OUR TRIBUTE TO FRANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 205, 28 August 1918, Page 2

OUR TRIBUTE TO FRANCE.

(To tlie Edltcr.) Sir,—On Wednesday next we shall be given the opportunity of evincing in a practical manner not only our sympathy with France in her present martyrdom, hut our admiration for and appreciation of the spirit which has enabled her to continue her part in the struggle for j the world's liberation from German J tyranny and aggression. Judging from i the hearty response to the appeals made i from time to time in behalf of the sufferj ing and wounded of those who are assistI ing us in the fight for national honour J and international rights, there is every reason to believe we shall rise to the I occasion, and express not in words, hut lin a substantial sum, our indebtedness to the French nation. It is a debt of honour. Poor France, how she bleeds! battered and bruised, but not crushed. With the flower of her manhood reduced, land depopulated and industries paralysed, her sufferings liave stirred the generous impulses of civilised mankind while her bravery, chivalry, and endurance compel tributes of esteem from those who value loyalty and honour. The war has .brought "to light the true son! of France, qualities of heart and mind which cannot be overestimated. The nation whose sonl lives, is imperishable, therefore, France stands to-day uneonquercd and unconquerable. Her sorrow is ours. We bend in homage to the spirit which has enabled her to rise superior to trial, to suffer without a murmur. Her day of triumph is not far off. We are fighting in a common muse, her interest, and those of the British Empire are identical. We can- : not better manifest our love for France, I which is fighting side by side with us | for freedom and civilisation, than by j assisting enthusiastically in next Wednesday's celebrations.—l am, etc., I S. A. GOLDSTEIN".