to be able to report that, as the result of. the intensive campaign that followed, there was an increase of 22 members last year, bringing the total to 92. It was gratifying to find that the Levin branch, with a comparatively sm*all number of returned men to call on, stood thirteenth on the list of branches in the Dominion. This reflected very great credit on the organisation that was put into the local branch. However, the number thirteen was reputed to be unlucky, and lie would like to see the Levin branch move up, this year, into twelfth place. There was no reason why it should not do so, for it should be possible to have at least a hundred members. At the last annual meeting there was some criticism of his statement in the annual report that the past year had been 'the worst year of .-distress .'among, returned sold-. ' iers that he had experienced during his association-'with the Levin branch.

It was asked why there should be a balance of £76 standing to the credit of the Poppy Day fund when there was so much distress in the district. In reply he had explained the position of the .branch’s finances. There had not been' one ease of distress, among those who made application for relief, that was turned down without full con-, sideration. -<PJost of the relief paid'out had been for men \yho were passing through Levin. Since the end of .the financial year, the branch had subsidised the Shannon Borough Council’s fund for relief work -with £2O out of the Poppy Day Fund, the contribution being on the "basis of £1 for £l. The jranch was making the same arrahge.iwijjts with the Levin Borough Council. The Mayor had, in his speech, stressed the importance of returned , soldiers' joining the association and giving it their backing. Reunions were held twice a year to endeavour-to keep the members .together', and they certainly enabled .returned soldiers to mest one another- At the, bottom of the executive’s mind was. the aim to induce as many returned men as possible who attended the reunions to join the association The local subscription of 7s 6d was the lowest among all the branches except one It was 'not so much the money that the Association wanted as the registering of the returned soldiers so that, if a Digger required help from the Government, the Association could go as a united body and ask for it The executive had some perplexing problems to deal with in the course of its activities; but he had always listened to what any applicants had to say, and had tried to find some means of Solving their difficulties. There, were in this district at present some men, whose farming troubles were not quite settled. The soldier settlers had had a re-valuation of their properties, and this was all right in its way, but there were several difficulties which still existed among the farmers. There were farmers with insufficient land to/ carry such a herd of cows as would give them a comfortable living. No active steps had been taken to get such cafces remedied; but probably the Association might secure extra land for these men, or secure some subdivision or re-arrangeinent so that they would be in a position where they would not only be able to make a living for themselves, but would have a reasonable chance of accumulating some of the world’s possessions that they all looked for. THE GUEST OF THE EVENING. In proposing the health of Sir Andrew Russell, the chairman expressed the deep appreciation felt by members of the Association towards their old leader for having come amongst them. Major Hamilton went on to recall the fine spirit of camaraderie that had prevailed in the ranks of the New Zealand Division and their unswerving loyalty to their commander. He spoke of the General’s conscientious attention to detail, and remarked that if it had not been for this characteristic, the Division would not' have earned the reputation that it did either as a fighting unit or in its multifarious duties behind the line. The Division, it could be proudly claimed, had a reputation second to'none amongst all those that fought in the Great 'War. The toast was heartily drunk with musical honours, followed by three rousing cheers for the chief who has led the Diggers both in war and in peace. In responding, General Russell thank-, ed the gathering feelingly for the warmth of the welcome given him. He made,reference t ( o the' former president, Dr. Gow, saying that he was one of The best chairmen of soldiers’ associations in New Zealand. Speaking of the, Association in general, he said that it was going ahead, and the membership had increased by libout eight per cent. More interest was now being taken in it, and, for some reason fellows were more ready to come together and have a yarn about their experiences than in the years immediately following the war. They were beginning to realise that they had a fund of experience in common and that it was worth while having a reunion such as this .function. There were three objects for which he considered it was worth while keeping an association'going. In the first place it was able; to commemorate Anzac Day, a duty which it owed to the men who'had been left behind. Secondly, it made the Poppy Day which were in aid of the less fortunate returned men. Thirdly, it served to bring about reunions such as this one. He was glad that this branch was a growing one. He :lioped that the reunions would be kept up; it was a good idea to invite somebody to be a guest and speak at each of such gatherings A SOLDIER’S PRIVILEGE. General Russell added that he would like the men to remember that they had belonged to a Division, and, in Palestine, to a Brigade, both of which had a very good reputation indeed; and there was every reason for them to be proud of the part they had played in those units. “Once a man has played a man’s part in this world,” he said, “it is up to him to play a man’s part right through life. You owe a responsibility to yourself, your comrades and your children. In the Empire you have something well worth working for. Politically we are absolutely independent of England, being one of the autonomous Dominions; .but the same King is the head of all the armed forces of the Empire. In that way only are we bound to the Mother Country. I ani certain that you will stand oy that and not belong to the Internationals to whom any country is good except their own. New Zealand is a heaven to us, and we are going to stand by it. I thailk you all very much. ”

The gathering then took on an informal character, the Diggers mingling freely • and exchanging reminiscences. Songs were contributed during • the evening by Messrs Morgan Brothers, Musso, Stratton and Mr J. W. Hayfield was at the piano.