The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 5, 1922. WAR MEMORIAL SITE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 5, 1922. WAR MEMORIAL SITE.

The decision of the New Plymouth War Memorial Committee to meet the new phase concerning the cenotaph site for the memorial was the only practical course to take, but whether the means suggested for carrying out the decision will best answer the pur- ! posse may be open to question. Without doubt, it is a right and proper step to convene a meeting of citizens in order that the whole facts may be stated and discussed ,but no resolution passed at any single meeting, or any series of meetings in different parts of the borough, are likely to be regarded as convincing testimony of the general wishes of the bulk of the citizens, and the same may be said of signatures to petitions. The only effective method is to take a plebiscite, and this could be done by a body of volunteers leaving cards at each residence and collecting them in lightly constructed receptacles, thus giving all the secrecy of a ballot. It is quite a common affair for house-to-house collections to be made for special purposes, so that there already exists organisation in the required direction. In view 7 of the fact that the honor of the town and its citizens is involved in this memorial to those who fought and died for the preservation of every part of the Empire, as well as for the peace and liberty of the world, no more worthy task than helping to obtain a fitting site for that memorial can be conceived. It is certainly unsatisfactory that any special steps should have to be taken in order to convince the Borough Council that the site in question is the only one possessing those ideal qualifications which such a memorial demands. As representatives of the. citizens the Mayor and councillors should be in touch with the views and desires of their constituents on a matter of such a special kind. It is not a case where individual councillors, however strongly they may feel for or against the proposal. are justified in acting up to their opinions. It is a matter of carrying out the desire of the people for whom the Council is but a trustee. To take a plebiscite is an extreme step, but. will the Council be satisfied with less? At present there is a doubt on the matter. and it will be a thousand pities if, a fter public meetings passed resolutions in favor of legislation to permit the site being utilised for a war memorial for all time, and petitions to the like effect were presented to the Council, the latter should still be unconvinced as to the duty of carrying out the wishes of the citizens. No one can honestly contend that the land is suitable for the Town Hall purposes. but it can be justly claimed that is is an ideal site for the cenotaph, and a most fitting evidence of the high honor and esteem with which the citizens desire to hand down to posterity thensense of the debt of gratitude due to those “who fighting fell.” The Council should have taken the lead in this matter instead of the attitude it has adopted. For the credit of all concerned, it is not too late even now for the council to take the right course by rescinding the resolution not to seek legislative authority for the use of the site for a war memorial, and to pass a resolution in favor of dedicating the site for the required purpose on obtaining legislation therefor. Probably a round table conference with this object in v-ew would be a wise preliminary step, for it has to be remembered that it is the Council who would have to promote the necessary legislation, so that, without their co-operation, the end in view will not be obtained. For the moment it is of the utmost importance that to-night’s meeting should be largely attended, so that the whole question can be discussed in all its aspects.