WREATH FOR CENOTAPH

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 326, 11 April 1928, Page 16

WREATH FOR CENOTAPH

HARBOUR BOARD’S TRIBUTE WILL NOT BUY FROM R.S.A. Anxious to Have a befitting wreath for placing on the cenotaph on Anzac Day, the Harbour Board decided, yesterday, to make its own arrangements and not to make the customary arrangement with the Returned Soldiers’ Association. AS soon as a letter from the R.S.A., asking that a wreath be purchased for £5 5s was read, the chairman, Mr. M. H. Wynyfard, moved that the board should supply its own wreath. The question of a donation to the R.S.A., he said, might be considered in a separate resolution. “As a returned soldier I must object to this,” said Mr. G. R. Hutchinson. He deplored any attempt at competition between local bodies for the best wreath. It would be a great pity, he said, if the board broke away from custom. Wreaths might be obtained which were more beautiful than the laurel and poppy, but they would convey no more respect to the dead. The money obtained by the R.S.A. on Poppy Day was judiciously spent. He moved that the board should accede to the request and contribute the £5 ss. “SHOW OUR OWN SYMPATHY” “If the board desires to show its sympathy we should do it ourselves, rather than hand it over to others,” said Mr. J. Hislop. “We need not compete with anyone else and the wreath may be a plain one. If the R.S.A. is in need of assistance it will get it, but I don’t like the idea of a wreath simply being a ruse, as it were, to collect money.” Mr. T. B. Clay: We can supply the wreath and there is a question of the R.S.A. needing a donation. No one in the room will oppose it. “I don’t see any reason why we should depart from the regular form,” said Mr. T. Bloodworth. “If we do, we are opening the way to do harm to the R.S.A.” The Hon. E. W. Alison: It is a great pity we are not in agreement over this.

The chairman explained that he had discussed the question with the town clerk. The City Council was taking up the same attitude over the wreath. There was no suggestion of questioning the bona tides of the R.S.A. “The R.S.A. depends entirely on Poppy Bay to help those who are partially disabled,” declared Mr. Hutchinson, who said he deplored the discussion, but he was forced to speak. The amendment was lost by five votes to four, and the motion was carried.

The chairman then moved that the board should give a donation of £5 5s to the R.S.A. Mr. Bloodworth considered that the association deserved something far greater than the five guineas.

The chairman: The wreath was not worth five guineas. “The wreath was made by the mothers of the men,” said Mr. Hutchinson. “You are insulting them by offering five guineas.” After a report was received in committee on the wreaths, Mr. Alison said “that puts a different complexion on the question. We should put a wreath which reflects the sympathy and the dignity of the board on the cenotaph.” “That's what we are trying to do,” said the chairman. “The fact that we buy our own wreath and then give five guineas is of more benefit to the R.S.A. than if we bought a w.reath from it.” The motion was carried.