The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED. The Evening News, Morning Mews and The Echo. TUESDAY". MAY 26. 1903. THE VETERANS HOME.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 124, 26 May 1903, Page 4

The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED. The Evening News, Morning Mews and The Echo.

TUESDAY". MAY 26. 1903. THE VETERANS HOME.

Fer tho cause that lacks asjislanca For the wrong that needs resistance Fof the future in the distance And the good that we can in.

Everyone concerned may lie fairly congratulated on the successful inauguration of the Veterans' Home yesterday. The thanks of the whole colony arc? due to His Excellency Lord Iliuifurly for the energy and zeal that he has displayed in arousing public interest in this institution. Enthusiastic as we always are ever our soldiors and sailors when anything directs our attention particularly towards them, we are only too liable to i'or«vt aii about them Avhcn "i!r.> excitement of the moment has cooled. -Most of us have e\"un now but a shadowy recollection of the i'otT war, and the despatch of the coulinLj-er/s ior South .Africa, with all the donio'.i.stmtioriH of pa-trioti-ni and loyalty that marked their di'pavtuvc 1 , is already receding into the region of tradition. We. are as loyal as ever, but we haw- other things to do, and t.he pressure, of the facts of ordinary life. KOOi! submerge?, .-■.eniiment. Jt is imi'ortxn:ate, bat it seems to bt: an inevitable tendency of human nature, and we :;'.o'.;!(l be t ii.iiiki'i , .] to raivone or anything iliat can revive in t..s that genuine and whole-hearted OTU/husias-n which, too rarely, drives us tt> act boldly without counting too coolly the cost or the dan<j.er to ourselves. And if we are already in danger of i'org'oiting iho Boer war, and the men whom we Kent out with much pride and lnudution, to for the Empire, we are iiot likely, under ordinary circumstance:?, to spare, much attention to the veterans who, !:ii\ in. , ; , served Emjland in many) wars by hind and ,soa. now find them-

solve/* "in their latter (lays stranded or derelict bore. To them ;ili, as Lord RiiTil'urly reminds us. we owe a deep and enduring debt of gratitude; and we appreciate especially the remark made by ]Ms Excellency that the establishment of this Veterans' Home is in no sense a matter of charity. '"We wish it to bs clearly understood that this is not to be a benevolent institution: that it is a reward for past merit, and that it is an

honour and not a disgrace to become an inmate." That, it seems to us, is precisely tho spirit in "which this institution should be regarded both by the general public and the veterans themselves, and it is only by accepting , this point of view that, those concerned can hope to make it the success that it deserves to be.

But to be a practical success the Veterans' ironic will certainly heed funds. At present, as General Babington explain-

Ed, about GUoOO have already been c.\ ponded out of £8.">00 subscribed. A

least .-CBOOO is needed for tho maintenance of the home, so that there is a balance of Hilly £7000 to be raised. Considering the nature of this institution, and the extent to which the whole colony should ho interested in its success, there should be litlle difficulty in raising lho amount required. Hut benevolence for

purposes of tliis kind requires continual prompting, and it is to be hoped that some systematic scheme will soon be organised by tiie Board of Management to ensure the financial prosperity of the Home. To subscribe to that institution is one or the few ways in which we can prove that we have not forgotten the patriotic sentiments which loomed so large in public and private life only two years ago, and we sinceriy trust that Lord Hanfurly ; 3 earnest appeal to the colony on he-half of the Veterans' Home has not been made in vain.