NEW ZEALAND WAR MEMORIALS.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 May 1919, Page 12

NEW ZEALAND WAR MEMORIALS.

IN VARIOUS WAR ZONES. INFLUENCE OF MONUMENTS ON CHARACTER. (From Our Own Correspondent) Wellington, May 20, A statement regarding New Zealand's ivar memorials was made by the actingPrime Minister (Sir James Alien) at the opening session of the Town Planning Conference. Sir James Allen mentioned that the Government was arranging to acquire land in the war zones us sites for memorials, and he invited the assistance of the conference in the selection of a design for the headstone to be I'lced 011 this grave of every New Zealand soldier. Sir James Allen said that he lioped during the day to place before Cabinet proposals for the acquisition of land at several points in France and also in Gallipoli and Palestine. The sections were to be acquired on behalf of the pco. pie of New Zealand in order that the Dominion might have sites on which to place memorials of the men who had fallen and of the part the Dominion had taken in the great war. The Mother Country and the other Dominions of the Empire were taking similar action. It was proposed that there should be four of these memorials in France. There was no difficulty about the scheme aa far as France was concerned, since France would welcome the measures to com» memorate the deeds of the men who went to her assistance in the hour of need. But difficulties might arise in respect to Gallipoli and Palestine, since these territories would not he under British or Allied rule. The proposals would have to be considered from all points •Df view before the memorials were erectlid in those countries.

"I want also to mention the question idf memorials in the cemeteries, situated in many parts of the world, where Mur boys are buried," said Sir James Allen. "Probably you are all aware that the Imperial War Graved Commission has this matter in hand. The Commission is laying out cemeteries in France, in Gallipoli and everywhere else •ivhere the soldiers of the British Empire ure buried, and it is using the advice of the best architects and the most skilful gardeners of the United Kingdom in order to make the cemeteries places of beauty. The Commission is going to ispend about £1,500,000 during- the next year and New Zealand's share of this sum is £28,000. The Government has not hesitated to provide this money for the purpose of laying out suitably beautiful cemeteries for our dead.

"The Imperial War Graves Commission proposes that in these cemeteries there shall be a headstone for every soldier buried there. The New Zealand, Government is quite in accord with this proposal . The headstone will give the name, regiment and place of death of every soldier. We have liberty to select our own design, subject to certain conditions as to size and so forth, and I would bo glad if this conference would appoint a committee to inspect the samples of headstones that have been secured by the Government and are now at Parliament Buildings. The selection has not been made and the question is still open. The design that commends itself most to me ia a simple marble stone, with a simple cross on it let in in lead, and with the inscription also let in in lead. It has the letters N.Z.E.F. at the four angles of the cross. It is simple and beautiful, and it seems to he the most enduring designs

"The Commission is gathering together the soldiers who had been buried in out-of-the-way places and giving them permanent resting places in the big cemeteries. where the individual headstones can be erected without danger of r.eglect or removal in the future. In these cemeteries will be erected memorials signifying the efforts and the sacrifices that the Empire lias made to secure freedom and preserve the peace of the world. The Commission proposes that there shall be two monuments in each of the larger cemeteries. One monument is to be a simple flat stone erected on a flight of steps and representing the altar upon whicli our men have laid down their lives for their country and for the world. The other monument is to take the fqrm of a beautiful cross and is to represent the sacrifices that our nation has made. "I will ask this conference to consider what we are going to do in New Zealand to commemorate the sacrifices made during this war. I know that many of you and many of the public favor utilitarian schemes —buildings, universities, hospitals and so forth. My own feeling is that no building can represent to me the lessons that the war has taught me. (Applause.) lam certain that in the older lands artistic monuments and I memorials, representing the principles | which were fought for and died for, have had a great influence in building up national character. I know myself the influence that the Nelson Monument, in Trafalgar Square, has had upon inc. When General Pau was here I asked him if the national monuments in France had influenced the character of the French people, and he assured me that these monuments, standing for the sacrifices made and the deeds performed in other days, had made the French character of to-day. "I think that we should erect war memorials that will represent principles. The utilitarian things ought to be provided in the ordinary way. But this is an extraordinary occasion. Nothing like the war has ever happened to lis before and we pray that nothing like it will happen again. We have many thousands of our boys dead. The war means to us duty done, sacrifices made, and truth fought for and won. Surely our artists can express in stone and bronze the principles for which our men have died, arid so pass on these principles to the generations to come." (Applause).