A SOLDIERS’ MEMORIAL.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3335, 13 November 1919, Page 4

A SOLDIERS’ MEMORIAL.

“ & Sir, —The public are being asked to contribute to a memorial of the part our local soldiers played in the Great War, and especially in memory o£ those who never returned. To meet the case such a memorial should plainly focus the minds of succeeding generations on the patriotism of their forefathers, the high ideal's that inspired their self-sacri-fice, and the cause for which they laid down their lives.

We can safely say a, grand-stand will not do this. Most of ‘the useful thingsso far brought forward by the very pnactical-niinldetl are purely for the benefit of this generation only. It is two for the soldier and victory and ten for present seifislirxess. ’ No wooden. structure of any kigd will meet the case. To be :1 memorial it must remind generation after generation of the spiritual significance of‘ the War to humanity at large, and especially the part that local New Zealanders of our day took in _it. Usefulness surely means soniething" else than something for our bodies tosit on, or something to drink out of.There are utilitarian purposes such as patriotisnl,- unselfishness, and many o'ther invisible‘ ‘things ‘quite evident needs of this and every generation. So» our mcxnorial must be lastin-g in its material. It must be useful» in its highest sense, Serving the needS,“not' only,of this generation, but every generation, serving its highest needs, not. its lowest. -

It must point sigllificantiy to the means of the Great War am] the God-~ given victory. None of these condii tions would be fulfilled by a grandstand, and I maintain it would in no sense he .a memorial, but is an excuse, rather, to get something we 'w:lnt more easily because it is fo be obtained by working on the .<.cn_timent of the public. -

VVhat."‘usc” have we the right. to claim or seek except the reminder that the peace we enjoy was procured for us at the cost of sacrifice—the sacrificeof our kith and kin? What. other use, what better use, could be desired‘? Where Were these prophets of “nowaste” or “utilify” when the Empire was in the balance? It is only one step further, and the “prophets of the ever-useful” will be patenting grave stones that provide chocolate, and monuments that are drinking fountains, otc.. etc., and‘ all, forsooth “in menlo':}' of Dear VVilliam. erected by his loving children.” God save us from perpetuating our narrow vision of selfish materialism, and losing all sight of the eternal truth the war has taught us.——l am, etc., T W. F. STENT.