THE COLONIST. MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1919. A WAR MEMORIAL.

Colonist, Volume LXI, Issue 15087, 2 June 1919, Page 4

THE COLONIST. MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1919. A WAR MEMORIAL.

The selection of and provision for a nuiz- • able war memorial in Nelson is a subject which should now be occupying the attention of everyone, for everyono should feel a personal interest in assisting to carry out the duty the community owes alike to the men who fought for freedom and to posterity. The- public .meeting held on Thursday night to consider the subject was wiso in confining itself to the merest preliminaries. Not only was the attendance regrettably meagre, disgracefully so indeed, but the establishment of a i memorial is not a matter for hurried j decision. It is a subject for very full 3 consultation and deliberation. The . form, and to soir.o extent the appro- £ priateness of the memorial must be determined by the amount of money available with which to erect it, but it must be remembered that whether the available funds be great or small, the . memorial must be so conceived that "it 1 will endure for all time to commemor- " ate the heroism and sacrifice of our citizen soldiery in the cause of the 3 world's freedom, and an epochal chap- - ter in our history as a nation which •is never likely to be eclipsed by a greater. It is necessary, therefore, that there should be the fullost discussion and the widest endeavour to ( make the ultimate choice worthy of so I great a subject, acceptable to the peo--1 pie who establish it, and at the same ; time one as to its appropriateness, . calculated to survive the searching test of time and stimulate the patriot- | ism of generations to come. Any form of memorial which failed to satisfy these requirements, whether it was simple or elaborate, would be unworthy alike of its object and of the sentiment of the people who set it up. Such considerations as these, for which wo thins that .general acceptance may be assumed, presuppose the elimination of any scheme of a utilitarian description. On this point Sir James Allen offered some timoly observations in his ad-' mirable address on war memorials to the Town Planning Conference. He knew, he said, that many people favoured utilitarian schemes—hospitals, universities, etc.—but no building of that kind could Represent to him what the lessons of the war had taught him. Ho was certain that artistic .memorials representing the principles that, the, men had fought and died -for had a large part in influencing nations and building up national character. He knew the influence the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square, London, had lyjon him. He had asked General Pau if the monuments in France had an effect on French character. General Pau replied that they had made France what""- she was to-day. Works of utility may be provided at any time, and any form of memorial which sacrificed to practical utility the symbolic and aesthetic1 would not harmonise with the sentiment that would, to quote Sir James Allen's words again, erect a memorial that will pass on to future generations as a lesson of the times, something to represent what we have passed through, and which we trust •God-will protect us from in future, ft will mean duty clone, sacrifices mado, and liberty and freedom won.