YEAR OF DEDICATION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 December 1941, Page 3

YEAR OF DEDICATION

TO DEFENCE OF DOMINION NEED OF SUBORDINATING SELF-INTEREST. MR HAMILTON ON TASK FOR ALL. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “We stand on the threshold of the New Year realising that 1942 must be dedicated by everybody to the defence of New Zealand, if we are to retain for generations to come our freedom, happiness and security,” says Mr Adam Hamilton, a member of the War Cabinet, in a New Year message. . “The dark clouds of war in the Pacific loom so near that it would be idle to presume that the coming months can bring anything else than the placing of community and national service before self-interests of any type. “I am confident that a worth-while New Year resolution would be one demanding self-examination on this vital question of service for New Zealand, and thereby assuring that we play our part in the ultimate victory of good over evil.

“Gloomy forebodings and unnecessary pessimism can be fatal at a critical time like the present. Results far exceeding anticipations are achieved by the endeavours of people who bend their backs to a task, making the best of the circumstances. The question today should not be ‘What is so-and-so doinng?’ or ‘Why is so-and-so not doing something?’ but rather ‘What am I doing?’ “Nothing short of the inspiration, 'unquenchable zeal and dogged endurance which characterised the work of the pioneers of this country, will carry us through, and we should not forget that we are part of a world in turmoil, and that, while there may be strong forces opposed to us, there are still greater forces turning free and eager hands to the welding of a mightier force to overthrow them. “Though the outlook is the most serious in our history, the gloom is not impenetrable, nor the work and sacrifice required beyond the capacity of each man and woman.”