WAR BOOKS AND PLAYS

TRUE TYPES NOT DEPICTED.

VIEWS OP GENERAL YOUNG.

Pointed comment on the merits o£ the flood of war books and propaganda plays denouncing war was made by Major-General R. Young, general officer commanding the' New Zealand Forces, in the course of a speech given at the unveiling of the Paeroa War Memorial last week.

"I believe," said General Young, "that there was no better soldier who fought for King and country than the New Zealander. He was a quiet, unassuming fellow, who stuck to his job to the last ditch. If he groused at all it was about the meat or stew, and not about having to stay three or four days extra in the front line. The way he carried on during the campaign was wonderful.

"I emphasise this because a number of books and a play called "Journey's End" have been widely read, and have given people who do not know—and especially women—an impression that the types described are representative of the New Zealand soldier. This is not so. A man who could not stick it through nerve strain was not kept in the front line. That sloppy type depicted in the play was not representative of the New Zealand soldier. One feels it rather an insult to the New Zealand division that such types as those depicted in the books and in the play referred to should be shown."